Thank you to Rivers, Netgalley, and MCD Books for an advance copy of Sorrowland.

When Vern finally escapes from a dangerous and overbearing religious cult, pregnant and alone, she is scared but determined that this is what is best for her and her babies. After giving birth to twin boys and raising them in the woods, she falls ill and realizes that she may need to let her guard down and try to put faith and trust in people.

While battling the unknown illness that is weaking her body, along with terrible nightmares & hallucinations, she decides it’s time to leave the woods in search of a childhood best friend who also made their escape from the compound. She becomes close with some people she meets who take the trio in and work to heal whatever ails Vern. As she learns that she’s being hunted by her past, she starts to unravel and question everything she’s ever known.

This is a very hard book to blurb, as there are so many moving parts to the story. It’s a multi-genre wild ride that touches on a variety of tough topics (as I’ve come to expect from Rivers). It’s gothic sci-fi, with some body horror, some speculative fiction, and it touches on racism, homophobia, government overreach, and the dangers of extreme religious views. If that sounds like a lot…it is. And that’s part of what I took fault in with this book.

Rivers writes a really immersive and dark story. I’ve read a couple of their other books and while enjoying the ambition overall the books have ended up being somewhere in the 2.5-3.5 star range because they’re just SO much to digest. I loved the survival aspects, it gave it a dystopian feel and I do love a good dystopian survival story.

A lot of reviews I’ve read criticize Vern’s character, but for me I really enjoyed her. I loved Vern’s distrust of everyone around her and I loved how strong she was. Let’s be honest, I am a full grown woman and I cannot imagine running off into the woods with my son to survive…and Vern did it pregnant with twins. I even enjoyed her blind arrogance and refusal to see anything other than what she perceived the world to be.

While I can’t say I’ve ever loved a Rivers book…they are obviously doing something right because I continue to be interested in reading the work they put out. Each book is definitely a think piece that touches on a lot of social issues and is delivered in a darker, yet more entertaining manner.

Sorrowland is breathtakingly beautiful, strange, and horrific in its rending of the veil of societal issues. It tackles discussions on so many important topics such as racism, colonialism, gender roles and identity, sexuality, and the connection (and loss of connection) among those with collective trauma. I regularly found myself stopping to read lines aloud - stunned by the striking truth and beauty of them.

While this book can be deeply unsettling in its body horror and themes that it tackles, it adds so much to conversations that need to be happening. There were moments that I felt equally uncomfortable reading regardless if it was due to the visceral horror taking place on the page or due to my whiteness when faced with the stark eye-opening truth of racial trauma. I thank Rivers for writing such a beautiful story that compelled me to witness its beauty despite the discomfort of the material.

This is one of those books that stick with you. It's gritty and bleak, yet fascinating, surprising and powerful. Rivers Solomon doesn't hold back when laying bare the US' dark history of colonisation, corruption, racism and religious oppression, putting these themes at the forefront of this dark speculative story. There is mystery throughout, with the truth being bizarre and yet believable, leading us into a gripping, tragic and somehow hopeful finale.

It isn't an easy read - Vern is definitely a morally grey main character who can be unlikeable at times, but she's also incredibly sympathetic, and you are always rooting for her to finally achieve peace, both with herself and her situation.

All in all, an excellent book, and I will definitely pick up more of Solomon's work.

This book really hooked me in the beginning. I was really invested in Vern's story, but as the book went on, I found myself having trouble following the plot.

The story follows a teenager pregnant with twins who escapes a cult. The magic realism aspect was confusing to me, as I wasn't sure if it was really happening, or if it was in Vern's mind, as her POV was so skewed.

At the end, I understood what the author did to get the story where it needed to go. However, because I didn't like Vern and was frustrated by some if her decisions, I found that I ultimately didn't enjoy the journey getting there.

This book had me captivated from the first page. I read it in two days and Vern's experiences stayed with me when I wasn't. I grew up in a rural area and the woods were so well depicted I felt like I was back there again.
The ending was simply perfect.
This is my second Rivers Solomon book (The Deep being the first) and I will definitely be reading more.

A mixture of many fascinating elements that would place the story into many genre but it doesn't really fit into any one type. The story revolves around a cult. The cult itself has become a character in the story as this young woman who has lived her life inside the cult has now escaped. Only 15, she is married to the cult's leader and is pregnant with twins. Her life has been constant violence and teachings enhanced by drugs. It should be no surprise that her interactions after escape are tempered by her life before escape. She will raise her children and live her life hunted and haunted by the cult and it's members.

This story has been built in layers. As our MC ages, so does her ability to see how she escaped the physical presence but not the influence of her earlier life. Her emotional stability leans to the agressive behavior of a prisoner, not the survivor she is. As her children grow, they will become strangers to her, becoming more like their father.

This is not a quick, easy read. The story winds and sometimes double backs into itself. It defies categorization, yet should be appreciated by readers of fiction, scifi, paranormal.....try it before you make up your mind.

The writing in this book is absolutely gorgeous and the plot and characters were original and extremely interesting. I wish I had read the book, though, instead of listening to the audiobook, because there were several times I realized I wasn’t really following what was happening in the story.

I didn't know what to expect from this novel and was pleasantly surprised! Genre-bending and vastly different from anything I've read before. Liked it a lot and really looking forward to reading more from this author.

I love gothic fiction and this did not disappoint. It merges sci-fi with horror in a way I've never seen before. Would highly recommend if you're into that sort of thing. If not, it would probably not be for you.

Starts out strong but doesn't maintain, unfortunately. I enjoyed the cult aspect, the unreliable narrator, the magical realism, but found myself having to force myself to finish.

What an intense engrossing journey! A stunning piece of speculative fiction. One of my top reads of the year.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this advanced reader's copy and the opportunity to read this early. Review has been posted on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

This goth-sci-fi-horror novel offers immersive language and well-written, atmospheric scenes, but the convoluted, over-ambitious plot takes away from the potential effect. Teenage protagonist Vern Riley grows up in a cult whose members experience so-called hauntings. She escapes and gives birth to twins, then teams up with other outlaws in the woods to investigate the cult. Along the way, the text explores mass manipulation, queer love, and the exploitation of Black bodies.

Unfortunately, the whole thing lacks stringency and gets slightly out of control, but I still liked the language and many of the inventive ideas presented in a dark, looming world.

this is one of the weirdest books i’ve ever read
now that i’m caught up on all of rivers works i’m extremely sad that i have nothing else to read
might try their podcast type novel that they did in collaboration with some authors because i love their brain so much
i recommend if you want a weird book that's kinda culty and beautifully yet hauntingly written

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me an advanced copy of this book to read and review.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the review copy.

Another case of it’s not you, it’s me. I just couldn’t get into this one. There was nothing wrong with it, just not the book for me.

I’m not even sure how to put this book and the experience of reading it into words. I read the entirety of Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon so I may have been slightly delirious from hunger and fatigue. Once I started I quickly realized I knew nothing about what the book was about —for some reason I thought it was an anti colonial vicious take on fae but that is decidedly not this book. Nonetheless, after reading The Deep by Rivers Solomon (which was excellent, highly recommend) I had complete faith in their ability to craft an excellent story. Sorrowland was no exception. No book has shocked and surprised me quite like this one and I will be thinking about it for a long time.

I don’t think I’ve ever read anything quite like Sorrowland and I don’t think I ever will again. Rivers Solomon might quickly be becoming one of my favourite authors; they are, at the very least, an author I always look out for. There is something so distinctly unique about their books, writing style, and storytelling.

This isn’t much of a review and I think I need to reread it before I can form any real coherent thoughts but nonetheless, I highly recommend this book!

Sorrowland has officially opened my eyes to gothic science fiction and I don't think I'm ever turning back! Wow, Rivers Solomon takes us on an incredible journey following Vern and later her twin boys as she escapes a cult only to start going through strange unexplainable bodily changes and has to uncover why this is happening to her. This story was original and intriguing and I couldn't get enough!

Thank you so much for the opportunity to review this title, but my reading interests have changed. I will not be finishing this book, but look forward to others in the future.

I’m having a difficult time pinning down a rating for this book. On the one hand, I absolutely loved the first third of this book but once a certain ✨pivotal scene✨ occurred I felt myself liking the book less and less. It seemed to drag quite a bit.

I just don’t know if I maybe had different expectations for what the plot of this book was or the genre it was supposed to be. I am actually still a little confused by this being marketed as ‘fantasy’ and ‘horror’ because I feel like it was neither of those things? I guess the twist was what made it eligible to be classified as ‘horror’ but even that felt a little ridiculous.

Overall, I did enjoy the writing and the storytelling. I also loved Vern so much and felt like she was one of the realest and most raw characters I’ve read a perspective from in a while. But, I just couldn’t get behind the story as a whole.