What a masterpiece of a story. The writing is stunning, the characters are complex and frustrating and relatable, and it tackles so many difficult topics with so much finesse. Though I haven’t personally experienced most of the things the characters are going through, Solomon’s writing made it so that I could feel all of their pain and guilt and shame and anger as if I had. Very quickly became a favorite read of the year, and I can’t wait to read more of this author’s work.

I expected this book to confront cycles of abuse, maternal issues, and gender identity. What I did not expect this book to do was hold a mirror up to my face and make me confront some very deep seeded issues I still have buried.

This book is atmospheric, haunting, and easy to read with fairly short chapters. The plot is captivating and the main cast of characters are engaging. But the thing I loved most about this book was that one of it's central focuses is something that most people hate to read about: shame.

Ezri is not the perfect victim, not in real life and not in what we like to read in books either. There is no feminist rage plot that we often see in books similar to this -- this book seeps you into the shame that laces this story like you're a loose leaf bag of tea into a scalding hot cup of water. You can't escape it, Ezri can't escape it, no one gets to escape it. And whose shame? Every character's. Ones who should have shame, and, often times, those who shouldn't.

I saw myself in Ezri and later on, in Elijah. This book pulls no punches and left me feeling gutted at the end. It broke my heart to see my own shame so blatantly laid out in front of me, and it made me re-confront my own decision to never have children least I become the parent I had growing up.

Underneath all the shame, racism, ghosts, and sadness, is a heartfelt story about family and the ones who stick with you even when you're at each other's throats (even when you've hurt each other). I think this book is beautiful. I think this book is mandatory in the horror genre. I think you should read Rivers Solomon.