Sister, Maiden, Monster

what the fuck did i just read

As far as horror goes, I have a hard time getting truly scared or grossed out from its literary form. So I might not be the best judge in how successful "Sister, Maiden, Monster" was (and I do believe that the audiobook form, the narration that felt near chipper, also did not help).

The book was creatively gruesome; as a horror, it did not shy away from gore and the grotesque which is an excellent decision for the kind of novel this is. I feel like if you are after this, you would be quite happy with the contents of the book.

However, its weakest point is so fundamental to the novel that it makes or breaks the book. The novel is split into three parts with three different P.O.V.'s - Erin, Savannah, and Mareva. The stories come together by the end; rather even - they build up on each other to paint a full picture of the horror that overwhelms our little planet. But not all P.O.V.'s are made equal.

Erin is the first and the longest one. It is definitely the most relatable one and it makes both strong references to the COVID-19 pandemic and feels like a record of it. It is a good introduction and it is interesting to follow Erin's gradual (un)making. What is more, it even gets an ending that - albeit feeling rushed - comprises some strong ideas; there is something very cool feeling about it.

But then we move on to Savannah who is the most caricature-like P.O.V. of the three. Except the novel does not intend to be satire or play her as satire which makes her part both difficult to get through and take seriously. This is where the novel really, really starts to fall apart. Savannah's part is nearly cartoonish in its violence and in her character narration. Suddenly what was a pretty decent horror playing on our very much ongoing fears of an unknown virus with infinite potential to mututate, becomes a cheesy novella the type of which are a-dime-a-dozen nowadays.

The narration then moves onto Mareva who makes for a slightly more interesting P.O.V. Her part is a good opportunity to explore the unveiling horror through a human perspective. However, the time we spend in her head is relatively short and as we are already closing in on the climax of the novel, it is difficult to really become attached to her or even care too deeply about what she lives through. This, ultimately, lessens the effect of the truly gruesome scenes that Mareva - and through her, the reader - witnesses.

The novel also tries to touch on some topics that it was perfectly posed to delve on but never engages with on a deep level, namely body authonomy and body dysmorphia (this is, after all, a body horror novel). It nearly makes me think back on Rivers Solomon's "Sorrowland" that also features similar themes, albeit on much smaller and personal scale. There it was so effectively done that, in spite of the book being nowhere near as gruesome or dynamic as "Sister, Maiden, Monster", it put me in such a state of mind I became convinced something was wrong with my body. In comparison, Snyder's novel mentions these topics as they are inavoidable but does not do too much with them; they feel nearly secondary. The trouble with this is that it is difficult to feel certain whether it was by design or through (in)execution.

I hoped I would like this more and was really excited when I randomly found it in my local library. And this could still be someone's perfect book. I was riveted at its originality throughout but ultimately, can see all of its unfulfilled potential.

Let me preface this review by saying that I am not normally a horror reader, and I am very squeamish when it comes to gore. Had I known how much gore was in this book, I probably wouldn’t have picked it up. 
That being said… I can still admit that this was a good book and that I was hooked from the beginning. If you DO like horror and can handle gore (seriously, I had to pause the audiobook because I was starting to retch), I would highly recommend this. It was fucked up and biblical and sexual all at once. There are some scenes that will haunt me for the rest of my life. 
Like other reviews have stated, the final act of this book lags a little and the ending is ambiguous in a way that could be frustrating, but I personally didn’t mind. I was, however, annoyed with the preachiness in the first act. The narrator frequently goes off on tangents that aren’t really saying anything; it feels like the author is just regurgitating stuff they saw on Twitter without engaging in any meaningful way with what they were saying. I think the narrative would have been stronger if those things had been left in the subtext. 

Had to stop about an hr into the audiobook, the descriptions made me wanna puke 😅 giving a 3* because she had me up until then. If you have an iron stomach and love horror books, give this a shot!