Epeolatry Book Review: Comfort Me With Apples by Catherynne M. Valente
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Title: Comfort Me With Apples
Author: Catherynne M. Valente
Genre: Supernatural Thriller/Folk Tale
Publisher: Tordotcom
Release Date: 9th November, 2021
Synopsis:Comfort Me With Apples is a terrifying new thriller from bestseller Catherynne M. Valente, for fans of Gone Girl and Spinning Silver
Sophia was made for him. Her perfect husband. She can feel it in her bones. He is perfect. Their home together in Arcadia Gardens is perfect. Everything is perfect.
It’s just that he’s away so much. So often. He works so hard. She misses him. And he misses her. He says he does, so it must be true. He is the perfect husband and everything is perfect.
But sometimes Sophia wonders about things. Strange things. Dark things. The look on her husband’s face when he comes back from a long business trip. The questions he will not answer. The locked basement she is never allowed to enter. And whenever she asks the neighbors, they can’t quite meet her gaze….
But everything is perfect. Isn’t it?ush, gothic fantasy about the prices we pay and the vengeance we seek.
In Arcadia Gardens, everything is perfect. The rules are clear and ironclad. Each day is as lovely as the day before and everyone is happy.
Everyone. Especially Sophia.
Sophia has the perfect life. Good friends, a safe, happy home made just for her. And best of all, the most wonderful husband. They are perfect together because she knows in her soul that she was made for him and him alone.
Valente’s prose is beautifully crafted and almost aggressively well-written. Like Arcadia Gardens and its interjected rules within each chapter, the book itself works hard to show how perfect and wonderful everything is in Sophia’s life.
But, true perfection is a form of monstrosity. It’s unsettling and unrelatable. As I read this book and enjoyed the beauty of its style, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. And neither could Sophia. Her happiness was a gift, but soon became a trap.
It’s hard to discuss this book without giving up the mystery. My recommendation to anyone interested in Comfort me with Apples—go in blind with an open mind. I will warn that it’s not a conventional mystery.
I loved this book. It’s a short read but it left me eager to reread it and examine the story in a new light.
out of 5 ravens.
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Melody lives in Ontario, Canada and writes short, dark fiction. She has been published in several anthologies and online publications. In university, she studied Ancient Greek and Roman Studies and often infuses her work with elements of Greek mythology. She also loves reading, embroidery, and martial arts. You can follow her homepage at: https://www.blog.melodyemcintyre.com/
Homepage: https://www.blog.melodyemcintyre.com/MelodyEMcintyre.com
Twitter: @evamarie41.
