Name: Elizabeth's review of Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon
Item: Sorrowland
Rating: 4.5
Author: Elizabeth

Rivers Solomon

'Sorrowland is a wonderland of fantastical and frightening, magical and real. At the centre of this world and leaping off the page is Vern: unstoppable, unforgettable, and unlike anyone you have ever seen before.' MARLON JAMES, Booker Prize-winning author 'A fantastical, fierce reckoning ... Sorrowland is gorgeous, and the writing, the storytelling, are magnificent. This country has a dark history of what it's willing to do to black bodies, and Rivers Solomon lays that truth bare in a most unexpected, absolutely brilliant way.' ROXANE GAY __________________________ A triumphant, genre-bending novel, following a young woman through a nightmarish yet recognisable landscape as she attempts to create a new life for herself and her children. Vern, a hunted woman alone in the woods, gives birth to twins and raises them away from the influence of the outside world. But something is wrong - not with them, but with her own body. It's changing, it's stronger, it's not normal. To understand her body's metamorphosis, Vern must investigate the secluded religious compound from which she fled and the violent history of dehumanisation, medical experimentation and genocide that produced it. In the course of reclaiming her own darkness, Vern learns that monsters aren't just individuals, but entire histories, systems and nations. Rivers Solomon's Sorrowland is a memorable work of Gothic fiction that wrestles with the tangled history of racism in America and the marginalisation of society's undesirables. It is a searing, seminal book that marks the arrival of a bold, unignorable voice in American fiction. __________________________ 'A furious utopia. Utterly compelling, brilliant and terrifying. Sorrowland seizes the history of white supremacy, racist medical experimentation, and the dream - and danger - of the commune and gnashes it into something magnificent and truly reparative. An epic fantasy that interweaves righteous, large-scale confrontations with power, extremely sexy and moving erotic gothic horror, and exquisite, meticulous renderings of the daily life of parenting. This is a fairy tale for adults, spangled in the wreckage of the world. A gorgeous, singular, and profound work.' JORDY ROSENBERG, author of Confessions of the Fox

Sorrowland

A triumphant, genre-bending breakout novel from one of the boldest new voices in contemporary fiction Vern—seven months pregnant and desperate to escape the strict religious compound where she was raised—flees for the shelter of the woods. There, she gives birth to twins, and plans to raise them far from the influence of the outside world. But even in the forest, Vern is a hunted woman. Forced to fight back against the community that refuses to let her go, she unleashes incredible brutality far beyond what a person should be capable of, her body wracked by inexplicable and uncanny changes. To understand her metamorphosis and to protect her small family, Vern has to face the past, and more troublingly, the future—outside the woods. Finding the truth will mean uncovering the secrets of the compound she fled but also the violent history in America that produced it. Rivers Solomon’s Sorrowland is a genre-bending work of Gothic fiction. Here, monsters aren’t just individuals, but entire nations. It is a searing, seminal book that marks the arrival of a bold, unignorable voice in American fiction.

A Novel

Clara Gauthier

What a strange sadness, to be done with the woman who’d made you. 

Jayme Bosio

From her mouth slid that slur as old as this poison nation itself. Vern always thought it apt how it rhymes with “trigger” for the word was a swift and exploding bullet and it turned to shrapnel in Vern’s chest.

Even sweet things could be made bitter by the knowledge of hindsight

What a strange sadness to be done with the woman who made you. 

vivian mizuno

Basil

Recommend if you like Fledgling or Mexican Gothic. Really thoughtful and powerful and well paced. So many different threads and ideas and histories woven in. 

Elizabeth

Michaela Hudson

eARC provided by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Here we have another unique and thought-provoking story from Rivers Solomon, whose ideas for fiction have intrigued me greatly since The Deep

In this book, Vern, a black teenager, runs away from her home, which is a pro-Black community's compound excluded from the outer society. Out of the (Cain)land and into the woods, she has to bear and raise her children on her own and eventually face the truth about herself and the place she once habited in.

I'll admit that I haven't been able to wrap the whole story around my head yet. There were so many crazy things going on in this book I literally forgot that this is actually a fantasy book while there were near-to-zero mentions of any supernatural factors in the first half. However, the writing made everything seem slow and calm and normal as hell. Basically, it managed to be both so unhinged yet so elegant. The racial and LGBT+ representation in this book was top-notch, beyond boundaries maybe. 

Yet, I'm afraid that much as Rivers tried to introduce so many subplots into the story, they left many seemingly important details normalized to the point of forgettable. Maybe it had to do with the main character's POV, but unfortunately, I was not entirely invested, despite its great plot materials. 

All in all, I definitely had some fun reading this book. But I can't say I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Lara Engle

I don't know how to describe this book. It's a disturbing slice of magical realism, with joy, grief, pain, and visceral love and hate.

a beautiful gothic/horror/survival story filled with themes of generational trauma, general society’s complacency, queer love and familial bonds. i made audible gasps and laughter while reading and think it’s a super important read. 

The pace was very slow compared to what I normally read so even though I was entertained I still felt the slowness of the book in the middle of it. I listened to the audiobook and I read along with a physical copy of the book so I could stay immersed there were times where we followed the main character but she wasn't really doing much of anything and the slowness of it all and the feeling that I was reading on and on and nothing was happening was driving me mad. 

I think the horror elements of this book were mainly based on body horror and psychological horror, and generational trauma and those worked well within the book. This was a beautifully told story, I love the way the author writes. This story was also really unique so I want to give the author props for that. 

Overall I enjoyed this read, though because of the slowness, I don't see myself reading this again.

Maya Johnson

The pace was very slow compared to what I normally read so even though I was entertained I still felt the slowness of the book in the middle of it. I listened to the audiobook and I read along with a physical copy of the book so I could stay immersed there were times where we followed the main character but she wasn't really doing much of anything and the slowness of it all and the feeling that I was reading on and on and nothing was happening was driving me mad. 

I think the horror elements of this book were mainly based on body horror and psychological horror, and generational trauma and those worked well within the book. This was a beautifully told story, I love the way the author writes. This story was also really unique so I want to give the author props for that. 

Overall I enjoyed this read, though because of the slowness, I don't see myself reading this again.

I give this a 3.5 out of 5 stars

Love this book. Brilliant dystopian fiction. 

Kevin Leitner

Jasmine

Sorrowland follows Vern-a 15 year old who is seven months pregnant and desperate to flee the strict religious compound where she has grown up. She escapes to the shelter of the woods where she gives birth to twins, Howling and Feral. Though she tries to exist on her own terms, Vern is a hunted woman. Forced to fight back against the community that refuses to let her go, she unleashes a brutality far beyond what is ordinary. Vern is changing, morphing into something stronger, something more connected. In order to understand these changes and to protect her family, Vern must face the past and future. She will have to uncover secrets of the compound and the America that allowed horrible things to happen. 

There are some stories that remind a reader just how limitless an imagination can be. Our history is filled with horrors of what has been done to black bodies and this book is a poignant exploration of just that. This is a story of love, loss, sexuality, oppression, and so many other important issues but it is written in a way that allows the reader to read the bare truth in a beautiful way. There is no review that truly does this story justice. 
I feel like Sorrowland is going to be a book that resonates with many regardless of race or religion. That is the mark of a great book. 

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Random House Cornerstone for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Naty Corbett

There is a lot to enjoy about this book. It is a story of strength both individual and communal, betrayal and an allegory for the wrongs committed to BIPOC people at the hands of white imperialists not limited to unethical medical testing, rape, abuse, murder, etc. I rather liked how this book didn't just tackle one aspect of injustice and social justice, it took a more intersectional approach to its philosophy showing that an injustice against one is a problem for all to solve. I was overjoyed when one of the main side characters was a queer trans indigenous woman. Yay!

I did find the ongoing body horror to be a bit much, not enough to turn me off of the book but enough to make me squeamish which is not something I am used to feeling. So if body horror is something that weirds you out, perhaps this isn't the bok for you.

In retrospect, maybe this book is also an allegory on growing up trans and understanding the discomfort of watching and feeling your body change in ways that you don't want or quite understand. The reframing of going through the change as something that is not wholly negative but also a source of strength is powerful. But I am writing this review a bit after the fact so my recollection might not be perfect.

Side note, the use of mycelium as a plot tool is either becoming the hit new thing, looking at you Star Trek and a Desolation Called Peace, or I am just beginning to notice it more.

Sahi K

CW: child abuse, teenage pregnancy, body horror, gore, homophobia and transphobia (challenged)

I just saw the wonderful cover of this book and the author, and didn’t even bother with the synopsis before requesting the advance copy. Because gothic horror is not my thing at all and the author’s fierce and unbridled writing makes for an unforgettable but difficult read. 

The writing is truly gorgeous right from the get go. Despite the difficulty of the subject matter, I was engrossed completely and didn’t wanna put it down at all. The author perfectly captures the unforgiving atmosphere of the woods as well as the dread that follows Vern in the form of the far reaches of the cult Cainland she is escaping. There are also lots of horrifying and unexpected twists and turns, which kept me on my toes, always wondering what was gonna happen next. But the ending did feel quite different from the rest of the book and I still don’t know how I feel about it. 

Through Vern’s harrowing struggle for survival with her two little boys, the author explores many themes like identity, motherhood, gender, sexuality, misogyny, race, and what it means to crave connections - either with humans or the nature. At the same time, the author also shows a mirror to the darkest parts of American history, especially how the exploitation and experimentation of Black bodies forms one of the major sources of progress for this country. 

The writing is very straightforward, giving us unflinching truths through Vern who doesn’t know any pretense and is full of rage and grief. Her kids Feral and Howling literally grow up in the wild without knowing other humans but they are sharp and tough, with lots of love for their mother even if their relationship doesn’t feel very conventional in societal terms. Gogo and Bridget are great side characters, full of compassion and caring, who finally show that there is still some hope left in this cruel world. On the opposite spectrum, we get to see some of the members of Cainland and experience the horrific results when naked ambition for power at the cost of humans meets religious fanaticism and misogynistic entitlement. 

To conclude, this is not a book for everyone and I’m not even sure to whom I can recommend it. Pick it up if you are ready for stunning atmospheric writing, an unflinching look at history which is also very much relevant to our contemporary times, and a group of characters who may be on the fringes of society, but their capacity for survival and love is boundless.

Sunyi Dean

I love the writing and voice, the beautiful imagery and the lush, strange, alternate-world setting. 

Some parts of the worldbuilding I struggled with (for example, I wasn't sure how usual or unusual it was for Vern to leave her babies for hours at a time in the woods--are kids unusually tough? Mine would have been dead most likely!) and it took me a long time to grasp what was going on in her settlement (no spoilers). 

It's definitely a book where you need to sit back, and let it tell its story in its own time, because it defies conventional structure and needs space to slowly make its point. If you're looking for a traditionally-structured narrative or a fast paced story then this may not be for you, but if you're happy to try a winding, intricate narrative with a surrealist bent, then there is a lot to enjoy and admire.

Actual review: 3.5 stars

I love the writing and voice, the beautiful imagery and the lush, strange, alternate-world setting. 

Some parts of the worldbuilding I struggled with (for example, I wasn't sure how usual or unusual it was for Vern to leave her babies for hours at a time in the woods--are kids unusually tough? Mine would have been dead most likely!) and it took me a long time to grasp what was going on in her settlement (no spoilers). 

It's definitely a book where you need to sit back, and let it tell its story in its own time, because it defies conventional structure and needs space to slowly make its point. If you're looking for a traditionally-structured narrative or a fast paced story then this may not be for you, but if you're happy to try a winding, intricate narrative with a surrealist bent, then there is a lot to enjoy and admire.

Moray Lyle McIntosh

Wow. It's not often you get the opportunity to read something so original. Sorrowland follows Vern, a young. pregnant teenager who has fled to the woods to escape her husband and the cult he leads. Vern is young, black, intersex, queer and albino, fiercely independent and virtually unstoppable. I loved her from first page to last. Vern brings up her offspring, fearing capture by the long arms of Cainland and struggling with terrifying bodily changes that don't make sense. Sorrowland is packed full of passion and rage and horror as Solomon examines the force of an prejudiced world on mariginalised bodies: POC, LGBTQ+, women and indigenous peoples. It's sci-fi and horror and thriller, filled to the brim with huge imagery and unapologetic power. Funny, sexy, horrifying and beautifully written.

Jelke Lenaerts

I received a galley of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. 

This book has content warnings for child abuse, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, pedophilia, drugging, self harm, AIDS, and mentions of abusive relationships.

It was hard for me to rate this book and this rating still doesn't really feel right. I would definetly recommend this book for everyone to read (if you can handle to read it though with the content warnings). I would recommend it much more than my typical three star read. I think the writing in this book was amazing and I'm definetly reading more from Rivers Solomon in the future. I also liked the overall story and this book had quite a lot of interesting and important things to say and I like how those things were integrated into the plot. However, I also feel like this book was just a little bit too slow. There were just a lot of moments where we weren't really doing or learning anything and those moments were a bit too much. It was just a bit too slow for me personally and it kept me from getting fully invested. I also think all the characters besides Vern were very one dimensional. Like we spent so much time with her kids but I don't really know anything about them and don't really feel like they have destinct personalities. So yeah, a three star seems the closest to how I felt reading this book but it's also not entirely correct. I don't know.

Nikki K

CW: sexual assault, homophobia, racism, body horror, torture, self-harm, cult/gaslighting, substance abuse, etc.

Sorrowland was a wild ride, and I'm not quite sure how to talk about it - or if indeed I should be the one to. This book pushed the boundaries of fiction; taking elements from a wide variety of genres to create an artful blend of storytelling. 
The book starts off following an albino, black teenager as she escapes from a religious cult and gives birth to twins in the wood. From this starting point the story explores the life of Vern and her children for the next several years as she begins to realise the truth of the place she grew up.
Vern comes to understand her sexuality through her relationships with women and I found many of the conversations around sexuality, womanhood, and gender identity very compelling. Vern is intersex and one of the love interests is an Indigenous transwoman (winkte). 

The prose was definitely the highlight of this book. While the story was sometimes hard to follow, it was so beautifully written with several passages that made me pause and re-read several times. The way Solomon is able to capture certain feelings and problems in words is truly remarkable. This book is raw and real.

Thanks to Farrar, Straus and Giroux for providing an eARC via NetGalley

Abby Hoggatt

Deborah Kerr

3.5/5 stars
What a fantastic read-- Rivers Solomon tackles a hugely ambitious novel with beautiful, haunting writing and naked truth that will make you stop and re-read sentences that stop and restart your heart.

I only had two issues with this book:
1. The pacing was wobbly. The middle was actually perfectly paced but the end felt unnecessarily drawn out, and there were parts that were meandering and killed momentum in such a way that I felt myself physically deflate.
2. The body horror. It was really well done, but it also felt unnecessarily gratuitous at times (potentially the point but also, why?).

Madeline Hulburt

Extremely interesting speculative sci-fi/horror novel that focused on American race issues and government. I highly recommend this book as a fantasy or sci-fi palate cleanser to try something new. I always wanted to know what was going to happen next and it was never ever predictable. So good!

Trigger warnings: (view spoiler)[childbirth, infant murder (mentioned), graphic dead animals, teenage pregnancy, cult, child death, drowning, child body eaten by scavengers (mentioned), self-harm, blood depiction, fire, homomisia, ableism, hallucinations, nonconsensual drugging, unintentional violence against children, child-adult relationship, burns, suicide, gun violence (hide spoiler)]

Sorrowland is intense, fierce, bizarre, and quintessential to Solomon's style of story-weaving. Following a queer, albino, African-American escaping her toxic past within a religious cult, this is a story about survival, parenthood, defining one's future, and discovering the changes within oneself. 

I have to frank, this was so much stranger than I was expecting, even from a book by Rivers Solomon. But despite the weirdness, the overarching story and themes of ferocity and finding truth beyond society and one's upbringing was never muddied. 

There are turns and characters that will keep you fully engaged throughout the story. The struggle with parenthood by oneself was gorgeously and rawly depicted, with some truly heartfelt moments. There is so much packed into this book that a single review cannot do it justice. Solomon continues to go above and beyond anything thought possible with their writing. 


  Note: Review copy received via NetGalley. This does not impact opinions within this review.


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Happy reading! ❤

Ben Nathan

An excellent story with incredible characters. Solomon's best yet IMHO. The depth of detail and characterization was A+. Also, seeing all those cycles of abuse being called out and broken while looking for healthy resolution was fantastic. After reading a book where the opposite happened, this was a true balm for the soul. I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 because I think my love of it had to do with what I had just read and I know it's very good, but not perfect.

Basil &
Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon

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