RaveNew Orleans ReviewMary South crafts characters exquisitely suspended in stasis, and—as she picks them apart—manages to simultaneously use them to explore how human feelings of inadequacy interact with technology. South delicately traps all of her protagonists in various sets of paralyzing circumstances: something stops them all from growing ... Rather than distracting the reader by showing off excessively technical sci fi writing, South zeroes in on how her characters are feeling. The lasting effect is something similar to the combined after effects of reading Miranda July while an episode of Black Mirror plays in the background.
Maryse Meijer
RaveThe MillionsMost books are an experience, some books act as precious objects, but occasionally—when many stars and aesthetics align—a book can be both. Maryse Meijer’s Northwood enters that slim, murky category of journey and sculpture ... It is physically, texturally gorgeous to see and to touch ... The book’s artful appearance melds with the voice of the protagonist, a lonely artist who spends a year in a secluded cabin in the woods ... The book studies the appeal of punishment for a person who feels they deserve pain; it examines the wrongheaded and sickly appeal of deep self-hate that once made you pick your acne or pull out your eyelashes in moments of stress. Of course, the text often sharply veers from allure into ugliness. Instead of purely romanticizing a man who loves by hitting—which, of course, would be a mistake—the book also reacts to its subject with deep disgust ... Meijer’s protagonist will drag you down into her most hideous, most beautiful pathos ... Perhaps the best part of this book is Meijer’s ability to add new dimensions to ancient cliches.
