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Death Valley
Death Valley | Melissa Broder
19 posts | 19 read | 15 to read
The most profound book yet from the visionary author of Milk Fed and The Pisces, a darkly funny novel about grief that becomes a desert survival story. In Melissa Broder's astounding new novel, a woman arrives alone at a Best Western seeking respite from an emptiness that plagues her. She has fled to the California high desert to escape a cloud of sorrow--for both her father in the ICU and a husband whose illness is worsening. What the motel provides, however, is not peace but a path, thanks to a receptionist who recommends a nearby hike. Out on the sun-scorched trail, the woman encounters a towering cactus whose size and shape mean it should not exist in California. Yet the cactus is there, with a gash through its side that beckons like a familiar door. So she enters it. What awaits her inside this mystical succulent sets her on a journey at once desolate and rich, hilarious and poignant. This is Melissa Broder at her most imaginative, most universal, and finest. This is Death Valley.
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review
EmberIvyRose
Death Valley | Melissa Broder
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Mehso-so

This was an odd little book, which delves into anticipatory grief in such a unique way. It focuses on connection and meaning in a world that seems to often skip over the “important“ stuff of life.

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britt_brooke
Death Valley | Melissa Broder
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Pickpick

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Broder is a gloriously odd one to predict! Loved Milk Fed; very much did not The Pisces. So, this could‘ve gone either way. An unnamed writer seeks temporary solace at a Best Western in the California high desert. A fever dream of anticipatory grief
and subjective reality ensues. Delightfully weird, funny, and moving.

BarbaraBB Great review 5mo
britt_brooke @BarbaraBB Thank you! 🩷 5mo
60 likes2 comments
review
ImperfectCJ
Death Valley | Melissa Broder
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Mehso-so

When I was about 40% in and ready to bail, I took a break, read some reviews, and reminded myself that I really liked The Pisces. While I'm still not a huge fan of a novel that reads like a memoir and spending so much time inside the head of someone I'm not sure I like, I did end up appreciating this book. The second half redeems the first, and I like when authors portray the richness and beauty of the desert alongside its potential deadliness.

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Lindy
Death Valley | Melissa Broder
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Pickpick

A woman overwhelmed by her fears, powerlessness and grief finds solace inside a giant cactus in the desert. This dark, funny and surreal novel gave me Saint-Exupéry‘s The Little Prince vibes. If you‘re a fan of stylish existentialist introspection, check this out. I laughed and I cried.

sarahbarnes I really liked this one too. 10mo
batsy Sounds great! I've been meaning to check out her other novels, too. 10mo
Lindy @sarahbarnes It‘s strange, but appealing 10mo
Lindy @batsy I haven‘t read any of her other books but I think you would like this one 10mo
41 likes1 stack add4 comments
quote
Lindy
Death Valley | Melissa Broder
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…something looks different about her.
It‘s her lashes that have changed; they‘ve tripled in size. Where yesterday there were two silky half-moons, today are full-on feather dusters. I don‘t know how she can see.

quote
Lindy
Death Valley | Melissa Broder
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Every Best Western lobby has a few unifying design rules, at least as far as I‘ve observed, and this Best Western is no different:
Where wood can be fake, make it fake.
Where linoleum can be used, use linoleum.
If a geometric shape can be incorporated into any wall, rug, or floor tile, it‘s going in.

Dilara 😂 10mo
dabbe 😂 10mo
Lindy @Dilara @dabbe Melissa Broder‘s prose has given me many chuckles. 🤭 10mo
Suet624 Hahaha. 10mo
Lindy @Suet624 😁 10mo
31 likes5 comments
quote
Lindy
Death Valley | Melissa Broder
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Later in the day, when the sun‘s oven begins to close up shop, the rabbits re-emerge from their holes. They are beautiful creatures: all fur, curves and peace.
[internet photo]

37 likes1 stack add
review
sarahbarnes
Death Valley | Melissa Broder
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Pickpick

This is my first book by Broder and reading it felt like the earth shifting under my feet a bit. She takes you outside the realms of reality just enough to have no idea what will happen next. I loved the main character in the story and her narrative voice was perfect. A fun and unexpected pick. Thanks for the tip @Megabooks !

merelybookish Merry Christmas!! 11mo
Megabooks Yay! Glad you enjoyed it! 11mo
sarahbarnes Merry Christmas @merelybookish!! 🎄♥️ 11mo
See All 6 Comments
BarbaraBB Wow this sounds great. I see I had it stacked already. Probably thanks to @Megabooks too! 11mo
batsy Oh, great! I have this on hold. Really need to read her other books too. 11mo
Reggie Yeah, her books sound like they‘re up my alley and then I never get around to them. Great review. 11mo
35 likes2 stack adds6 comments
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JoyBlue
Death Valley | Melissa Broder
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Mehso-so

This is trippy and dryly/darkly funny.

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perfectlywinged
Death Valley | Melissa Broder
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Melissa Broder always writes hilarious messy girl characters in odd situations but I find the writing in this particular book feels really honest- she aptly handles grief in a really honest and accessible way and I‘m already feeling a lot while reading this. 🌵

11 likes1 stack add
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vlwelser
Death Valley | Melissa Broder
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Pickpick

This book is about a woman mourning her father and possibly her sick husband though both are still alive. It's about a stage of grief family members go through with loved ones that are suffering from terminal illness. Something people deal with all the time. And because this author is definitely extra, she does it in an unexpected way. I love this cover.

#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

#aardvark @AardvarkBookClub

AardvarkBookClub 💕💕💕 12mo
AardvarkBookClub We seriously love this cover as well! We don‘t pick books by the cover but it doesn‘t hurt this one is so gorgeous ☺️ 12mo
Megabooks Great review! 12mo
TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 12mo
48 likes4 comments
blurb
vlwelser
Death Valley | Melissa Broder
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#BookSpin #DoubleSpin #BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

Late to the monthly party as usual.

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!!! 13mo
25 likes1 comment
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ICantImReading
Death Valley | Melissa Broder
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Pickpick

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Death Valley is an engaging existential fever dream that you‘ll want to inhale quickly and then ruminate on for days afterwards. I loved Melissa Broder‘s voice as a writer and as the audiobook narrator. Weird, witty, poetic, poignant. 🎧

“If I could define my terror - of life and dying and loving and all of it - if I could say, This is what it is, I would say: It keeps going. It keeps going and also it will end.”

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Mdion1993
Death Valley | Melissa Broder
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Panpan

A woman seeks to escape her depression in the desert.

Fever Dream ✨ Meta ✨ Spiritual

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AardvarkBookClub
Death Valley | Melissa Broder
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Pickpick

“Think the Chronicles of Narnia, but instead of a wardrobe, it‘s a cactus.”
– Cosmopolitan

#aardvarkbookbox #aardvarkbookclub #deathvalley #melissabroder #litfic #literaryfiction

44 likes1 stack add
review
Megabooks
Death Valley | Melissa Broder
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Pickpick

I liked this #aardvark choice a lot. Broder writes wonderfully complex and compelling female characters and puts them in fantastically f***ed up situations! Just great!

A woman arrives at a Best Western in the California desert to try to finish her book. But she‘s also dealing with a father emerging from a coma and a chronically ill husband. A trek through the desert tests her mentally and physically and maybe gives her some perspective.

sarahbarnes This sounds very good. Great review! 13mo
AardvarkBookClub 💚💚💚 13mo
GondorGirl Ooo, I'll have to move this up my TBR list! I've got it on my shelf already... 13mo
See All 6 Comments
Megabooks @sarahbarnes thanks! I think you‘d enjoy it! 13mo
Megabooks @GondorGirl oh fantastic! Enjoy! 13mo
Megabooks @AardvarkBookClub your picks were 🔥🔥🔥 this month!! 13mo
87 likes6 stack adds6 comments
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Megabooks
Death Valley | Melissa Broder
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Went overboard, but @AardvarkBookClub ‘s picks were FANTASTIC this month!!! If I didn‘t already have Rouge from the library, I would‘ve gotten it instead of Starter Villain. And maybe I should‘ve waited at the library for SV, but that cover is fantastic! 😂😂🫶🏻 Broder is always interesting, and my library doesn‘t get her books. Black Sheep seems like a great seasonal book (horror). Nice job #aardvark!

vlwelser These were also my top 3. And already read Rouge. I put SV on my library list for later. I love all of these covers. 14mo
Megabooks @vlwelser I probably should‘ve waiting for the library, too, but I‘m really excited about all 3! 14mo
JamieArc This will be my box too, except I can‘t decide between Rouge and Starter Villain! Great minds… 14mo
See All 9 Comments
vlwelser My library gets everything because Boston. But I just pick the one I want most and go with it. Possibly the covers speak to me. But their author choices have gotten pretty epic too. 14mo
Eyelit It was def difficult deciding this month as I wanted a lot of them - but limited myself to two (Rouge & Death Valley). Full disclosure: I already had starter villain and am planning on using a libro credit for black sheep) 😆 14mo
Megabooks @JamieArc I‘m 70 pages in Rouge and enjoying it. They‘re both great picks! 14mo
Megabooks @vlwelser oh wow! You‘re so lucky! I have an EXCELLENT library for a large town in Kentucky, but sometimes I‘d like access to a whole city‘s. 14mo
Megabooks @Eyelit I love that disclosure! I almost went audible on either Sheep or SV, but I just wanted to hold them as books. I really dig aardvark‘s binding! 14mo
vlwelser The main branch is across the street from where I work. I'm very spoiled. But other things could be less expensive. It's a tradeoff. 14mo
70 likes9 comments
blurb
vlwelser
Death Valley | Melissa Broder
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#Aardvark picks are out. This was a struggle. I basically wanted all of them (except I already read Rouge which is awesome). My finalists were this and Starter Villain. Amazing author choices. I love this book box.

@AardvarkBookClub