Welcome to the beautiful Home Owners Association of Arcadia. So beautiful. So tranquil. So perfect. Okay … so there may be some rules that are questionable… don’t be out after dark… no fences … keep where everyone can see all the way through your house … don’t lock doors … no breaking rules that go in and on. But, hey! Don’t we all suffer just a little bit for the person we love? Especially when seen through rose colored glasses and just determined they are just so perfect and that we were made for each other … soulmates of sorts. Right? Unless maybe the strange neighbors and their cryptic messages just might mean something. Or what about that nagging don’t go in the basement rule. Hmmmmm.
For me, this very short novella was a mash up of the strangest sort by billing it as horror with the necessary … horrific discoveries, but also encompassing the realm of fantasy, (think Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik,) a children’s story (The Three Little Bears) and then all of the above smashed into the story of Adam and Eve from the Bible. Whew. Is your head spinning yet?!
I can see this being used in a book club setting for the different nuances one can pick from the story and what other meanings might lay beneath the surface. It’s also just strange enough that when you get through your left thinking … huh. Interesting premise.
This was a 3 out of 5 star novel for me. I did like it. And the length is just perfect for reading as a palette cleanser between novel genre switching or just as a fast read.
Thank you so much to #NetGalley, the publisher and the author Catherynne Valente for providing me with an electronic arc in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.
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Oceans of Books 