Lucy Snyder | pub: 2023 | 265pp
This is one of those books, that as a reviewer, I can’t decide if I want to voice my opinion right away, or do I need to live with it for a bit? I don’t know what I just read, but I think I loved every bit of it!
I enjoy horror, or at least books with a sharp bite. When i want to get entertained by some good horror craziness, I seek out authors and/or titles that have won or been considered for Bram Stoker awards, like Lucy A. Snyder. Ol’ Bram never fails me! Coincidentally, I am finishing up Stephen Kings latest release, You Like It Darker. It’s a collection of short stories that I was enjoying until I got to one that’s a bit of a slog. Ugh, I decided to start writing to distract myself from it. More on that super soon.
Sister, Maiden, Monster isn’t a collection of short stories but, it is several stories, set in the same time, about women all suffering through the same storm. I’ve heard the term ‘pandemic fiction’ to describe books either about or set during the time of the pandemic. I think the definition should include fictional pandemics as well – and that would summarize Sister, Maiden, Monster.
In the book, our world has suffered the release of a virus that can cause dramatic mutations in humans. Before leaving quarantine patients myst be tested and categorized based on their mutation. This could range from nothing, to something very violent and sinister. ‘Something’ that needs to be monitored by the government and medicated by doctors, or else the normals could fall victim. The story is told from the perspective of 3 women, each impacted by the virus differently, but are remotely connected. Erin, thinks she was on the verge of getting engaged to her underwhelming boyfriend, when she contracts the virus and ends up with the worst possible outcome – she craves human organs. Savannah, who I think is a prostitute, decides to start killing men as therapy, and Mareva, who’s body is plagued with tumors, starts having visions that she may be some sort of alien savior for the world.
Pros: I thought the author did a great job with building the world these women live in! I loved that it was so well thought out and detailed but served in an entertaining way. Erin’s story is first and likely my favorite, with Savannah a close second. Erin’s relationship with her boyfriend is odd and there are several twisty red herrings as the author builds the world around her.
The fact that Savannah is a BDSM worker killing men to save her soul – delicious!
Cons: There is a lot of dancing around the canibillism in the beginning and I think it just went on for too long. We know whats up – get on with it! It felt like the author needed filler pages. Mareva stories was a bit helter skelter for me. I may have been punch drunk from the first two stories and could have used something more digestible.
4 star read in my opinion. I will seek out more from this author! This was a short, quick read with an LGBTQIA slant for Pride month – enjoy! S.
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