Disappointing. I came here for a horror story but all I got was allegory so heavy it was like being hit repeatedly on the head with a hammer. The descriptions of the girls' transformation were so vague I couldn't picture what they look like. DNF at 56%.

In the street, we all acted like nothing was wrong too. We sipped our drinks, spiked with whatever was convenient, and we chewed our burgers, tasteless and dry. We wanted to talk about them. We wanted to say the truth, to scream it, to confess our fears. But we couldn't. We'd practiced keeping quiet for so long that now, when we needed to speak the most, we'd forgotten how. And anyways, what was the proper way to bid farewell to everything you'd known? Even if we hadn't sewn our lips shut years ago, there still might not be words for what we needed to say.

This is one of those quiet dread-laden horror novels that are as much about the horror of real life (in this case, a dying industrial town and the people living dead-end lives there, embodied by six girls and their families) as whatever supernatural thing is happening simultaneously. Themes of transformation, stagnancy, destruction, and renewal ground the story, providing a framework for the changes happening to the town itself, to the girls' bodies, even down to little details like Phoebe's bug house and the butterflies therein. Body horror normally upsets me, but Kiste's handles it so delicately that it's not pure icky blood and guts; it is grotesque at times, but not gross-out. It has a purpose, from the mundane, like Dawn's pregnancy, to the horrific, like the girls' transformations to creatures of rust and metal. (I did have to skim a few fingernail triggers but that's common in body horror stories.)

I was impressed by the writing, the setting, the relationships, Phoebe's character growth -- everything. I will be looking for more of Kiste's work and I'm happy she won the Stoker Award for First Novel because I might have missed it otherwise.

The premise of this story is fascinating, and Kiste's prose can be quite beautiful at times (reminiscent of the Virgin Suicides, which fit well with a horror frame). Her characters all felt extremely flat to me, and unfortunately that took me out of the story too much to enjoy it as much as I would have liked. The side characters were all propped-up clichés that were either Good or Bad (mostly the latter). The main character showed no arc to demonstrate growth or self-awareness of her own flaws, a missed opportunity given the dual timeline structure covering Phoebe's late adolescence and adulthood.

This was an interesting and well-written story. On the shorter side; I read it in just a few hours. Maybe it was the awesome cover art, by the same artist (Daniele Serra) who did the artwork for the PS Publishing edition of The Tommyknockers by Stephen King, but I did get some King-like vibes from this story. Not everything gets explained explicitly for people like me who lack imagination, but it works. My overall impression is that this is a story about girls, and kids in general, who fall through the cracks because they don't fit the mold society has made for them. The writing is strong; it's easy for clunky dialogue to overshadow an otherwise interesting premise, but that's not an issue in this book. The setting and atmosphere are all pitch-perfect and melancholic. Definitely recommended.

2020 Read Harder Challenge - a horror book published by an indie press

Read through this in two sittings basically. I can't speak higher of a writer and a fantastic work. Not sure If it's dark fantasy, horror or a coming of age story but it is brilliant and original . Scary, haunting and touching. It's about friendship, family and life in a working class part of Cleveland where the future is grim and becomes grimmer, in the shadow of a steel mill that closes down and takes people's dreams with it. Genius. Very few writers get through to me like Gwendolyn Kiste just did.

This book is pretty magical. The premise immediately drew me in. Kiste's writing is gorgeous, as well, which also helped. After a fast start though, I felt like the middle/end of the book did begin to get drawn out. I loved how the story ended though, and I thought the whole idea of the story was wonderful. This is now two Kiste books I've read and I am loving them - I will continue to read everything she writes!