I got this softcover from an online seller, after reading about it in this Big Idea post in John Scalzi's blog. (Was also tempted by the lovely black hollyhocks on the cover! I've grown a variety of those, and while they're actually a very, very dark purple, they do look black in certain light.)

The premise: a woman arranges to have herself committed to the problematic Hollyhock Asylum, in an attempt to find out what really happened to her sister, found dead on the road a year before. The story unfolds in journals and transcripts along with the primary narrative - a style I usually like, though it can sometimes be a bit hard to follow.

So far, so good - but, alas, for me things just didn't gel. In part this was because the nature of the horrors at the asylum were so very intimately awful - body-horror mixed with forced impregnation - but I found that I wasn't able to get involved with the main character. (I did appreciate the author's notes at the end, contrasting the historical abuses with current threats on reproductive freedom.)

I plan to leave this book, bagged against the elements, at an entrance to the trails through the poignant, haunting hospital cemetery in the woods. Hope someone enjoys it!

[See other recent releases in MA here.]

Released for:

** 2024 April Showers/May Flowers challenge **

** 2024 Never Judge a Book By Its Cover challenge. **

** 2024 52 Towns in 52 Weeks challenge. **