A review by ceceewing_
The Seep by Chana Porter

4.0

It’s interesting, I wasn’t really loving this book. I read the whole first half feeling somewhat uninterested and unsure of this world. It had more humor and less detailed writing than I expected. And then it had to gnaw at a very fresh wound: my grief.

I lost my grandpa only a couple of months ago. Sometimes reading about death doesn’t impact me, I feel a distance from the writing or the situation, but this wasn’t one of those times. After not feeling sure about this book I spent the last few chapters sobbing because it hit home in a way that no book has since I started mourning.

This is a messy story about grief and identity and about being allowed to feel the bad feelings because they make us who we are just as much as our good feelings. It’s weird and off kilter at times. But it understood my messy grief in a way I really needed and I think that makes it unbelievably special.


TW: depression, suicidal thoughts, drug and alcohol addiction