Welcome to Litsy!

Sorrowland kept showing up in my searches (stories about cults, about queerness), but I never added it to my list. For a moment I forgot why that was, so I borrowed the audiobook from the library and immediately ran into a LOT of a content-warning I try to avoid. But I kept going because the story is so strange, intriguing, surprising, and I'm really glad I did. 1/2

Another amazing book from Rivers Solomon. It‘s been on my kindle forever, so glad I finally got a chance to read it! #readyourkindle #readyourbooks

#2023Book59
The writing in this book is absolutely gorgeous and the plot and characters were original and extremely interesting. I wish I had read the book, though, instead of listening to the audiobook, because there were several times I realized I wasn‘t really following what was happening in the story.

I enjoyed this enough to read it in one day. It covers some heavy topics but in a way that never quite had you feeling like there was no hope. Bad things happen but you don't feel like tragedy is inevitable.

Enjoying a little side yard reading while the breeze is out and the sun is not too high. Rolo is enjoying the nice weather as well.
#DogsOfLitsy

Last day of the #TransRightsReadathon and I managed to finish 1 more book. Rivers Solomon is definitely going to be an autoread author for me from now on. I‘ve read 3 of their books now, all of which have been completely different, but equally imaginative, thought provoking, and affecting. #20in4 @Andrew65

In celebration of the #TransRightsReadathon, I'm highlighting openly trans and nonbinary authors this week. Rivers Solomon's work explores life on the margins, and they don't pull any punches as they explore gender, autistic experiences, race, and marginalization.

Please consider donating to organizations that support our trans and nonbinary communities, such as Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund at https://www.transgenderlegal.org/

The child gushed out from twixt Verne‘s legs ragged and smelling of salt. #FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

#TransRightsReadathon
Author spotlight on agender writer Rivers Solomon

Solomon's writing is atmospheric and their characters are vivid and interesting.
Sorrowland is a dark story of a pregnant woman who escapes a cult and births and raises her twins in the woods. Things are not what they seem, and mom Vern is getting hunted. This book is a fierce and haunting story. So good!

Anyone else obsessed with the first season of The Last of Us and looking for some readalikes? I've got you!

bookriot.com/best-books-like-the-last-of-us/

HAPPY #BOOKSPIN DAY to all who celebrate!

I am so happy with this month's picks because I'm starting to believe my chunkster curse is passing. My DoubleSpin this month is the anti-chunky Time Machine at 141 pages! Plus my BookSpin is under 400 pages.

Vern is fifteen, pregnant, & escaping from the cult that raised her. But she has more to deal with when her body begins to mutate.

This book deals with the seductive power of cultism, racism, & human experimentation. So it‘s easy to get a little lost sometimes.

One of the things that I appreciated was so many women were portrayed in this story, all with unique drives and ambitions and characters. But the ending left me unsatisfied. 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑

Vern, a pregnant 15 year old, escapes from a cult leaving her family behind. She gives birth, survives in the woods and then...things start to get really weird. To say anymore, would spoil the story.
While I didn't love this book as much as I was hoping to, I was drawn into Vern's journey of self-discovery and the utterly bizarre world in which she inhabits.

I had to go ahead and bail on this book, which is very rare for me. Kept trying to slog through, and gave up around 75%. Is it magical realism? Is it a coming out story? Is it a cult story? Too much going on here, and none of it done very well; I couldn‘t discern even a clear plot. Vern is busting through her skin due to a fungus implanted by a cult, and she goes home and takes a naproxen? Give me a break.🤦🏻‍♀️

hooked.

#Audible $5 sale 😁 No buy January? February will be better.

In love with this story telling and the vibes and the love.

This book is very different. Even the author is unusual. I'm not sure I can do this justice in a little blurb. But I definitely liked it a lot.

I wasn't sure where this was going for a while; it's tagged fantasy, but it took a while to get to that. Its not disappointing in the build up at all though; you are confronted with a lot almost immediately, and that never really ease, following beautiful, haunting writing the whole way.
I kind of found myself wishing it would just finish at the end of the second part, but that also wouldn't have completed the overarching message of the novel.

This book was beautiful and terrifying and insightful and sexy and it's amazing that Solomon was able to do everything that they did with such success. I love how much Sorrowland doesn't fit into any one genre.
It wasn't quite perfect, but damn it was a good read.

Seriously weird. The underlying references & lessons presented are good points, but the delivery was just a strange fever dream. This was my first read from Rivers Solomon & their prose reminds me a lot of Toni Morrison. Lyrical & gauzy with a bit of a dreamlike feel. A slow build dystopian/horror mix that took a hard left turn in the last third. It took me on a ride like a bad acid trip, dragging & becoming beyond the feel of natural flow.

There was more to life than Cainland, more to earth than its collected sorrows. There was wonder and awe and the allure of nothingness. No one had figured everything out, but there were people who'd made their home in the searching. If they could dwell there, so could Vern.

I really loved Verns journey of self-discovery. This was the second book that I‘ve read by Rivers Solomon and the second that I‘ve enjoyed.

I was hesitant about reading this, since I didn‘t care for Solomon‘s last book, The Deep. But Jenny Lawson chose it for the #FantasticStrangelings bookclub pick a few months ago, and I usually like her choices.

Then I really really liked it. It‘s strange and creepy, but also tender. It‘s an escape from a cult and a tale of motherhood and a monster story and a somewhat warped sexy romance… and a thriller. There‘s a lot here, good stuff!

#LittenListen @aperfectmjk

This book was wonderful and haunting. I'm not quite sure how to review it without giving too much away. I loved the unique weirdness of this story, and the underlying tale of a cult recruiting only certain individuals added a complex element I wasn't expecting.

This was my first book by this author but I definitely want to read more now.

This was so strange and so good. Dark sci-fi with a strong voice on social issues.
Solid ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

My July #Bookspin and #BookspinBingo list is all #ShadesOfBlue (except my #lmpbc book at the end). Also, other than my 5 free spaces I usually use for library audiobooks, I‘ll be concentrating on #ReadMyOwnDamnBooks! 🤣. I‘m giving myself a month long book buying ban. Let‘s see how many of these I can read off the TBR. 📚💙

As always, thanks for hosting @TheAromaofBooks !

Another incredible novel from Rivers Solomon-- did I really expect anything less? A sci-fi survivalist thriller that swings from genre to genre with ease as each new twist is revealed. Solomon's prose is at times lush and others biting, & I loved every moment of it. Vern escapes the cult compound she was raised on just as she's giving birth to her babies, but the horrors done to her begin to manifest in strange and terrifying ways.

4 stars / ⭐⭐⭐⭐

One of the most original novels I've read. Surprising, mesmerising, horrifying and very powerful. @TheAromaofBooks #bookspin

Soon after Vern escapes from a black religious cult, she gives birth to twins. She is 15 & raises them in the woods, always hiding from pursuit. Vern is a fierce survivor: scrappy, queer, partially blind & able to see ghosts. She is also undergoing some kind of physical transformation. A riveting eco-thriller that reflects on important issues like unquestioning patriotism & the history of experimentation on black bodies. #LGBTQ #audiobook

Vern could clock a manipulation when she saw one. [🤐] presented two choices: run forever or surrender. But this world was full of infinite possibility. And even if it wasn‘t, there was a third option that was such low-hanging fruit, to pretend it didn‘t exist revealed [🤐]‘s hand: to fight.

She couldn‘t disown ALL of her upbringing. If she did, there‘d be nothing left of her. People aren‘t born, they‘re made.

Really excellent! Haunting and unforgettable, with more layers of themes than I can list.
This author just keeps getting better and better, it's been really neat to see.
And look at that cover 🥰 I want to hang it on my wall.

https://apple.news/Avh_vVzIbS8mhRfnCcg_FFw

This book is drawing me in so much that I was late to my other commitments of the day and got sunburn on my feet.
Or maybe I just didn't want to ever leave the beach.
Or both. Definitely both.

If you need a book to that has hauntingly beautiful prose, this a great example.

I picked up them book on a wim, hoping to like it and ended up loving it. My only regret is reading this before the author's other books just experience to progression of faer's writing.

What a compelling work. Would make a great book club pick because it made me long for a classroom setting to really dissect the craft at play https://youtu.be/5cw3FuYCous

It‘s a beautiful day. The Culver‘s I‘ve been waiting to open in my neighborhood for almost two years opened today, and I have a great book (which I even managed to talk about briefly with a worker at Culver‘s 😂).

This is not a book I would have chosen to read were it not a pick for the #fantasticstrangelings book club. I decided to give it a go and it‘s quite good. Weird, way out there (for me), extremely well written. The content isn‘t usually my jam, but their writing is so good I would try their books again.

Love when I finish ARCs after they are released 🤷‍♀️
This was great. Interesting storyline, well drawn characters, good pacing. I enjoyed and understand this much more then Solomon's other works (which I also liked)

Weekly forecast. I have started the tag on my Kobo already.
Hoping to get through at least these 4 last week was a mess at work so not much reading got done.

#Bookmail! It‘s this month‘s Fantastic Strangelings book!

I loved the concept of The Deep, but the execution fell short for me, so I‘m hoping Rivers Solomon‘s follow up sits better. Gorgeous cover though for sure! 🤞

Jenny Lawson always recommends a second book for if you read more than one per month (um, yeah! 🙋). This month her rec is I am a Girl from Africa, which I started a couple days ago and it‘s good so far.

#fantasticstrangelings

We made a fully vaccinated, socially distanced trip to Greensboro, NC this weekend and I discovered a lovely independent bookstore. I was delighted to find a new book by an author I love, Rivers Solomon, and to learn that they would be presenting at the (virtual) Greensboro Bound Literary Festival on my birthday!

5/5

This book is incredible! Vern has escaped the cult she grew up in. Free from its influence and alone in the wilderness with her children, her body begins to transform into something new, and she begins to realize the cult was hiding much bigger secrets than she realized.

#netgalley

It starts off with 15 year old Vern giving birth in the woods not long after escaping from Cainland, the cult she was raised in. Part survival story, part gothic horror, part reckoning, Rivers Solomon has expertly blurred genre boundaries yet again.

I actually enjoyed Sorrowland more than The Deep. I couldn't put this book down. I kept telling myself "alright just one more chapter" then Vern would pull me back in for more...

Thank you for the tag @DarkMina! Sorry, I'm late!

#ThoughtfulThursday

1) Yes, I have reread books but it isn't a common occurrence. Some that I have reread are Finding Audrey and They Both Die at the End.

2) Covers have more of an impact than I like to admit. 😅

3) Sorrowland

I have never read anything like this. It's critical yet lyrical of society and the lack of changes we have done to our life-style. Vern's story is not only an action pact adventure but one of a character that has been wronged by society. Facing sexism, racism, homophobia, and more this protagonist, faced social issues after social issues that society burdened her with (which you will most likely see yourself in).

I wish I had a physical copy of the book so I could annotate it because some of the sentences are blunt but poetic at the same time?..