Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Wild Spaces by S.L. Coney

2 reviews

pm_me_book_recs's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense medium-paced

4.0

Hauntingly beautiful story of unwanted change and family secrets. Coney is incredible at setting the scene and reminds me of Steinbeck- but if the topic was horror cryptids. My heart ached for The Boy, thoroughly despised Grandpa, worried for Mom and Dad, and completely adored Teach
... and shattered into a million pieces as well
.

I was not expecting a deeply emotional experience from this novella. But that's exactly what is delivered. There's an allegory here I can't quite put my finger on, but feels familiar. 
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bookishmillennial's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
disclaimer if you’ve read other reviews by me and are noticing a pattern: You’re correct that I don’t really give starred reviews, I feel like a peasant and don’t like leaving them and most often, I will only leave them if I vehemently despised a book. I enjoy most books for what they are, & I extract lessons from them all. Everyone’s reading experiences are subjective, so I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not, regardless if I add stars or not. Find me on Instagram: @bookish.millennial or tiktok: @bookishmillennial

Premise:
  • contemporary coming-of-age, southern Gothic, Lovecraftian, and cosmic literary horror based in a North Carolina coastal town
  • a nameless family (mom, dad, 11-year-old son) find a dog and the boy names him Teach, after his favorite pirate stories that his mom has shared with him 
  • the boy's maternal grandfather shows up unannounced one day and tensions start to surface within the family dynamic
  • the father is extremely weary of the grandfather, while the mom clearly has some communication issues with her father
  • a mysterious past that is shared between the mom and grandfather is alluded to
  • Teach continues to attempt to protect the boy throughout the story, as we encounter monsters (really enjoyed this symbolism/metaphor for human monsters)
  • content warnings provide some spoilers so check below at your own discretion

Thoughts:
I listened to an ALC from Libro.FM and am providing my honest review voluntarily.

This novella was DARK, like I was devastated after finishing it. There's only about ~120 pages but the story moves quickly, and I got attached to the boy and the dog Teach very quickly. Teach is a reminder that we just don't deserve dogs, or animals in general. We should always trust their natural instincts, because they're just much more attuned to the ominous and nefarious forces around us, and their immediate reactions are to protect and *survive*.

As a recovering people-pleaser and a highly sensitive person, reading about the inability of the mom to ask her father to leave was a feeling I knew allllll too well. It's easy to be upset with her, because there is a clear sense of dread that builds up the longer that her father stays, but I empathize with her because she clearly was never allowed to speak up to her father growing up, and that's manifesting in this frustrating dynamic as an adult.

There's a lot that goes unexplained in the story, but one can infer and project their own familial trauma to fill in the blanks. I actually think that's what works pretty well with this story. Since they are a seemingly "nuclear," idyllic, nameless family, you can insert whomever you want. At 11 years old, I felt like my life was pretty idyllic and like my parents were perfect too. I think many of us could find something to relate to, in the way that the boy's world is rocked and he is left heartbroken, realizing there are monsters in the world, and is introduced to grief and loss. The unease with knowing that so many kids realize the world is not as idyllic as their childhoods leaves you gutted, and I couldn't believe the emotional arc this book took me on! 

S. L. Coney's writing is atmospheric, dreamlike, ethereal, and eerie, and leaves you ruminating what everything *really* meant or represented. This was a quiet, creepy read, and I highly recommend it! 

Notable Quotations:
"The boy wishes he was like the land, that he could bury his secrets down deep, hide them until millennia later when what is sharp and dangerous about him could be beautiful, too."

"Burying things down deep doesn't render them mute"

The sea always rushes in, greedy for the land. His father says that one day -- a bazillion years ago -- a fish grew legs and walked on the land for the first time. And as funny as he thinks a fish with legs would look, he wonders how the sea felt when her inhabitants started walking away. He wonders if maybe that's why she keeps eating away at the land, trying to take back what it stole.

“Father was wrong, he tells him. Sometimes, being related is all it takes.”

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