celestialviolence
An oasis of horror in a desert of boredom
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The Lamb
Lucy Rose
From an incendiary new talent, a contemporary queer folktale about a mother and daughter living in the woods, for fans of Angela Carter, Margaret Atwood, and Julia Armfield.
“Deliciously dark and shockingly bold—someone needs to make this into a film right now! Lucy Rose is one to watch. This is one of my favorite debuts in a long time.”—Kirsty Logan, author of Now She is Witch and Things We Say in the Dark
A FOLK TALE. A HORROR STORY. A LOVE STORY. AN ENCHANTMENT.
Margot and Mama have lived by the forest ever since Margot can remember.
When Margot is not at school, they spend quiet days together in their cottage, waiting for strangers to knock on their door. Strays, Mama calls them. People who have strayed too far from the road. Mama loves the strays. She feeds them wine, keeps them warm. Then she picks apart their bodies and toasts them off with some vegetable oil.
But Mama’s want is stronger than her hunger sometimes, and when a beautiful, white-toothed stray named Eden turns up in the heart of a snowstorm, Margot must confront the shifting dynamics of her family, untangle her own desires, and make her own bid for freedom.
With this gothic coming-of-age tale, debut novelist Lucy Rose explores how women swallow their anger, desire, and animal instincts—and wrings the relationship between mother and daughter until blood drips from it.
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The Bell Jar
Sylvia Plath
The Bell Jar chronicles the crack-up of Esther Greenwood: brilliant, beautiful, enormously talented, and successful, but slowly going under—maybe for the last time. Sylvia Plath masterfully draws the reader into Esther's breakdown with such intensity that Esther's insanity becomes completely real and even rational, as probable and accessible an experience as going to the movies. Such deep penetration into the dark and harrowing corners of the psyche is an extraordinary accomplishment and has made The Bell Jar a haunting American classic.
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The Burial Tide
Neil Sharpson
Drawing on the creatures and horrors of Irish folklore,The Burial Tide unearths our darkest how far we’d go to win our freedom, and how quickly our desires blur the line between human and monster. A woman who can’t remember her death. On an eerily quiet island off the coast of Ireland, a woman with no memory claws her way out of her grave and back to life. But not everyone welcomes the return of Mara Fitch. An island with a terrible secret. Inishbannock. Where strange misshapen figures watch from the trees and the roads are covered in teeth. Where two brothers gamble for nothing, the doctor only treats the dead, and the pub owner speaks in riddles. Where a poet loses and finds his soul. And a husband without a wife claims to know everything about Mara. A past that refuses to stay buried. As Mara returns to her life on this upside-down island, her memories begin to leech their way back to the surface. The more she remembers, the more the village will do anything to stop her . . . But the sea remembers it all.
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The Bell Jar
Sylvia Plath
The Bell Jar chronicles the crack-up of Esther Greenwood: brilliant, beautiful, enormously talented, and successful, but slowly going under—maybe for the last time. Sylvia Plath masterfully draws the reader into Esther's breakdown with such intensity that Esther's insanity becomes completely real and even rational, as probable and accessible an experience as going to the movies. Such deep penetration into the dark and harrowing corners of the psyche is an extraordinary accomplishment and has made The Bell Jar a haunting American classic.
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celestialviolence wrote a review...
1d
I enjoyed the humor in this one, as much as some of the subject matters were a bit dark, it was still overall a fairly light-feeling novel. The endings for the characters felt fitting, though I did feel a little bit bad for one. Overall, it was a good read
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1d
Bleak House
Charles Dickens
The complex story of a notorious law-suit in which love and inheritance are set against the classic urban background of 19th-century London, where fog on the river, seeping into the very bones of the characters, symbolizes the corruption of the legal system and the society which supports it.
“Jarndyce and Jarndyce” is an infamous lawsuit that has been in process for generations. Nobody can remember exactly how the case started but many different individuals have found their fortunes caught up in it. Esther Summerson watches as her friends and neighbours are consumed by their hopes and disappointments with the proceedings. But while the intricate puzzles of the lawsuit are being debated by lawyers, other more dramatic mysteries are unfolding that involve heartbreak, lost children, blackmail and murder.
The fog and cold that permeate Bleak House mirror a Victorian England mired in spiritual insolvency. Dickens brought all his passion, brilliance, and narrative verve to this huge novel of lives entangled in a multi-generational lawsuit—and through it, he achieved, at age 41, a stature almost Shakespearean.
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5d
Rejection: Fiction
Tony Tulathimutte
From the Whiting and O. Henry–winning author of Private Citizens (“the first great millennial novel,” New York Magazine), an electrifying novel-in-stories that follows a cast of intricately linked characters as rejection throws their lives and relationships into chaos.
Sharply observant and outrageously funny, Rejection is a provocative plunge into the touchiest problems of modern life. The seven connected stories seamlessly transition between the personal crises of a complex ensemble and the comic tragedies of sex, relationships, identity, and the internet.
In “The Feminist,” a young man’s passionate allyship turns to furious nihilism as he realizes, over thirty lonely years, that it isn’t getting him laid. A young woman’s unrequited crush in “Pics” spirals into borderline obsession and the systematic destruction of her sense of self. And in “Ahegao; or, The Ballad of Sexual Repression,” a shy late bloomer’s flailing efforts at a first relationship leads to a life-upending mistake. As the characters pop up in each other’s dating apps and social media feeds, or meet in dimly lit bars and bedrooms, they reveal the ways our delusions can warp our desire for connection.
These brilliant satires explore the underrated sorrows of rejection with the authority of a modern classic and the manic intensity of a manifesto. Audacious and unforgettable, Rejection is a stunning mosaic that redefines what it means to be rejected by lovers, friends, society, and oneself.
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1w
Rejection: Fiction
Tony Tulathimutte
From the Whiting and O. Henry–winning author of Private Citizens (“the first great millennial novel,” New York Magazine), an electrifying novel-in-stories that follows a cast of intricately linked characters as rejection throws their lives and relationships into chaos.
Sharply observant and outrageously funny, Rejection is a provocative plunge into the touchiest problems of modern life. The seven connected stories seamlessly transition between the personal crises of a complex ensemble and the comic tragedies of sex, relationships, identity, and the internet.
In “The Feminist,” a young man’s passionate allyship turns to furious nihilism as he realizes, over thirty lonely years, that it isn’t getting him laid. A young woman’s unrequited crush in “Pics” spirals into borderline obsession and the systematic destruction of her sense of self. And in “Ahegao; or, The Ballad of Sexual Repression,” a shy late bloomer’s flailing efforts at a first relationship leads to a life-upending mistake. As the characters pop up in each other’s dating apps and social media feeds, or meet in dimly lit bars and bedrooms, they reveal the ways our delusions can warp our desire for connection.
These brilliant satires explore the underrated sorrows of rejection with the authority of a modern classic and the manic intensity of a manifesto. Audacious and unforgettable, Rejection is a stunning mosaic that redefines what it means to be rejected by lovers, friends, society, and oneself.
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celestialviolence wrote a review...
1w
Is it long? Yes. Experimental? Yes. Existential? To the max.
This book goes beyond the typical stream of consciousness to actually attempt to become a consciousness recorded on paper. It's not just a narrative, it's a look at being human and tells the story of the narrator, Schattenfroh, and the narrator's complicated relationships with their parents, people, and themself. There are so many references and viewpoints represented and I enjoyed that it had moments of referencing itself as well. It is a chonk but, imo, it was so worth it.
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Schattenfroh
Michael Lentz
Was bedeutet der Tod des Vaters für das Leben? Wer war dieser Vater? Wer bin ich? Der Sohn sitzt in einer Zelle und schreibt um sein Leben. Sein Leben, das ist der Roman »Schattenfroh«. Nichts kann ihn retten, auch das eigene Erzählen nicht. Und doch muss genau davon erzählt werden: dass der Vater tot, das Ich unrettbar und die Heilsgeschichte eine gewaltige Lüge ist.
Wer »Schattenfroh« liest, der liest Gott und den Teufel, der liest die Liebe und den Tod, die Einsamkeit und den Schmerz und die Toten des Luftangriffs auf Düren am 16. November 1944, der liest Tinte und Weißraum, der liest die Schrift. »Schattenfroh« ist ein Roman und die Welt und das Leben. Tausend verzweifelte Seiten, die die Frage nicht beantworten, ob das Leben reparabel ist und uns das Erzählen heilen kann. Tausend manische Seiten des unmöglichen Abschieds vom Vater: so hermetisch wie kraftvoll, monumental und überwältigend.
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celestialviolence started reading...
2w
Bleak House
Charles Dickens
The complex story of a notorious law-suit in which love and inheritance are set against the classic urban background of 19th-century London, where fog on the river, seeping into the very bones of the characters, symbolizes the corruption of the legal system and the society which supports it.
“Jarndyce and Jarndyce” is an infamous lawsuit that has been in process for generations. Nobody can remember exactly how the case started but many different individuals have found their fortunes caught up in it. Esther Summerson watches as her friends and neighbours are consumed by their hopes and disappointments with the proceedings. But while the intricate puzzles of the lawsuit are being debated by lawyers, other more dramatic mysteries are unfolding that involve heartbreak, lost children, blackmail and murder.
The fog and cold that permeate Bleak House mirror a Victorian England mired in spiritual insolvency. Dickens brought all his passion, brilliance, and narrative verve to this huge novel of lives entangled in a multi-generational lawsuit—and through it, he achieved, at age 41, a stature almost Shakespearean.
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2w
I don't think there was much that could have prepared me for this. It's definitely one I'm going to be thinking about for a while (or think-een, if you're Frannie).
The foil between Frannie's relationship and the ones with Waldo and her mom was done really well. There's also the class divide and I think both provided good commentary on how much those affect not just your life, but your perception of yourself and the world around you.
I also did appreciate that Waldo's story shows how young girls trick themselves into thinking a relationship with an older man is something you fully choose, and I liked that even when in a honeymoon phase, Waldo was able to pick up on subtle hints that made her second guess herself even though she wanted to just throw herself into it. And I liked how well the pacing was with the developments of Waldo's realization that this is just more of the same...except also worse. The glamour washing off when, in the best case scenario, you get the man and realize...well shit, the man wasn't really worth it, was he? The contrast between Korgy and Nolan was also apparent and a good symbol of what Waldo could have had if she was more confident and had more sense.
The story with Waldo's mother was also realistic, having her epiphany and then throwing away her progress for the same man who treats her like shit, and the timing of Waldo realizing that before setting off on her own was done well and served as a symbolic moment. It was the moment when Waldo realized, in my opinion, that she didn't want that to be her any longer. And then having that be the transition to her standing on her own independence was a great setup imo.
Overall I really loved this one and I will definitely be picking up more of McCurdy's books!
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Half His Age
Jennette McCurdy
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of I’m Glad My Mom Died comes a sad, funny, thrilling novel about sex, consumerism, class, desire, loneliness, the internet, rage, intimacy, power, and the (oftentimes misguided) lengths we’ll go to in order to get what we want. Waldo is ravenous. Horny. Blunt. Naive. Wise. Impulsive. Lonely. Angry. Forceful. Hurting. Perceptive. Endlessly wanting. And the thing she wants most of Mr. Korgy, her creative writing teacher with the wife and the kid and the mortgage and the bills, with the dead dreams and the atrophied looks and the growing paunch. She doesn’t know why she wants him. Is it his passion? His life experience? The fact that he knows books and films and things that she doesn’t? Or is it purer than that, rooted in their unlikely connection, their kindred spirits, the similar filter with which they each take in the world around them? Or, perhaps, it’s just enough that he sees her when no one else does. Startlingly perceptive, mordantly funny, and keenly poignant, Half His Age is a rich character study of a yearning seventeen-year-old who disregards all obstacles—or attempts to overcome them—in her effort to be seen, to be desired, to be loved.
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3w
Schattenfroh
Michael Lentz
Was bedeutet der Tod des Vaters für das Leben? Wer war dieser Vater? Wer bin ich? Der Sohn sitzt in einer Zelle und schreibt um sein Leben. Sein Leben, das ist der Roman »Schattenfroh«. Nichts kann ihn retten, auch das eigene Erzählen nicht. Und doch muss genau davon erzählt werden: dass der Vater tot, das Ich unrettbar und die Heilsgeschichte eine gewaltige Lüge ist.
Wer »Schattenfroh« liest, der liest Gott und den Teufel, der liest die Liebe und den Tod, die Einsamkeit und den Schmerz und die Toten des Luftangriffs auf Düren am 16. November 1944, der liest Tinte und Weißraum, der liest die Schrift. »Schattenfroh« ist ein Roman und die Welt und das Leben. Tausend verzweifelte Seiten, die die Frage nicht beantworten, ob das Leben reparabel ist und uns das Erzählen heilen kann. Tausend manische Seiten des unmöglichen Abschieds vom Vater: so hermetisch wie kraftvoll, monumental und überwältigend.
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celestialviolence started reading...
3w
Half His Age
Jennette McCurdy
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of I’m Glad My Mom Died comes a sad, funny, thrilling novel about sex, consumerism, class, desire, loneliness, the internet, rage, intimacy, power, and the (oftentimes misguided) lengths we’ll go to in order to get what we want. Waldo is ravenous. Horny. Blunt. Naive. Wise. Impulsive. Lonely. Angry. Forceful. Hurting. Perceptive. Endlessly wanting. And the thing she wants most of Mr. Korgy, her creative writing teacher with the wife and the kid and the mortgage and the bills, with the dead dreams and the atrophied looks and the growing paunch. She doesn’t know why she wants him. Is it his passion? His life experience? The fact that he knows books and films and things that she doesn’t? Or is it purer than that, rooted in their unlikely connection, their kindred spirits, the similar filter with which they each take in the world around them? Or, perhaps, it’s just enough that he sees her when no one else does. Startlingly perceptive, mordantly funny, and keenly poignant, Half His Age is a rich character study of a yearning seventeen-year-old who disregards all obstacles—or attempts to overcome them—in her effort to be seen, to be desired, to be loved.
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3w
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3w
Trad Wife: A Novel
Saratoga Schaefer
A ‘traditional wife’ influencer allows a demonic creature to impregnate her in this unnerving horror novel, perfect for fans of Nightbitch and Mary, from the author of Serial Killer Support Group. Every #tradwife needs a baby. She’ll get one at any cost.When Camille Deming isn’t cooking, cleaning, or homesteading in her picture-perfect country farmhouse, she’s posting about her tradwife lifestyle for her online followers. She takes inspiration from other tradwives on social media, aspiring to be like them, but Camille’s missing a key a baby. And contrary to what she posts online, things with her husband Graham have been strained. Pressured by her eager followers, Camille fears that without a baby, her relationship will suffer and her social media will never grow out of its infancy.When Camille discovers a mysterious, decrepit well in the wheatfield behind her house, she makes a wish for a baby. Afterwards, she has unsettling experiences that she convinces herself are angelic in nature, and when she’s visited one night by a strange creature, her wish comes true. Camille’s pregnancy announcement gets more engagement than anything she’s ever posted—so what if Graham’s reaction is lukewarm? Camille’s life is finally falling into place. Never mind that her pregnancy is developing freakishly rapidly and she’s suddenly craving raw meat. Being a traditional wife is worth it.Rosemary’s Baby for the digital age, this disturbing horror novel is one you’ll want to devour in just one bite.
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celestialviolence started reading...
3w
Trad Wife: A Novel
Saratoga Schaefer
A ‘traditional wife’ influencer allows a demonic creature to impregnate her in this unnerving horror novel, perfect for fans of Nightbitch and Mary, from the author of Serial Killer Support Group. Every #tradwife needs a baby. She’ll get one at any cost.When Camille Deming isn’t cooking, cleaning, or homesteading in her picture-perfect country farmhouse, she’s posting about her tradwife lifestyle for her online followers. She takes inspiration from other tradwives on social media, aspiring to be like them, but Camille’s missing a key a baby. And contrary to what she posts online, things with her husband Graham have been strained. Pressured by her eager followers, Camille fears that without a baby, her relationship will suffer and her social media will never grow out of its infancy.When Camille discovers a mysterious, decrepit well in the wheatfield behind her house, she makes a wish for a baby. Afterwards, she has unsettling experiences that she convinces herself are angelic in nature, and when she’s visited one night by a strange creature, her wish comes true. Camille’s pregnancy announcement gets more engagement than anything she’s ever posted—so what if Graham’s reaction is lukewarm? Camille’s life is finally falling into place. Never mind that her pregnancy is developing freakishly rapidly and she’s suddenly craving raw meat. Being a traditional wife is worth it.Rosemary’s Baby for the digital age, this disturbing horror novel is one you’ll want to devour in just one bite.
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