vigil's reviews
199 reviews

There is a lot about objects that, as a book, is dated. Being flynn’s debut novel years on from its publication date, there are some things just don't how they would in 2006. Mostly the gender politics, which of course is the foundation of the book.

i think that flynn gets a lot of undue credit for saying something profound about Womanhood that just doesn’t really scan in my opinion. mostly consisting of the figure of the white woman, assumed to be eternally submissive and victimized, being imbued with a touch of ambiguity or mark of cruelty.

(see amma, victim and victimizer)

i don’t think this is necessarily a poor narrative choice per se, in fact for the book it is probably the best suited for Wind Gap’s own politics, but it’s not especially innovative or revealing, just well executed. i’ll give her that at least. 

conversely and maybe even hypocritically, I do think that flynn is good at anchoring characters within the context of their gender (no matter how limiting that context may be) such as Camille, who’s experience of gendered based violence colors her entire outlook. From “some women get what they deserved” down to her own descriptions of her adolescent sister and equally adolescent friends (describing their chests, legs, stomachs, and calling them hot little things) you can see how the rape culture of Wind Gap has permeated through her very being and is the lens through which she sees the world. 

i think the southern aspect of this southern gothic book is little more than window dressing for her clear personal interest, the dynamics of the preaker-crellin women. it is easily the most compelling aspect of the novel and why i kept reading. i wish it had gone farther in some ways, as flynn begins a compelling tale of generational trauma, but falls short of real critique. camille balks at the lives of the housewives of wind gap, and the obsession with men, marriage, and babies as well as being able to keenly describe the damage her mother does to her but falls short of going further.

joya abused adora who abused camille, marian and amma who goes on to murder other children whom she deems as threats for her mother’s and eventually camille’s attention.

I think this story would have been better served as a real critique of the family structure as a whole rather than continued individual pathologies.

camille’s ending after is not escaping the form of the family but rather becoming the right daughter for the right parents, echoing her earlier quote that some women aren’t made to be mothers and daughters.

i love women who have something wrong with them, so there was not going to be a world where i disliked this book. i just think that this and it’s gender politics could have been more cohesive if flynn actually was interested in the american south and not just using it as a backdrop so these themes could be grounded better. 

the portrayal of camille’s self harm was one of the things i respected, as flynn had a clear investment in what she is doing psychologically when she cuts and what it means to her.

even if i personally find the “character too ashamed to reveal their s cars” trope overplayed.

 

this seems like i really hated the book but i enjoyed it quite a bit! i just think that flynn clearly has a wheelhouse, and when she tries to reach for things that are outside of it, her narrative hold begins to fray. i’m still mad amy adams wasn’t given an emmy for this.

sometimes you can just tell an author was reading mediocre tumblr poetry in the mid to late 2010s. how much more can i hear about rotting flowers in ribcages ribcages in my life before i lose it? 

I received this as an E-ARC from NetGalley. 

this was an interesting one. RJB made his anti-monarchial sentiments very clear with this one, though I don't quite think the empire came out unscathed either, even if i remained unconvinced by the grand speeches about the glories of serving your nation (but that's on account of my personal politics). 

malo was an excellent addition to the plot, and played off of din especially well. and din himself.....

yeah having sex you don't really enjoy because you are sad and bored is a bad idea but hey. enjoy your fuckboy era ig.

i am glad to see the further development of ana in this book, especially as we got more answers as to what the fuck her entire deal was. much of this book was not spent exploring the politics of the empire (which i think is somewhat of a missed opportunity, even if i understand RJB's intentions) but instead on the decaying kingdom of yarrowdale, but i don't think for a second we are finished with it. 

i think the empire of khanum is a bit odd in contrast to most empires, due to it's odd structures and supernatural abilities of the citizens, so it sort of plays a "good guy" in comparison to yarrowdale. this does somewhat muddy the anti-monarchial themes in this book, and the anti-imperialist themes of the first, but considering that outside of ana and din are two imperial representatives were

thelani and kardas, who got mulitple subordinates killed in a secret experiment, and was fully willing to continue bank rolling the slave trade respectively, maybe the word i ought to use is less shit.

still i think the empire loses much of it's complexity in the narrow focus on yarrowdale, and the political world is written with a disconcertingly liberal view for my tastes. the empire itself operates off of the bodies and debts of people they have tied to it's service, which is certainly not the slavery of yarrowdale, but operates off of similar principles. i don't think it necessarily comes off clean, but it is a noticeable hole in it's political commentary. but nobody is reading fantasy sherlock and watson for anti-imperalist theory except for me, so i'll move on. 

the mystery is just as odd and twisty as book one, and ended being an interesting journey considering

we had already determined the culprit halfway through the novel, and from there spent the rest of the book untangling his web so to speak.

it was a risk choice for a murder mystery, but given the moriartyesque nature of the antagonist, i think it paid off. 

all in all i enjoyed myself! RJB is at least writing another book, and i'm hoping that his wish for an episodic style murder mystery comes true. 

this is a shockingly enjoying enjoying novel, and one of the few booktube/tok books that’s held up well past it’s heyday. 

review to come.

read for class.

read for class.

monstress is always a hit for me. this volume was a marked shift from it’s predecessor (which i do recommend rereading before jumping into this) in terms of plot and narrative drive, but it has definitely put more momentum in plot progression than the past few volumes. i’m glad to see that majorie is delving back into some of the core plotlines and finding ways to finally tie them together with the more…. odd ones? i’m not sure how to begin to describe the zinn of it all but he was perfect as always. 

maikatuya forever. however if maika wants to get with the blue fish girl i won’t be mad.

had to return to the library. will be picking back up though!