THE MURDERS OF MOLLY SOUTHBOURNE is one of the most unusual novels I have ever read, and defies description. I believe it combines psychological insight with fantastical (as in Fantasy) metaphysics.

It was the cover that sold me on this one, when I saw it on Netgalley. I didn't even realize when I clicked request that it was from Tor (which is practically an automatic must-read), or even that it was a novella (which I figured out when I was 10% of the way in and shocked at how fast it was going).

Look at that cover. The Murders of Molly Southbourne, by Tade Thompson, has the title-cover one-two punch going for it. The starkly pale face with the bright red streak of blood. How many people has she murdered? Is she even the killer?

From the beginning, where the character wakes up chained up in a basement, unsure who she is or where, we are left guessing. A young woman comes in and says she needs to remember this story, cuts her own arm, and begins to narrate.

The novella is about Molly, who grew up on a small farm in England with her loving parents. She is homeschooled and lives a solitary but happy life. Her parents guard her carefully, and no harm is allowed to come to her. When she is even slightly hurt--a small cut, a nosebleed--well, strange things happen. More mollies appear, which starts out fun but very quickly becomes dangerous.

My friend Katie once passed on a comment from her writing teacher: a novel talks about the turning point in a story, but a novella talks about the lead-up to that turning point. In a novella, the end of the book is the Big Moment Where Something Happens. I'm not sure if this is meant to be a global truth (and I think I'm going to email Katie to ask), but I've thought about that a lot, and I think it's often true--good novellas frequently build tension all the way through at a steady pace and break the tension on the very last page. It's not about the Big Moment happening or about the aftermath, but about the lead up to the Moment itself

I wouldn't have said that while I was reading this book, but in retrospect I think that's true. If it had been any longer, it would have had to be structured completely differently; I would not have been able to tolerate the steadily mounting tension, the difficult progression of Molly's life.

But as it was, this was perfect; it's a perfect example of a story that takes a premise and spins out the life of the person who lives that premise. Molly is curious and hard and strange and competent, and she has a life of many, many questions but very few answers.

A very interesting story; I'm quite looking forward to whatever comes next for Tade Thompson.

What a weird but compelling novel! Every time Molly bleeds a duplicate of herself appears and tries to kill her. A bit of an issue for a female. This book was so odd but I couldn't stop reading it. Molly is an amazing character. The pace moved along nicely and kept your attention. The end, however, was a bit disappointing and wasn't as strong as the rest of the book. 3.5/5

Every time Molly Southbourne bleeds, a new molly is born. With every opening of her flesh or her monthly period, a hole forms in the ground and a mysterious, murderous, doppelganger appears.

It's a fresh and bizarre concept played wonderfully straight by Tade Thompson, who delivers a smattering of scares and genuine creepiness alongside some soft sci-fi mojo in the book's latter half. But what really impressed me was the character of Molly herself.

Molly is a psychologically complex figure, and she left me thinking a lot about nature versus nurture. Because of her condition and the pseudo hemophiliac-like countermeasures of her life (furniture with no corners, for instance), as well as the rules she must live by (If you see yourself, run. Don't bleed. Blot, burn, bleach.), I couldn't help but wonder how much of Molly's behavior and quirks was a direct result of her odd condition and the fashion in which her parents were forced to nurture her, and how much was her natural state simply being given an outlet. Having to confront her evil twins on a routine basis, she is allowed to explore certain dark impulses that she might have otherwise repressed. Although Thompson doesn't delve deeply into such an exploration, it's still leaves me curious, and the mannerisms of several of the other mollys leaves it as a nagging question, a sort of mental puzzle box to explore without authorial hand-holding.

Equally impressive was the writing itself. Thompson runs a tight ship and infuses this novella with a startling amount of depth in such a short span of time, yet keeps the story moving fast. He pulls off character development and spectacle with equal aplomb, accomplishing so much with both in so few pages. This book is expert-level stuff all the way through. Although I have a few questions, and plenty of suspicions, about Molly, the biggest question is how the hell haven't I heard of Tade Thompson before, and how quickly can I buy more of his work?

[Note: I received an advanced copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley.]

Though it’s a weird one, I totally enjoyed this well-written novella. It is engaging from the very first up to the last page. The story is so creepy and yet unique at the same time. Everything about this book is interesting, from the book cover to the plot and even the characters. Most of all Molly. There might be some disturbing content and hard to grasp instances but nevertheless it is a fantastic book. Short but definitely worth the read. It is something that will stay with you even after finishing it. So, if you’re looking for some strange and scary book to read, you should definitely try this one out.

For as long as Molly can remember, she has been watching herself die. Whenever Molly bleeds, another molly is born and is set on trying to destroy her.

Because of this, Molly lives on a farm with her parents and isn’t allowed to go anywhere. She also has to follow a certain set of rules.

But as Molly gets older, she trains to take care of herself and eventually her parents – although reluctantly – allow Molly to attend college. Unfortunately for Molly, she cannot escape who she is, no matter where she goes.

If you are looking for something bloody for Halloween, this is a good quick novella to pick up. I found the story interesting, albeit a bit on
a stomach turning side, as some of the scenes for me personally were a little much to read.

The story was quick and the concept I felt was really good, but it left me with a lot of questions. I know this is part of a short novella series, but I didn’t understand why this isn’t a fully composed book. I really wanted to know why this was happening to Molly, why the molly’s kept coming even if she wasn’t bleeding at some parts, and also why the one molly was different. Plus, why they want to kill her?

Too many whys.

Also, there is a bit of a language translation issue for me. The mother is supposed to speak Russian and Ukranian and keeps calling Molly Dorogoy. This isn’t conjugated properly, as Molly is a female the female version of that endearment would have been Dorogaya. It might not matter to some, but it is suppose to be the feminine version if used correctly.

This has got to be the most strangest novella I have ever read. It was just so out there but I found that I liked it. It was some dystopian aspects involved along with some science fiction thrown in as well. I found that it was really well done and I was satisfied with the ending and everything in, being that it was just a novella (which I honestly didn't know when I requested it)

I would talk about the plot but since this is a novella, saying too much would spoil the whole thing. I'll just sum it up by saying this: Molly shouldn't bleed ever. Sorry folks, that is all you're getting out of me. Whatever you want to find out, you're just going to have to read.

This novella will not take you long to read at all. I finished it in about an hour. I do suggest this book if you are looking for some weird sci-fi or just need to mix it up and read something totally out there. I just hope you all don't get queasy at the sight/mention of blood.

The nitty-gritty: Strange and horrific, I loved this novella, even though it’s still giving me nightmares.

This was one strange little story, and not what I was expecting at all. After reading and loving Thompson’s Rosewater, a story about alien contact, I eagerly requested his latest, a novella from the highly acclaimed Tor.com line. The Murders of Molly Southbourne is disturbing and violent (the cover hints at what’s between the covers) and spooky, mostly because the reader is left in the dark for most of the story. The mystery of what’s actually going on with Molly Southbourne is what drives this tale, and even near the end when we get some vague scientific answers, I still wasn’t sure what had happened. But that’s OK. This novella is more about the experience than the resolution.

The story opens with the first person observations of a girl who wakes up to find herself chained to a wall, drenched in blood, with no memories of what happened to her. Soon another girl enters the room, a girl who introduces herself as Molly Southbourne, and strangely, she looks exactly like the chained girl.

Molly has a very important story to tell this girl. Molly Southbourne is only a child when she sees her first “molly,” an exact replica of herself who appears in front of her one day. When she tells her parents about the girl, they explain to her that every time she bleeds, a molly is created. The mollys seem harmless at first, but later they turn on Molly and try to kill her. So begins Molly’s real education: her parents begin to train her to not only prevent the mollys from appearing (“Don’t bleed.”) but how to clean up after them when they do appear (“Blot, burn and bleach”). Unfortunately for Molly, when she reaches puberty, she has a whole other set of problems crop up, and you can imagine her dismay when her mother informs her that she will bleed regularly every month, and yes, that blood will also create mollys. And so her childhood consists of fighting and killing the rogue mollys and getting rid of the evidence. It’s a rough life, but it’s all Molly’s ever known.

When Molly is old enough to leave home, she insists that she can handle the mollys without her parents. But away at college, things quickly spiral out of control. Molly is finally ready to solve the mystery of why the mollys keep appearing, and she even meets someone who is willing to help her with that task. But when she finally discovers the truth, it’s stranger and more terrible than she ever imagined.

For a story about a girl whose blood creates doppelgangers, this was suitably creepy. There isn’t a whole lot more I can say about the plot, because I don’t want to spoil the surprises. But I did enjoy the odd nonchalance that Molly and her parents feel towards what’s happening to her. There is one scene in particular between Molly and her father that was rather disturbing. Molly is very young, and her father has taken her out to the barn to show her how to dismember a pig. What disturbed me about this scene wasn’t the dismemberment, but the fact that Molly took this weird instruction from her father completely in stride. Obviously, he’s teaching her how to dispose of a body (as parents do...), so when she’s older and starts having to kill the mollys herself, she’ll know what to do. 

And that’s the just the beginning. This story is filled with strange and disturbing images and occurrences. It also occurred to me as I was reading that Molly’s parents obviously know what’s going on, but Molly never asks and never seems to care about the details. Eventually, though, she discovers a letter from her mother that explains things - sort of. At this point the story turns on a dime from horror to science fiction and the reader is left with some new and horrifying information, but no resolution.

Luckily, Thompson is continuing the story in at least one more installment (Goodreads only gives a tentative title and no release date), and I find myself overly anxious to discover what happens next. If you haven’t read Tade Thompson yet, then I highly recommend you jump on the bandwagon soon. Rosewater made me a fan of his, and now The Murders of Molly Southbourne has put him on my “must read” list. For fans of horror-mystery-science fiction and just plain weirdness, this is one novella that shouldn’t be missed.

Big thanks to the publisher for supplying a review copy.

I'm not going to lie. This is a weird and trippy book.

The concept is so utterly strange, yet so utterly compelling. And through the whole book, though I wondered about one character we met in the beginning, I never even approached the truth of it. I was shocked and delighted.

I do suggest reading a sample first. You need to be okay with bizarre (because it is very bizarre) and you need to be okay with the kind of book that plays with your head. It took me a long time to decide if the things in the book were really happening or if it was all some long mental breakdown of one character. (No spoilers for you on that point!) It's also so very uncomfortable a read.

I would read the author again, though I'm sort of scared-yet-excited about what he'll throw at us next.

Don’t bleed.

I really enjoyed this, and despite it only being a novella I found the story incredibly well written and unique in its concepts.
Ever since she can remember Molly has watched herself die, hundreds of times. Whenever she bleeds, a ‘molly’ is born. Her twin in every way. Except all the mollys want to do is kill Molly. And as she grows, the mollys do too - and they get better at fighting back.

I’m amazed at how much detail the author managed to pack into this novella. Molly is a deeply complex, intelligent character with a rich background. I warmed to her plight immediately, and enjoyed the relationship she shares with her parents, as they fight to preserve her secret, and later with the people she meets at college. I thought she was well developed, and in essence also deeply flawed. I’ve never really read a character quite like her, and I loved her for it. Her emotion, or lack thereof, at certain points throughout the story really appealed to me. Her parents come across as deeply loving and obviously protective of Molly, yet also allow her a certain degree of independence in a world which would never accept her if they knew what Molly was capable of.

The plot itself is also extremely interesting. Molly’s exploration into why she can produce the ‘mollys’ was great, and the fast pace kept me entertained right until the end. Although wrapped up well, there were also several points hinted at near the end of the story that were left unanswered, and if the author so desired, I would love to see Molly again and learn about the wider world in which she inhabits.

I liked the story and it is a fast read because it is a novella. The story is different from anything else I have read .

The rule is simple: don't bleed.

For as long as Molly Southbourne can remember, she's been watching herself die. Whenever she bleeds, another molly is born, identical to her in every way and intent on her destruction.

Molly knows every way to kill herself, but she also knows that as long as she survives she'll be hunted. No matter how well she follows the rules, eventually the mollys will find her. Can Molly find a way to stop the tide of blood, or will she meet her end at the hand of a girl who looks just like her?

Short review for this one.

What can I say about this book? Its intriguing and the vagueness of it catches your attention a lot more than I am willing to admit. It is also slow and a bit of a let down.

The premise that Molly can reproduce other Mollys by bleeding is interesting. At first glance, I thought... well how is that actually going to work. But the author was able to make it make sense. As reading it, the light bulb went off and I was like alright I can dig this.

I didn't jump into this knowing that this was a novella so a lot of how the story played out made sense. My biggest issue was it did feel like the author was trying to make this novella last longer than it should. There is a lot of Molly did this, Molly did that or Molly simply talking in her head. I wanted more interaction between people and more emotion. Everything was really monotone. Molly didn't have a whole lot of emotions, which is understandable but I wanted some growth from her towards the end... some humanity that I didn't really get.

Despite that I did enjoy this read and I want a continuation because this definitely feels like a backstory and also the continuation can be really really good if done right.

2.5 Pickles

Imagine if every time you bled, be it a drop or more, a new you formed and that new you wants to kill the old you. An interesting and unique novella that is easily able to be read in one sitting.

I received an advanced readers copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Title: THE MURDERS OF MOLLY SOUTHBOURNE  
Author: TADE THOMPSON
Release Date: OCTOBER 3, 2017 
Rating: 4 OUT OF 5 STARS 🌟🌟🌟🌟 

REVIEW:

Despite only consisting of 128 pages, and officially being considered a "novella" rather than a "novel," THE MURDERS OF MOLLY SOUTHBOURNE does not lack readability. Yes, it is a quick read, but that is due to the fact that once begun, it is nearly impossible to put down.  

The concept of the "Doppelganger" is not new, even so, author Tade Thompson has taken the concept to places no one ever has before.

This story is all about Molly.

Molly may look normal, but she suffers from a unique genetic quirk, one that makes her the only person alive with her bizarre condition.

It's all about the blood.

Every time Molly bleeds, another copy of herself grows from that blood and a new molly is created - a perfect physical copy of Molly at the moment in time when her blood was shed.

The problem occurs because the new molly may start out seemingly normal, but inevitably, the new copy turns on the original and attempts to murder her.

Imagine knowing that at least once a month (thanks to her gender,) a new molly will come to life and that you have no choice but to commit murder in order to preserve your own life.

What would that do to your pysche? Could you ever hope to lead a normal life?

You will need to read this novella to find out if Molly ever figures out a way to control her disorder or if she ends up dead at the hands of one of the mollys. 

If you enjoy reading books where the storyline begins with a high degree of suspense which continues to build until it is at a frenzy, then THE MURDERS OF MOLLY SOUTHBOURNE is the perfect book for you.  

The best thing about this book is the totally unexpected and explosive ending which also opens up the potential for a sequel. Personally, I hope Tade Thompson does write an additional book based on this one. I give THE MURDERS OF MOLLY SOUTHBOURNE a rating of 4 out of 5 Stars. 🌟🌟🌟🌟  

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this book.

Please see review on blog