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A review by ianders
Follow Me to Ground by Sue Rainsford
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This is a bizarre little story that I'm not sure is for everyone, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was mostly fascinated by the core concept, the odd species the main character and her father are part of. They both have the ability to plunge their hands into someone's body and remove diseases and other aches. They can also put people to sleep, or "to the ground", burying them alive in a certain state until they are healed and well. The MC and her dad are both revered and feared for this, living on the edge of society and in a sort of quiet isolation. One revels in it, the other not so much.
From this starting point, we get a dark kind of romance developping. When I say dark, I don't mean forbidden love exactly, but that the relationship is rather sick, unbalanced, and darken by one particular err aspect of the guy's life (heed trigger warnings). The main character suffers from a kind of loneliness that is relatable but that renders her a morally ambiguous being. I did not find her completely unlikeable per se, only her choices can be a little repugnant, which made the story very interesting, even if I did not root for her in the end.
I was squicked by the romantic relationship, but I was engrossed in its trajectory (which I gather was the point). I was mostly intrigued by the father-daughter dynamic, though. There is an air of mystery around the strict, taciturn father. The divide between someone who is content being wild and a stranger to humanity, and another who is alienated both by her nature and the humans surrounding her. For a short story, it conveyed a lot on that front.
I also enjoyed all the different perspectives from the villagers peppered throughout the text, like a handful of people interviewed about the strange neighbor they used to reluctantly seek services from. I thought their voices, brief as they were, were also distinct against one another. The range of opinions formed a better picture of the main character, like pieces of the same puzzle that still don't all fit together.
I only wish the story was longer, a full-length novel. I was not ready to part with it when it ended and, frankly, would have preferred a different focus than the romance. It was still good, mind you, but while it gave me insight on the kind of person the main character was, it was not what interested me the most about her. Still a cool, uncanny experience though.
From this starting point, we get a dark kind of romance developping. When I say dark, I don't mean forbidden love exactly, but that the relationship is rather sick, unbalanced, and darken by one particular err aspect of the guy's life (heed trigger warnings). The main character suffers from a kind of loneliness that is relatable but that renders her a morally ambiguous being. I did not find her completely unlikeable per se, only her choices can be a little repugnant, which made the story very interesting, even if I did not root for her in the end.
I was squicked by the romantic relationship, but I was engrossed in its trajectory (which I gather was the point). I was mostly intrigued by the father-daughter dynamic, though. There is an air of mystery around the strict, taciturn father. The divide between someone who is content being wild and a stranger to humanity, and another who is alienated both by her nature and the humans surrounding her. For a short story, it conveyed a lot on that front.
I also enjoyed all the different perspectives from the villagers peppered throughout the text, like a handful of people interviewed about the strange neighbor they used to reluctantly seek services from. I thought their voices, brief as they were, were also distinct against one another. The range of opinions formed a better picture of the main character, like pieces of the same puzzle that still don't all fit together.
I only wish the story was longer, a full-length novel. I was not ready to part with it when it ended and, frankly, would have preferred a different focus than the romance. It was still good, mind you, but while it gave me insight on the kind of person the main character was, it was not what interested me the most about her. Still a cool, uncanny experience though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Medical content
Moderate: Incest, Murder, Pedophilia, and Toxic relationship