This was such a moody, grim read for me. I couldn't put it down and it really kept me company throughout my night, morning commute and overall Sunday. I felt like there is a lot to cover for such a short read, so let's get into some of it.
The themes were a little more abstract than I was expecting but I enjoyed not knowing what to think in some parts. I really fell in love with Leah and Miri and their relationship and those ending chapters were so bittersweet and beautiful.
This story seems to have haunting as a main theme. The way I saw it is that they are haunted by their past, especially Miri, who is thinking a lot about her mother and her illness and how it could affect her, and she also seems to be haunted by her thoughts about the future, if Leah will take care of her in case she will become ill like her mother. Tbh, I didn't think Leah was haunted by anything. Jelka was more affected some voices (not ghosts, as she says it), but it wasn't clear to me what did the haunting.
I like the dual perspective. Sometimes Miri's parts were so long that I was really happy to read Leah's. But Leah'swere too short imo. I couldn't really get into the story because of that. She was pretty much setting the mood, but then her chapters ended, so I couldn't connect much. Miri was all worries and focused on herself and her world, but Leah seemed to be cool headed and not give in to worries much. Personally, liked Leah's chapters more.
I didn't feel like the open-ended ending ruined the experience for me but I wish we'd had a little bit more concrete horror to go through! The body horror was so well-written (yet concise, sharp) and Leah's transformation was equal parts beautiful and scary. I really enjoyed the duality of this read!
I didn't expect to enjoy the lyricism and romantic themes as much as I did - at the end of the day, this was a tragic love story of gried, trauma and loss; I enjoyed it so much more due to this. All in all, this was such a strong read for me.
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