Here we are, already beginning December, the month to end the year. Maybe I’m just getting older, but every year is feeling shorter than the last and 2024 has certainly been no exception. This week, I read through two emotionally intense works of fiction. These books absolutely put me through the ringer, and I loved every minute of it. Yesterday I started reading a third book that I’m not ready to give a full recap of yet, but I’m including my initial impressions.

@halliday.nelson

Beginning December with a few good books (repost) #inthebooks #reading #recap #booktok #howtobeeaten #mariaadelmann #ifthisbookexistsyoureinthewronguniverse #jasonpargin #jdate #theblackgirlsurvivesinthisone #december #books

♬ original sound – Halliday Nelson

1. How to be Eaten – Maria Adelmann

CW: Domestic Violence, Substance Abuse, Addictive Behavior, Self Harm, Human Taxidermy, Graphic Violence, Victim Blaming, Threat of SA, Grooming, Gaslighting

Yes, that’s a lot of content warnings. I actually feel like I’m missing a few. In this novel, storybook characters we think we know well sit down in a basement together to collectively discuss their trauma. Ruby still wears the fur coat made from the wolf that killed her grandmother when she was little. In fact, she can’t bear to take it off. She remembers the feeling of his stomach acid on her skin. Bernice dated a celebrity called “Bluebeard,” and was the only one of his partners to escape him alive. As she learns about the women who didn’t, she ends up convinced that they were all better than her in various ways. She starts feeling guilt over her survival. Along with Gretel, Ashlee, and Raina, these survivors tell their stories in a support group under the guidance of a therapist.

Although the reader learns quickly that this is not a typical support group, anyone who has participated in group therapy will recognize a lot. Each of the five women embodies coping strategies for trauma. Despite all the content warnings, what the characters experience is treated respectfully. While they don’t always get along with one another, they don’t trivialize each others’ traumas. I thoroughly enjoy dark retellings to begin with, but this book was a flawless examination of the darkness that is already implicit in the original tales. Even for all the horror it exposes the reader to, the lens it focuses on coping mechanisms (healthy and unhealthy) and growth feels palliative. In the end, it’s less about what they endured and more about how they did so both during and afterward.

I found I wanted a whole book for each character. This was the first book I’ve read from this author, and I’ll be seeking out her other one, Girls of a Certain Age.

2. If This Book Exists, You’re in the Wrong Universe – Jason Pargin

CW: Graphic Violence, Substance Abuse, Child Abuse, Suicide

This is not the first time I’ve covered books from this series. The first title in the series is John Dies at the End. I covered the second book in my September post and read the third book in early October. I am deeply in love with this series. More than once, I have described it as “if Lovecraft and Douglas Adams wrote a book together” but until now I’ve neglected to include George Carlin in that mix. The horror and humor have always masterfully intertwined, but I haven’t given enough acknowledgement of the works’ poignant social commentary.

I’ll say again that this series gets better with every book. They always make me laugh out loud or get my heart racing in actual fear. This one also made me cry – more than once and for opposite reasons. Once was sadness, another was so perfectly lovely. I also had to push the book away from me once mid-paragraph as it felt like the entirety of the universe was boiled down into a single, rather simple sentence. I loved and hated that it took place in the same book that included the following paragraph:

So far, this is the last book of the John, Dave, and Amy novels. In the afterword, the author says that there will probably be another, but as far as I know, there is no timeline for when. He recently released a standalone title called I’m Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom and has another series that currently stands at two books. All three titles are on my list. I cannot recommend his work highly enough.

3. The Black Girl Survives in This One – Desiree S. Evans & Saraciea J. Fennell

This one is a short story compilation featuring horror stories that use the Final Girl trope. Horror fans know how infrequently the cast of survivors at the end of the story have much melanin in them. These stories are seeking to change the ratio, and it’s refreshing. I’m only four stories in, and each one has featured a wildly diverse setting; from farmland to outer space, the theater to the bayou. The characters are also extremely vivid so far. Although the reader only spends a few pages with each one, they feel real. They feel whole.

I’ll be honest that the fear level is not as intense as with some other books I’ve read lately, but this wasn’t written for adults. It’s listed as young adult fiction. A middle or high school student, closer in age to the characters, would likely feel a bigger adrenaline rush. I’m still utterly enraptured by the stories, and also see how some of the concepts could be expanded into utterly terrifying full novels or films. It’s difficult not to picture the movies playing in your head while reading this one.

Beginning December Was Fun

I really enjoyed beginning December with these titles. Next week I’ll give an update on the rest of The Black Girl Survives in This One. This past week I attended several events for local authors and a local bookstore grand opening. My TBR pile grew by quite a bit. There are a lot of titles in there that I’m very excited for. It’s always difficult to choose which one is going to come next. I’m glad that I read as fast as I do, but there are days where I still get impatient with that speed. All there is to do is keep reading!

As always, I want to hear from you! What have you been reading lately? Are you having fun with it? Have you read any of these titles, and if so, what did you think of them? Tell me everything, and follow along for more!