Genre: General Fiction
Release Date: April 4th, 2023
Pages: 304
Publisher: Flatiron Books
My Rating: DNF
Publisher’s Synopsis:
“Nineteen years old, broke, and effectively an orphan, Magnolia doesn’t have much to look forward to. She feels stuck and haunted: by her overdrawn bank account, by her predatory landlord, by the ghost of her late grandmother Mama Brown.
One night while working at her dead-end gas station job, a mysterious, slick stranger named Cotton walks in and offers to turn Magnolia’s luck around. He offers her a lucrative “modeling” job at his family’s funeral home. Magnolia accepts. But despite things looking up, Magnolia’s problems fatten along with her wallet. When Cotton’s requests become increasingly weird, Magnolia discovers there’s a lot more at stake than just her rent.
Sharp as a belted knife, this sly social commentary cuts straight to the bone, revealing the aftermath of the American plantation and what it means to be poor, Black, and a woman in the God fearing south.”
My Review:
I was excited to read something gothic and gritty with a powerful message. I’m not one to shy away from reading books with difficult topics and emotional stories. But this story was completely lost on me because I couldn’t break through the writing style. The voice is not an easy read and it kept me from truly getting into it. Call me dumb if you want to, but I think many other readers will find it a barrier to entry as well. It’s very difficult to read and follow along with – the prose, the clunky staccato writing, the random metaphors, the strange inner monologues, the meandering trains of thought. It was just a struggle to focus and connect with. I was confused for the majority of the time, like what time period does it takes place in? While I have an appreciation for unique voices, I think it is important to also be sure that it doesn’t become so unclear and cluttered with jargon that readers struggle to comprehend the story and its message. I think this is one that people will either love it or hate it, perhaps for a niche audience it will have a profound impact. But I can’t say that I personally enjoyed it nor can I honestly recommend it. Since I DNFed, I’m leaving my review without a rating because I personally don’t feel like giving a low star rating would be fair since I can’t accurately make an assessment of my experience on the whole story. There are too many books out there calling my name and given to me to read and review, I promised myself this year I would be ok with DNFing books if I made it through the first act and still wasn’t into it. Not every book is for every reader. And this one wasn’t for me.
Disclaimers:
Huge thank you to Netgalley and Flatiron Books for gifting me an early copy of this amazing story! Also, I won a copy of this book in a giveaway so a big thank you to Goodreads! I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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