A review by mariebrunelm
Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

What. A. Ride. This book is really intense, and had I known it was horror I might not have had the courage to read it, but I'm glad I did. 
Vern is alone in the woods, but not for long. In the first line of the book, she gives birth to her twins while on the run from a cult-like community. It's a story of survival, of evolution, of finding one's worth beyond what one has always been told and snapping free from years of lies. Vern is young, yes, but she's determined and stronger than she looks or even feels. Weirdly stronger.
Rivers Solomon barely lets the readers breathe throughout this modern Gothic novel. When it's not an external threat, it's either the newness of finding / founding a new family or the experience of otherness coming from Vern's own body. Add in there disturbing hauntings, precious twins growing like the best weeds and lesbian love, and there you have a tremendous book.
Rep: Black lesbian albinos genderqueer MC with nystagmus (visual disability), Lakota secondary character. 
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