If you enjoy reading About creepy and horror stories than this book is for you. Unfortunately, I don’t like horror stories. And I still learned my lesson from last year when I come about requesting books. It just wasn’t for me.

5/5 Stars

TL;DR - A deliciously slow-burning revenge story, simmering with feminine rage. Trippy, surreal, and hauntingly human. Unlike anything I’ve ever read in the best possible way.

Big thanks to Tor and NetGalley for providing the ARC for this book in exchange for an honest review!

***Trigger Warnings for: being murdered, strangulation, objectification and dehumanization, sexism, misogyny, mentions of child abuse, sexual assault, illness and death of a parent, gore, paternalism, unwanted sexual advances, murder, and violations of bodily autonomy.**

‘Projections’ by S. E. Porter is a genre-bending masterpiece of revenge, obsession, and mortality - and the denial thereof. Equal parts historical fiction, horror, magical realism, and fantasy - and 100% feminist manifesto - this book is unlike anything you’re likely to read presently or in the future. It follows two narrators along three distinct timelines - Catherine Bildstein, a 19 year-old woman living in 19th century rural New York, through her short life up to her untimely murder, Catherine again as she’s tethered as a shrieking ghost to the man who killed her and her harrowing existence thereafter, and Angus Farrow, a “projection” - that is, a magical facsimile - of Catherine’s murderer in the present day as he carries out his creator’s twisted desires. We learn in gorgeous and heart-breaking detail about the evils of toxic masculinity and how dangerous a double-edged sword it can truly become.

Holy. Shit. Full stop, end of story, that’s all, folks.

I don’t even have words to convey what I just read. I’m shook, I’m flabbergasted, I’m deceased - and I’m *living* for it.

“The victors write the histories of wars. Great men pen their memoirs without wasting ink on the villages they burned or the washerwomen they raped. And the living, of course, have rather a monopoly on telling tales of ghosts.”

I guess I’ll start with the prose, like the excerpt above. It’s *gorgeous*. Picture the most heart-wrenching, glittering, soul-deep prose you’ve ever read, and I promise you that this book is infinitely more, well, *more*. It reads like a literary classic coming out of Georgian/Victorian times, and then some. The prose is smart and beautiful, incredibly real but also infinitely ephemeral, as dreamy and fantastical as the events its recounting. The verbosity takes some getting used to, certainly, but once you allow yourself to sink into it, you’re carried along like floating down a lazy, bejeweled river.

Okay, I’m getting a little carried away in my praise, but that’s how profound an effect this book had on me.

Catherine is *everything* as a character. She’s strong-willed and yet a victim of the time she was born in, she’s smart and sardonic and so sure of who she is, even when she’s floundering in her morality. Even when she’s depressed and listless, she’s fierce, even when she’s pursuing her goals with single-minded fervor, she’s uncertain - she’s all of the contradictions and synergies and more. I don’t think I’ve ever rooted so hard for a fictional character in everything she does, right and wrong.

(On that note, Catherine in all her glory earned this book a coveted spot on my “I Support Women’s Wrongs” shelf. Well done, madam.)

Angus, while not nearly as compelling a POV as Catherine, was also very interesting to follow. There’s a slow mystery as to who exactly he is, and then to the full extent of what he is and how it will impact the greater narrative, and while it was certainly often yucky to be in his head (being the projection of a very vile and entitled man), I still had empathy for him and followed his development with great interest.

The world is fantastic, literally and figuratively. This whole books reads like a dark Studio Ghibli movie - there are strange and fantastical creatures like in ‘Spirited Away’, there is charm and whimsy and wonder (and fickle, vain sorcerers) like in ‘Howl’s Moving Castle’, there’s desolation and greed and bleak humanity like in ‘Princess Mononoke’. Minotaurs, talking frogs, ever-changing limnal cities, strange and wonderful magic - I cannot stress enough how this whole book is just one long, bleak and beautiful Miyazaki film. Chef’s freaking kiss on the vibes.

(On later reflection, this also gives strong ‘Penny Dreadful’ vibes in a lot of places - the bleak, 19th century fantastical aspects and similarities cannot be denied.)

This is definitely a character-driven story, and a long one at that, so if you’re more of a plot-centric reader who needs action, this will probably be a tough read. I’m something of a plot girlie myself, but I was so enchanted by the world and so enamored with Catherine (and to a lesser extent, Angus), that I really didn’t mind the almost 500 pages it took to tell the full story. There’s definitely a plot, don’t get me wrong, and some pretty intense parts on top of the over-arching mystery of the whole story, but I would definitely say this will appeal more to literary fiction readers than those used to plot-driven narratives.

And on top of all that, this book is so fucking feminist that I almost can’t stand it - and I say that with such respect and affection, mind you. The pure, unadulterated feminine rage that seethes from every page of this book is exquisite, and I absolutely ate it all up. This is a scathing examination of toxic masculinity and paternalism, of the very real harm it causes every day to people of every gender (or lack thereof, I see you, besties), written with care and consternation in equal measure. I don’t have the words to do it justice, please read it for yourself and then sit with it, savor it, let the bittersweet taste linger on the back of your tongue.

(Also, loving the subtle and beautiful queer rep!)

I need to stop now or I’ll wax poetic forever. Read this book, I beg of you.

Final Thoughts:

This book is everything. Lovingly shelving as “My Soul On Paper” and “I Support Women’s Wrongs”. Purchasing a physical copy as soon as I post this review.

I am a bit mixed as to my reaction to Projections. On the positive side, I really liked the premise, the world building, the themes of revenge, and the dark atmosphere of the book. The book is also uniquely written, with the language and word choices giving it an 1800's feel. Unfortunately, I think the book was about 100 or so pages too long. At times, the pacing was really sluggish and made it difficult for me to stay engaged. I also had a difficult time connecting with characters. I also struggled with the time jumps and magic system. There is also a lack of chapter heading to guide the reader along the way. As a result, it all got a bit confusing. I think, as a whole, this maybe wasn't a read for me. I know there are readers that will just love this book; however, for this reader, it was a bit middle of the road for my tastes.

I don't think I've ever read anything like this before. Yes, it's a ghost story, but from the ghost's point of view. If I was going to wildly oversimplify, I'd say it's a story about vengeance. But it is a lot more than that. The narrative flows between three timelines, which should be confusing, but it works incredibly well. You develop so much empathy for (nearly) everyone as you slowly uncover their various backstories. Really just a beautiful feat of story craft, about obsession that thinks it's love, what love actually can look like, and the amount we can and should hurt ourselves in the name of justice.

DNF at 18%. I couldn't get into it. The beginning dragged, and while I loved the fact that our protagonist first appears to us as a screaming ghost trailing after her murderer, I didn't expect for her to remain in that helpless state for so many chapters in a tale supposedly about her revenge.

The pace was a bit slow for me, but I imagine someone who enjoys multiple perspectives, gradual building of tension, and character-driven storylines would like this more.

Thanks to Netgalley and Tor Books for the chance to sample this book early on.

The pacing of this was a little all over the pace. For a book that is around 500 pages, the storytelling really has to be tight and intentional to keep people compelled to read the story, and this story didn't quite have that. I wasn't a huge fan of the characters, but the worldbuilding was actually pretty solid so the moments where the world was being fleshed out were pretty cool. Overall, I can see where people will really enjoy this (especially if they enjoy the characters, as it is a long book) but it just wasn't my cup of tea.

Wow! What a story! This turned out to be so awesome. I loved the ending. Honestly, tell me about a woman overcoming, and I'm sold.

Okay, I have to be really honest about the beginning of this book. It's three points of view but just two people, and yes, it's as confusing as that sounds at first. But I got in the swing of this story and enjoyed it immensely. In other words, if you read this, please give it a chance! It's really great when you get into it.

Gus loved Catherine. He loved Catherine so much that he killed her when she didn't return that love. Her ghost kind of attaches to him, and she tells part of the story while Gus is telling his story in two different time periods.

It's a wild story, and the way the author tells this story really makes Gus look as messed up as someone would have to be to do what he did to Catherine and then to others. So, yeah, this is a cool read.

Out February 13, 2024!

Thank you, Netgalley and Publisher, for this Arc!

I loved this dark fantasy arc. But then again, I love anything to do with women getting their revenge on egotistical men who believe that they're entitled to a woman's affections. And after having to drag through the bloated middle part, the ending was totally worth it.
When I started reading this, I struggled with the writing style. Catherine's POV starts off around the mid-1800s and I think the author did really well with capturing the character's voice from that time period. For someone who's used to a modern-day tone of voice, it'll read like purple prose.
But 10% in, somehow it all clicked together for me, and it became easygoing.
I loved how the author easily switches writing styles between Catherine's and Angus's POVs. I think it takes real skill to have to switch from a modern POV to something much older and back again and so forth.

**Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Books for the eARC of this title.**

While this book had a great premise and an amazing cover, I found the reading to be tedious and the story pacing just didn't work for me at all. At 500 pages, I felt like I invested a little too much time into this book for what I got out of the story.

Catherine's ghost was lovely and I enjoyed cheering for her as she found her way through Nautilus. Gus was the worst (on purpose,) but there was just a bit too much of him for this to feel like a revenge story. I didn't want to feel bad for Gus or his projections and his chapters took me way out of the story.

Overall, I think readers that enjoy a lot of character building and some solid world building will enjoy this book! The characters of Nautilus were definitely my favorite part of the whole book.

This was fantastical horror with dual POVs & timelines! This tale flowed effortlessly throughout, and the writing really pulls the reader into their world! Loved the villain in this so much! Would definitely read more by this author!

Imgur link goes to Instagram graphic scheduled for Feb 5th
Blog link goes live Feb 11th
Will be featured in January Reads pt 2

Can I say I enjoyed this book? No, I don't think I can. Will I still look for and try S.E. Porter books in the future? Probably. Let me explain.

This book has some fantastic ideas and the setup was great. Catherine, our primary PoV is a ghost, murdered and then tethered to her murderer. From here we see alternating points of view, both her past and her present. We also have the view of a man named Gus and how he is connected to Catherine while he is bent to this drive to find a mysterious ‘her’.

Again, love the setup and the initial 40% of this, I was super absorbed and sucked in. Unfortunately this was so bloated with so much unnecessary backstory and history that it really detracted from the story. Catherine suffers, both in the past and present, a relentless string of abuses. I was angry for her to begin with, she already deserved all the support and I wanted her to have her revenge already, so why did I need to see her treated so badly repeatedly? At 45% I was certain I was nearly done till I checked my actual pages/percentages and was flabbergasted.

So much of this was so strong but it floated like a balloon (or in this case like a wailing ghost) in circles for 200 too many pages. Because of this Catherine’s story just didn’t hit. I also wonder about the effectiveness of some of the other themes and statements that were touched on in the book as they felt like set pieces (likely due to the bloat).

So overall, yes. I love what S.E. Porter came up with here. I think with a tighter edit and some trimming this could have been a favorite. So I’ll keep an eye on this author moving forward and hope she continues to grow. Do I recommend this one, maybe not. But I think she is an author to watch.

A sorcerer obsessed with a young woman... an bloody obsessive love that spans history and multiple dead bodies. Gus loves Catherine, he loves her more than anything... loves her enough to murder her and trap her soul... to send projections of himself out into the world to seduce women who will return the love that Catherine denied... and if they deny him... they will suffer terrible consequences. Catherine was friends with Gus, but she never was in love with him the way he loved her. Yet he murders her before her engagement... and now she is trapped bound to him. But she will not lie waiting.. she'll wait, plotting her revenge against the man who destroyed her who was so obsessed with her that that she can't ever find peace. Can she kill him before it's too late? This book was a DRAG. I felt like Catherine being dragged on by Angus for years while reading this book. The story's pacing is so beyond slow and for a book that is 500+ pages, this book had me disassociating so much. Angus's constant "woe is me" chapters kept going on and on and on and I would absolutely prefer if we got more Catherine revenge plotline. The story itself is confusing, the constant jumping back and forth does not help at all and for a book about revenge and obsessive love, I was hoping I would love it but I so badly wanted to DNF it over and over but forced myself to read it until the end. This book is beyond slow and the plot drags on and on to the point where you begin to ask yourself what even is the point or what is even happening. Honestly for a book that is meant to be a dark historical fantasy filled with obsessive love and revenge, it sounds right up my alley... yet it's nothing like what I had expected or wanted. This book is for anyone who enjoys extremely slow paced stories and lots of time jumping and drawn out character stories.

*Thanks Netgalley and Tor Publishing Group, Tor Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Unfortunately, this was not the story for me. The idea of a woman haunting her murderer in a dark magic/gothic environment sounded really interesting. The frequent time jumps and point-of-view shifts just did not work for me. I always felt a step behind the story and was always a bit confused as to how the world worked. I did enjoy the writing style and felt that it accurately portrayed the time in which the book was set. If this story had been told solely from Catherine's perspective and given more of her backstory than just her association with Gus I may have enjoyed it more. Thank you to Netgalley and Tor for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

No lie, if the middle hadn't dragged so much, this would've been a perfect 5 stars.

I loved this dark fantasy arc. But then again, I love anything to do with women getting their revenge on egotistical men who believe that they're entitled to a woman's affections. And after having to drag through the bloated middle part, the ending was totally worth it.

When I started reading this, I struggled with the writing style. Catherine's POV starts off around the mid-1800s and I think the author did really well with capturing the character's voice from that time period. For someone who's used to a modern-day tone of voice, it'll read like purple prose.

But 10% in, somehow it all clicked together for me, and it became easygoing.

I loved how the author easily switches writing styles between Catherine's and Angus's POVs. I think it takes real skill to have to switch from a modern POV to something much older and back again and so forth.

I ended up really loving Catherine as an MC. She tries to make do with her situation in life (both in the past and the present), even though mid-1800s society doesn't give a fuck about women.

For most of the novel, she doesn't really have any agency. I thought I'd have trouble with that, but in her situation (she's a ghost tethered to her murderer), it makes sense. When she finally gains some agency in the last third of the book, it felt like a huge relief and I was rooting for her the entire time.

The author really knows how to write a despicable villain. Throughout the entire book, I was pretty fucking disgusted with Gus. And this feeling only grew worse and worse the more I read on. Talk about the jilted lover trope cranked up to the extreme.

I would've loved more focus on Nautilus, the magical city. We're fed bits and pieces here and there, and it seems like every citizen dislikes living in Nautilus to a certain extent. You'd think a magical city where no one ages and everyone has some level of magical skill would be really cool, but it sounds like another neoliberal shithole on Earth.

With all of the themes combined, this is such a depressed girlie book. It's so dark and creative. I'd love to read more from this author!

Thank you to Tor Books and NetGalley for this arc.

This book was really unique. Unique premise, unique magic system, and unique timelines and perspectives. I think the way that the multiple timelines were set up were really well done in particular. The main character of a book being a ghost, who has no hopes of returning to life or otherwise becoming more than a ghost is so interesting, and I came to like Catherine as a character far more than I thought I would. Even though she has very little agency for most of one of her two timelines, her commentary was so much fun to read. The magic system was pretty complicated, I think, but the way it was described throughout the story made it really easy to understand, allowing me to focus more on the commentary Porter is making about sexism, rape culture, and power. I also loved how Porter's narrative voice changed based on the time period the chapter was set in. Catherine spoke like an educated woman from the 1800s, and Angus spoke like a modern guy. This was so well done. The one gripe I did have was I think this book could have been about 100 pages shorter than it actually was. It dragged at certain points, and while the writing style was so enjoyable to read, I think some passages got a little more verbose than they necessarily needed to.

“There is nothing as utterly object as a corpse, its materiality distilled by the subject’s deletion. Gus, in short, had found me not object enough, and had amended that deficiency.”

Projections is part historical fantasy, part horror, with complex characters and a timeline spanning centuries. It is certainly not going to be everyone’s cup of tea, but I enjoyed it fully. The narrative voice is very distinctive; this is a big part of what makes the triple timeline effective. I never got lost or confused, which is both difficult to accomplish and key for a successful multi-timeline story. Catherine is bold and opinionated and very offended at having been murdered. Her narration made me laugh just as often as it made me sad. This set of characters are so traumatized and flawed and a big part of the book hinges on these flaws. The reader won't--can't--always root for these characters. They say and do things on impulse or based on misguided opinions, but I found that they each rang true to life.

Here’s my one major complaint. This book is too long. Like, 150 pages too long. I’m not even sure what could be cut, but for how slow the pace is, I felt like 500 pages was just too much. There are also quite a few archaic and/or unfamiliar words used, which made me grateful to be reading an ebook where I could just click and see a definition. It does add to the historical aspect and sets Catherine apart from the new era she eventually finds herself in, but it also slowed down an already slow-paced experience in my opinion.

This is for the ones who love flawed protagonists, character driven stories, and are willing to sit with a character they may not particularly like for an extended amount of time. I had a fantastic time! I’m sure not everyone will. But, if you go into this experience knowing what to expect, I think you’ll be much more likely to enjoy the ride. 3.5 stars.

The last time I read a book as angry as <i>Projections</i> was Joanna Russ's <i>We Who Are About To...</i>, a feminist sci-fi novel from the '70s that pulled absolutely no punches and didn't give a fuck about who it flustered along the way. It gave me a taste for defiantly feminist literature, easily among my favorite books of all time.

<i>Projections</i> may not speak in the same voice, but it is crafted with the same language, the same evocative spirit. Beautifully, powerfully written, <i>Projections</i> is a dense, carefully sculpted masterpiece of feminist fiction. Its study of agency, authority, love, and toxic masculinity and misogyny is a virtual textbook of feminist allegory, with memorable characters and a chillingly elaborate voice.

Although the book is many things, it is also a showcase of Porter's absolute power in prose and voice. The book's story, told nonlinearly through three distinct "movements" of two voices from the past and one from a loose present, is excellently crafted and at times indistinguishable from its historical fiction influences. In spite of its occasional denseness of prose, Porter keeps a keen eye on the story's major themes and gives them ample space to unfold. It's also rare for me to feel like a book of this length is so coherent, but Porter again weaves in so many elaborate world-building elements that directly serve her allegorical goals that not any part of the book feels out of sync with what comes before.

Whether it be metaphors about power and how it is usurped and wielded to uphold misogynistic social structures or about how toxic masculinity blinds men to the very way they torture women and themselves, the book's ideas cover a broad range of concepts from modern feminism in a way that illustrates that patriarchy's problems have really never left--with the book's fictional city of Nautilus only further serving to illustrate how corruption only seems to build upon itself. <i>Projections</i> never forgets its point.

This book is an absolute masterpiece of feminist fiction.

This was unnecessarily long and overworked. The time jumps were messy and confusing. The characters were meh. The plot sounded very much up my alley but unfortunately I was not a fan of the execution of it. Not wasting anymore energy on this one.

Thanks to the publisher for an advanced copy.

Projections initially grabbed my attention with how unique the plot was and I genuinely believe this could become required reading in literature courses with how well written and dissectible it is. There’s so many layers to this story, and the nonlinear timeline slowly revealing everything was very well done. However, the writing style wasn’t my favorite and I found this to be extremely slow paced and hard to get through at times. This feels like a classical literary tale with fresh fantasy elements and societal critiques buried beneath the surface. Essentially, Projections gives me the vibes that it was written in the 1800’s. If you like literary fiction that feels like required reading, Projections would be a great pick for you! If you enjoy annotating and picking apart the deeper meanings and themes, Projections is a perfect fit. I think a lot of people would really enjoy this, it just wasn’t my favorite.

Thank you to NetGalley, Tor Publishing, and the author for providing an early copy - I’m leaving this review voluntarily.

Thank you to Tor & Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book early. I am thrilled to read books from Tor ahead of publications.

The premise with a murdered woman seeking justice and her murderer determined to have women accept him really sparked my interest. The mere idea left a essence of Handmaid's Tale in my mind. However, by one-fifth of the way into the book I sadly felt myself being pulled along like poor Catherine. The pacing feels very slow, and the world-building of the magical land Angus retreats to only comes in spurts. I love books with multiple povs, but I find Angus to be a truly unlikeable character without depth besides "woe is me" in his chapters. If the entirety of the story was told in Catherine's pov, I would be more inclined to read past 28% (about 130 pages of the expected approximately 460 page book). Even with Catherine's sections, though, my mind feels bogged down with confusion due to unlabeled time jumps and the obsessive Angus constantly present. For me to feel more invested in Catherine's revenge, I need to know who she is outside of her childhood or any association with Angus. Perhaps, if the book opened with that, I'd stick with it, but on the whole I find altogether sluggish, skippy in narrative, and full of negativity.

Readers who seek understanding twisted, obsessive characters like Angus might really enjoy this book, if they do not mind a slower pace and discovering the world & character motivations in short bursts. Unfortunately, I am not one of those readers due to the aforementioned reasons.