Sister, Maiden, Monster

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Sister, Maiden, Monster is the feminist Cronenberg I didn’t know I needed. Gleeful, gory, and unrelenting.” This is a book for horror aficionados to exult in. It’s seamlessly constructed, frequently funny, joyfully queer, and unapologetically gross, with plot twists that feel both wholly unexpected and inevitable."— Booklist (starred review) While each character is affected differently by the infection, there are nevertheless parallels between their struggles. The story’s themes are also undeniably feminist, concerning the female experience as the narrative explores the choices of the three women and the manner in which they deal with the changes to their lives. Erin, Savannah, and Mareva are all connected to each other in some way, so even though the stories may seem disjointed at first, eventually the book progresses through the three different parts and we start to see the threads that bind them together and perhaps even begin to glean the ultimate purpose behind the virus.

It’s enough to keep your skin and brains from ulcerating. It’s enough to keep your nose from rotting off.”Snyder’s story follows three infected women; each is given a unique voice and perspective thanks to the vocal talents of Arielle DeLisle, Katherine Littrell, and Lindsey Dorcus."- Library Journal

WHEN I TELL YOU THAT I AM OBSESSED!!!! Seriously, this book has everything I could have ever hoped for and more. There's humor, LGBTQIA+ representation, eldritch level terrors, body horror, sex positivity, and some incredibly creative uses of gore. Lucy A. Snyder really gave their audience their all in Sister, Maiden, Monster. If you are a fan of Lovecraft but crave a contemporary and socially conscious approach to sci-fi horror, then you need to get your hands on this book immediately. If you enjoy David Cronenberg levels of body horror, you've found the perfect book. Grotesque body horror and apocalyptic pandemonium as only Snyder can deliver. Reader beware: Sister, Maiden, Monster is not for the faint of heart!” Unsettling and unexpectedly timely, Sister, Maiden, Monster is horror at its best. Lucy A. Snyder pulls out all the stops with this powerful and unflinching novel, dealing with the fallout of a pandemic and the omnipresent, creeping terror that can only come from your own body turning against you. Put this book at the top of your reading list immediately.”Snyder constructs the novel in a similar way, and introduces little familiar (but not quite the same) tropes that we may have come across before, such as: obtaining memories by eating brains (iZombie, Warm Bodies) drinking blood in erotic scenarios (TruBlood.. vampires in general right?) as well as an all-out attempt to treat the terrifying condition, and reintroduce sufferers into society, rather than kill the infected (In The Flesh). Snyder alludes to all these things, but never outright says ‘yes’ or ‘no’ until suddenly it all becomes clear. Getting inside the minds of the three women was also fascinating, but they were often dark places to be. Fair warning, this book is not for the faint of heart. Full of visceral horror with gory descriptions that can hedge into the downright disgusting, I can see that being a contentious issue for some readers, not to mention there’s also a fair amount of sexual content—very messy, very graphic sexual content. NetGalley readers can request an advance digital copy of Sister, Maiden, Monster for review. E-copies will be available until the novel is published on February 21, 2023. This unflinching puzzlebox of a book leads an unrelenting narrative to its devastating conclusion in beautiful, near-seamless form. Every corner is illuminated, and the things the light reveals are more disturbing than they seemed when still unseen. Absolutely recommend for readers of the grim, the gloriously horrific, and the cosmic.”