beforeviolets's reviews
387 reviews

I really loved the set up here, but I fear that by the end of the book, it became a bit too convoluted for me and I lost steam at about the 85% mark. It mentions in the acknowledgments that this was initially planned to be a novella and I think I would’ve found the streamlined approach to this vision to be more up my alley. Though it is a testament to this story that I did finish it despite having to be REALLY harsh about DNFing books lately.  I think this was a really great addition to the canon of sapphic vampire stories and I'm sure many folks will really love this one.

Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

CW: blood & gore, violence, injury detail, drugging, mind control, kidnapping, death of mother (past), sexual content, medical content, death, emesis, loss of child (past)

Hares and fungi and lakes, oh my!

Poe would've loved this.

CW: animal death, dead body, animal gore, blood & gore, drowning, medical content, character death, amputation (mention), suicide (past), PTSD, illness, mental illness, hallucinations, alcohol, fire, death of father (past), war (past), misgendering, emesis (offphage)

This story adds a new voice to the canon of woodsy folkloric horror, and one that I think many YA readers will adore. Peachtree Teen continues to find some of the most unique stories emerging in the young adult world and this one was no different.

So first of all, I HAVE to say: this had Over The Garden Wall vibes. Despite it being July, I broke my sacred personal oath of only playing the OTGW soundtrack in the fall months to use it as a soundtrack for this reading experience. It has a poet's journey through a creepy forest led by a bird, episodic encounters with unlikely inhabitants of the woods, an elder sibling looking out for their younger sibling, American folkloric elements, and deals with a devil. And again: autumnal to its core. If that doesn't scream OTGW to you, I don't know what could.

For me, my favorite part of this story was its use of folklore. The seed of this story is nothing more than a simple apple. But the way Krause interrogates the apple's relationship to land and to people and to the history of America turns this seed into a blossoming tree with rich roots and extensive branches of folklore. All the elements of this story feel so interconnected and well-crafted. American folklore specifically is something that really interests me, especially in literature, but I don't tend to find it utilized as often as I'd like. But from Johnny Appleseed to indigenous history, this story is so full of Americana and folkloric wisdom. And the perspective of a Mexican-American protagonist added an even deeper layer here of culture and family and history.

Krause so clearly has a strong grasp not only on what this story is engaging with but how to engage with it. From its episodic structure and character archetypes to its logic and morality, this story clearly parallels the folklore and fairytales it references, reading like a folktale of its own.

My only complaint is that I wanted the writing style to be less direct and more poetic, especially with the way poetry is used so heavily in the story itself. I think some more similes, adorned language, and luxurious prose teetering on verse would've just taken this book to another level.

Thank you so much to the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

CW: death of father, death of mother (past), grief, kidnapping, violence, blood & gore, poison, animal death, child death, insects, vomit, fire, alcohol, colonialism

read for my Patreon book club but honestly I just feel like I understand Ghost Quartet better

it wasn’t quite what I expected, but I really enjoyed this one. 

very Toni Morrison meets Andrew Joseph White. 

notes:
great intro to recognizing “other” and how it permeates
very disorganized and rambling, messy as hell, topics and points are bouncing around and dropped and picked back up at will
bad at explaining the examples it provides
blatantly ignores intersectional othering, to a point that is straight up bizarre
would highly recommend to beginners of literary criticism
comforting to read about the experiences of a disabled person calling this shit out

O, full of scorpions is my mind.

To attempt to summarize my thoughts on this story is not unlike attempting to bottle a storm, leaving me no choice but to let the tempest rage on. Which is to say, I've wrote out my thoughts in a word document and they're 8 pages, single-spaced.

When I first read this book, I immediately foresaw it being unbelievably polarizing, and with the responses emerging since ARCs have gone out, I’m not surprised to see that prophecy fulfilled.

I'm a long time super fan of Ava Reid's work, as many of you know. But as many of you don't, I'm also a rising Shakespeare scholar with a specific interest in Macbeth and its depicted relationship between magic and the marginalized. So suffice to say: I was greatly anticipating this story, and I have a LOT of opinions on it.

Unfortunately, they do NOT fit in the Goodreads character limit, so I've made my review publicly available on my Patreon ! (I promise I would just put my review here if it would fit, but it won't.) If you want to read my thoughts on Lady Macbeth, including but not limited to: its relationship to Shakespearean scholarship and how it compares to Shrek, now you can! Enjoy!

CW: rape, domestic abuse, murder, blood & gore, sexual content, torture, violence, war, suicidal thoughts, self-harm, lobotomy (on-page), child death, ableism, misogyny, infidelity, animal sacrifice, dissociation, pregnancy, poison, alcohol, emesis

james sharpe does not seem to understand that things can be historically connected without being perfectly comparable in logic or scale

as soon as my brain isn’t mush I desperately want to use Big words to describe how Good this book is!! 

for now, i’ll just leave a compilation of my silly little thoughts:

an older gay couple made up of a taxidermist and botanist raising a lesbian plant frankenstein daughter is The Concept of all time!!

this book 🤝 good omens season 2 episode 3

sapphics only know grow plant, kill men, and yearn

any time i’ve ever compared a book to In a Week by Hozier… I take it back

CW: death, dead body, grief, murder, blood & gore, violence, injury detail, eye horror, insects, fire, death of parents (past), sexual content, homophobia, sexual harassment, sexual assault, animal death (offpage), suicide (mention)

I had the absolute honor of reading an early draft of this book and I cannot sing its praises highly enough. Political, historical, Jewish, queer, romantic, adventurous, heart-wrenching, lyrical, ferocious, THE MAIDEN AND HER MONSTER is a masterpiece of a debut. This is one of the most impactful and close-to-the-heart stories I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading, and it brought me to tears with its profundity. Maddie has tapped into something inevitable, ancient, and eternal about the Jewish experience that feels so impossible, so bigger than itself that I can’t imagine it’s anything less than pure magic.

This book features a glorious canopy of Jewish folklore, sapphic romance, and the enchanting allure of a sentient forest, supported by a strong and meaty tale with rich characters, abundant commentary, and succulent prose. And buried deep in the story’s roots, you’ll find a beating heart that bleeds with grief, hope, and passion.

It’s an indescribable feeling to have a friend write a book and for it to end up being one of the most powerful and moving works you’ve ever read, and exactly the story your heart was yearning for. I’m full of so much gratitude and pride, and I can’t wait for you all to fall in love with Nimrah and Malka like I have.