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grayjay's review against another edition
4.0
Starla moves back to her hometown and in with her mother when her life in Toronto falls apart after defaulting on her student loans.
Her now depressed hometown Crystal Beach was, in the 1940s, a bustling entertainment town with dance halls, casinos, and an amusement park. Everywhere there are remnants of the park and its famous roller coaster.
When her mom decorates Starla's room with memorabilia from the park, it brings with it the ghost of a young flapper escort who attached herself to Starla and feeds off her pain.
I enjoyed the ghost aspect parts of the novel as it blew up into a supernatural scandal, and I enjoyed the local history aspect. It was fun imagining the small Canadian town in the 40s, that would draw Americans over the border.
Starla's story of childhood abuse, her strained relationship with her mother, and her journey toward healing was poignant.
Her now depressed hometown Crystal Beach was, in the 1940s, a bustling entertainment town with dance halls, casinos, and an amusement park. Everywhere there are remnants of the park and its famous roller coaster.
When her mom decorates Starla's room with memorabilia from the park, it brings with it the ghost of a young flapper escort who attached herself to Starla and feeds off her pain.
I enjoyed the ghost aspect parts of the novel as it blew up into a supernatural scandal, and I enjoyed the local history aspect. It was fun imagining the small Canadian town in the 40s, that would draw Americans over the border.
Starla's story of childhood abuse, her strained relationship with her mother, and her journey toward healing was poignant.
krrksch's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
hedgehogbookreviews's review against another edition
4.0
You can also find this review on Hedgehog Book Reviews!
Starla is disappointed that she has to move back in with her mom after dropping out of college. Originally from the small town of Crystal Beach, she’s been living in the city of Toronto while slowly falling more and more into debt. Upon coming back home, she begins working as the night shift manager of a campground and RV park, The Point. One would imagine that this job might entail some pickup around the grounds and a little downtime, but Starla’s experience is much more extraordinary. From the very first day, strange things start happening at The Point. The ghost of a girl who died in Crystal Beach takes special interest in Starla and begins communicating with her inside her head. As Starla becomes closer to the residents of the campground, the ghost’s pull on her gets tighter. The strangely sexual bond that the two have may end up hurting Starla in a way that her new friends can’t understand or see.
I’m so excited that Arsenal Pulp Press agreed to send me an ARC of this title. Ever since I discovered they were releasing a lesbian, ghost novel, I’ve wanted to get my hands on it. I’ve read a few lesbian mystery-ish books that ended up being too predictable or too much like fan fiction, but Sodom Road Exit is not like those at all.
Starla is queer and mentally ill and her struggles are very realistically written. I think the way that Amber Dawn portrays her symptoms of PTSD and general suicidal ideation is accurate, which is a great feat because these illnesses can be hard to describe. I especially liked learning about Starla’s way of coping with triggers and stressors—spelling out words to calm herself down and distract her brain. This is a real technique taught in therapy and seeing it in literature was pretty cool. I found the way that Amber Dawn imagined that a ghost would affect someone with these illnesses interesting as well. PTSD and irregular moods can be difficult to manage on their own; putting sexual chemistry with a ghost on top of them certainly wouldn’t help!
One of my favorite things about Sodom Road Exit is the ending (and not because I’m glad it’s over). It is neither too happy nor too unsatisfying. The ability to wrap things in a way that’s believable and concluding is one that I admire in authors. I really appreciated the character evolution that Starla and her friends at The Point went through. It’s weird that a supernatural/lesbian mystery made me feel so good after finishing it, but I guess that’s Amber Dawn’s special talent.
Lastly, I want to comment on how Sodom Road Exit dealt with one of its character’s wavering sobriety. Hal, someone residing at The Point, struggles with alcoholism. Starla notices that Hal’s drinking is interfering with him properly treating his wife and son, so she works to get him set up with a twelve step program. The way that AA is discussed in this book is really positive and educational. Sometimes addiction and alcoholism are displayed in such a negative light in works of fiction, which is not helpful for reducing the stigma around the disease. Amber Dawn did an excellent job writing about alcoholism in a respectful way.
Overall, I loved Sodom Road Exit. As someone who enjoys reading books with supernatural elements and books with queer characters, I knew I was going to like this book from the very beginning. It definitely met and exceeded my expectations. I want to give a big ‘thank you’ to Arsenal Pulp Press for sending me this title in exchange for an honest review. I know I’m going to be thinking about Starla’s story for a while. I’m excited to read more Arsenal Pulp Press books in the future!
Starla is disappointed that she has to move back in with her mom after dropping out of college. Originally from the small town of Crystal Beach, she’s been living in the city of Toronto while slowly falling more and more into debt. Upon coming back home, she begins working as the night shift manager of a campground and RV park, The Point. One would imagine that this job might entail some pickup around the grounds and a little downtime, but Starla’s experience is much more extraordinary. From the very first day, strange things start happening at The Point. The ghost of a girl who died in Crystal Beach takes special interest in Starla and begins communicating with her inside her head. As Starla becomes closer to the residents of the campground, the ghost’s pull on her gets tighter. The strangely sexual bond that the two have may end up hurting Starla in a way that her new friends can’t understand or see.
I’m so excited that Arsenal Pulp Press agreed to send me an ARC of this title. Ever since I discovered they were releasing a lesbian, ghost novel, I’ve wanted to get my hands on it. I’ve read a few lesbian mystery-ish books that ended up being too predictable or too much like fan fiction, but Sodom Road Exit is not like those at all.
Starla is queer and mentally ill and her struggles are very realistically written. I think the way that Amber Dawn portrays her symptoms of PTSD and general suicidal ideation is accurate, which is a great feat because these illnesses can be hard to describe. I especially liked learning about Starla’s way of coping with triggers and stressors—spelling out words to calm herself down and distract her brain. This is a real technique taught in therapy and seeing it in literature was pretty cool. I found the way that Amber Dawn imagined that a ghost would affect someone with these illnesses interesting as well. PTSD and irregular moods can be difficult to manage on their own; putting sexual chemistry with a ghost on top of them certainly wouldn’t help!
One of my favorite things about Sodom Road Exit is the ending (and not because I’m glad it’s over). It is neither too happy nor too unsatisfying. The ability to wrap things in a way that’s believable and concluding is one that I admire in authors. I really appreciated the character evolution that Starla and her friends at The Point went through. It’s weird that a supernatural/lesbian mystery made me feel so good after finishing it, but I guess that’s Amber Dawn’s special talent.
Lastly, I want to comment on how Sodom Road Exit dealt with one of its character’s wavering sobriety. Hal, someone residing at The Point, struggles with alcoholism. Starla notices that Hal’s drinking is interfering with him properly treating his wife and son, so she works to get him set up with a twelve step program. The way that AA is discussed in this book is really positive and educational. Sometimes addiction and alcoholism are displayed in such a negative light in works of fiction, which is not helpful for reducing the stigma around the disease. Amber Dawn did an excellent job writing about alcoholism in a respectful way.
Overall, I loved Sodom Road Exit. As someone who enjoys reading books with supernatural elements and books with queer characters, I knew I was going to like this book from the very beginning. It definitely met and exceeded my expectations. I want to give a big ‘thank you’ to Arsenal Pulp Press for sending me this title in exchange for an honest review. I know I’m going to be thinking about Starla’s story for a while. I’m excited to read more Arsenal Pulp Press books in the future!
juleschultz's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
babyfacedoldsoul's review against another edition
5.0
This book deals with childhood sexual abuse, so major trigger warning for that. A hard read that hit me like a sack of bricks in its relatability but well done. It needed a bit of editing as some sentences/spelling was off, but a powerful read all the same.
blueimelda's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
simlish's review against another edition
4.0
Sodom Road Exit is about twenty-two year old lesbian college dropout Starla, who is forced by debt to move back in with her mother in rural Canada in Crystal Beach, near Niagara Falls. Making literal a haunting childhood, she meets and becomes haunted by a ghost.
Sodom Road Exit was one of those books that I find more than vaguely revelatory -- it's unabashedly horny and weird in a way that repeatedly made me go, delighted, "You can do that?" Reading books like this launches me beyond questions of quality and directly into marvel. I loved Sodom Road Exit. If I ever publish a novel, I hope it is just as unabashedly horny and weird.
It's also, I think, a really fun read. It's very rooted in specifics and the physical world, which is a lovely contrast to the plot of haunting and possession. The locations feel real -- the author's note, at the end, thanking her parents for taking location reference pictures, made an awful lot of sense to me. Starla, the protagonist, is a materialist who runs through inventory and price when anxious, which builds a sense of surroundings, the time period, her debt, and her anxieties all in one go.
It's very sad and very hopeful and very weird. I'm not sure the pacing is always the best, and there were a couple threads that were dropped, but I absolutely devoured it. I'm not sure who, exactly, I would recommend this book to, but I sure did like it and I hope the people who will like it will find it.
Sodom Road Exit was one of those books that I find more than vaguely revelatory -- it's unabashedly horny and weird in a way that repeatedly made me go, delighted, "You can do that?" Reading books like this launches me beyond questions of quality and directly into marvel. I loved Sodom Road Exit. If I ever publish a novel, I hope it is just as unabashedly horny and weird.
It's also, I think, a really fun read. It's very rooted in specifics and the physical world, which is a lovely contrast to the plot of haunting and possession. The locations feel real -- the author's note, at the end, thanking her parents for taking location reference pictures, made an awful lot of sense to me. Starla, the protagonist, is a materialist who runs through inventory and price when anxious, which builds a sense of surroundings, the time period, her debt, and her anxieties all in one go.
It's very sad and very hopeful and very weird. I'm not sure the pacing is always the best, and there were a couple threads that were dropped, but I absolutely devoured it. I'm not sure who, exactly, I would recommend this book to, but I sure did like it and I hope the people who will like it will find it.
dessa's review against another edition
5.0
This book is like walking into a haunted house in the best possible way. It’s about destroying yourself and not destroying yourself and all the ways the world can destroy you and make it look self-inflicted. But it’s also about big, big love, and resilience, and hope, and putting an extra tablespoon of nutmeg into your tortellini stuffing and watching the people you love be fed and loved before they die.
timbo001's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
tippytypewriter's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse and Sexual assault