Sorrowland by Rivers Soloman

Sorrowland by Rivers Soloman
UK Publication Date: 6^th May 2021
Reviewed by: Book Worm
Rating: [★★★★]

This ARC was provided by Random House UK (via NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review.

Three word reviews OMG! & WTF!

Synopsis from Goodreads:  Vern – seven months pregnant and desperate to escape the strict religious compound where she was raised – flees for the shelter of the woods. There, she gives birth to twins, and plans to raise them far from the influence of the outside world.

But even in the forest, Vern is a hunted woman. Forced to fight back against the community that refuses to let her go, she unleashes incredible brutality far beyond what a person should be capable of, her body wracked by inexplicable and uncanny changes.

To understand her metamorphosis and to protect her small family, Vern has to face the past, and more troublingly, the future – outside the woods. Finding the truth will mean uncovering the secrets of the compound she fled but also the violent history in America that produced it.

My Thoughts: This is one of those books the defies genre it is part survival story, part horror, part historical commentary, part cult fiction, part love story and so much more. To try to describe it would ruin the discoveries the reader makes as the book progresses.

I love the diverse cast of characters the author nicely covers the LGBTQ rainbow as well as showing disabilities and how they don’t have to limit you in what you do. One of my favourite quotes that highlight’s how gently the whole gender idea is handled is:

“They’re Children’ Vern said nervous that she would have to explain what she meant by that. She’d never had to before.”

And a great quote regarding sexuality:

“For Lakota there’s more flexibility, more than just man and woman. So me?  I’m one of the more. When I was born they guessed from what they saw that I was a boy, but I wasn’t a boy. I’m winkte, That’s the best I can explain it.”

And my final quote concerns defining people as one thing or another:

“Because without a name for it, it’s just something I am, a part of life. Once it’s got a name, I know that means someone has studied it, dissected it, pulled it apart. When something has a name, they can say it’s bad.”

Soloman really understands readers as the greatest love scene in the book involves one character reading to another. Hell yeah that is my idea of romance right there!

Now for the warnings – at the start of the book some things happen that made me think well that’s not possible, too unrealistic, how could that be. As a reader you need to get past this feeling because it is all tied up later on and if you get hung up on what is believable you will be missing a cracking book.

This was my first Rivers Soloman book and I can already guarantee you that it won’t be my last.

Who would like this? I would recommend this for anyone looking for something completely different from their fiction.

We want to hear from you! Have you read this book? What did you think?