Ever stumble across a book that felt tailor made for your very specific and moderately unusual tastes? Yes, I know that isn't actually the case with The Writhing Skies. Such things would make Betty an incredibly talented, yet equally creepy person with not exactly the greatest business model for her writing career. Also, believing that would mean I am insanely narcissistic and, as I have told the assholes at the clinic far too many times, I am definitely not narcissistic. I'll be fucked if it didn't feel that way, though.
You see, we have Sarah, desperate to escape the constricting embrace of her room at her parents' house. Unfortunately for her, the sky is full of mouths that want nothing more than to devour her and the streets are filled with bulbous, glowing creatures invading her in the worst ways. Unable to get back inside, she has no choice but to stumble her way through a hostile world that has ceased making sense.
Brain-breaking surreality? Check. Dense, but gorgeously poetic prose that drips off the page into my brain? Oh yes. An overwhelming metaphorical landscape that both reflects and exacerbates the internal state? You are damn straight, mademoiselle. These hallmarks seem to be Rocksteady's jam and they push every one of my super happy literary buttons even before the illustrations, which I'll get to in a moment.
It's hard to say much concrete about this book while still avoiding spoilers, as it runs pretty quick. I feel comfortable telling you that the experience is every bit as powerful as her last book, Like Jagged Teeth, which some of you may remember as the book Anton kept ranting about last year. It's very hard to carry the sense of nightmarish illogic within a purposeful and controlled narrative, but she pulls it off marvelously here to create a crushing tale of guilt and the psychological toll of emotional abuse.
I was particularly impressed with how well Rocksteady set up the reveal of later surprises via imagery and tone. She shows a very deft hand with manipulation of information, so that nothing feels like a cheap twist. Instead, the things we need to know are dropped like breadcrumbs that show up along the trail well before we even realize what they presage. It makes for a nice trick.
Moving on to those illustrations mentioned earlier: They're simple affairs, done in an early Fleischer, Betty Boop style that, on the first glance, evoke a sense of innocence. However, a more sinister side quickly begins to show itself and, by the end, they well match the grotesque horror of the story.
My only gripe is with the end. With the weight that is given to the proceedings throughout, it felt more like a petering out than a solid resolution. Not enough of an issue to hurt the book for me, but I would have liked something a little less Beyond-ish. The Writhing Skies is easily one of my favorite books of the year and Betty is easily among my top authors of the new guard.
***Somewhat spoilery, but quite important content warning: This book deals very frankly with issues of sexual assault and has an incredibly graphic scene of a home abortion that could prove too much for those who have suffered a miscarriage or a similar horror in their own life.***
buy it from Perpetual Motion Machine Press
buy it from Perpetual Motion Machine Press
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