I received a free copy for an honest review from Netgalley. This book is definitely nothing like anything I have ever read before. I don't know what how to describe it without spoiling it but I couldn't wait to see what happened next. It's black and white horror movies meets Pleasantville. I would give this book 3.5 stars.

Attack off the 50 Foot Wallflower has been on my TBR list for a while. And I was EXCITED. Like, so much so I was actually afraid to read this, because if you don't read it it can never fall short of your expectations. Right? And, in a way, it didn't. Attack of the 50 Foot Wallflower was everything I wanted with this premise. This is a very, very smart book, but the longer I thought about the story as a whole the more I found myself poking holes in the story. Which is sort of odd, because this book accomplishes everything it wanted to do with remarkable success.

The crux of the this entire book, the premise itself, is a meta examination of media, specifically 1950/1960s monster movies, while also commenting on voyeurism, violence, and female agency. So everything that happens within the story furthers that exploration. For example, nearly all the men in the story either attempt or allude to wanting a sexual relationship with Phoebe, a trope in films where women can't go outside without the threat of rape, while Phoebe just is expected to grin and bare it. Stuff like that covers this book, and Heidicker did a really good job at painting the world Phoebe lives in. A picture-esque Pleasentville sorta town that is pretty racist and ugly when you look beneath the surface. There's also Shivers, monsters that appear as naturally as earthquakes or tornadoes and leave devastation in it's wake. Phoebe's mother, Loretta, was once carried to the top of the Chrysler Building by a Shiver, a giant ape named Ook and has since relied on her infamy to move her and Phoebe from motel to motel avoiding Shivers with their unique ability to see the man in the sky, who is also Phoebe's father.

The main plot of the story is that when Phoebe's mother goes missing, she accidentally unearths a shadowy organization hidden in the desert that is fully aware of Phoebe's father and works tirelessly to keep his interest less he either changes the channel or turns the TV off. The reveal that Phoebe is more or less a character in a TV show is not necessarily a spoiler, but what is a spoiler is how the novel progresses. Rather then be a sort of search for her mother, it then becomes a literal monster movie, with the organization zapping Phoebe so she grows at an alarming rate, hoping that the destruction she causes will keep her father sated for months.

The exploration of violence and voyeurism is very well done here, as it is believe that only violence and conveniently attractive women can keep his interest. And I really appreciated Heidicker leaning into the sort of ridiculousness that those cheesy 1950s movies are known for. Giant ant fights, ridiculous screams, and all that fun stuff was dripping from every page.

But, where this book looses me is in two places. The first is Beth, a side character that is implied to be from outside the TV. She's aware of movie monsters and tropes, but I could not for the life of me understand her purpose. Yeah, she was there, but nothing about her is explained. How did she get there? Why come? Is Phoebe's story a real thing or just another movie? Is the man in the sky a real person watching a TV or is it some overarching symbolic theme that's going over my head? Is she meant to be an interest from the future, putting their modern ideas into period pieces? She raised more questions then answered and just thought that particular reveal could have been cut.

The other is Phoebe herself. Heidicker did almost too good of a job at exploring the lack of female agency in media. Phoebe is capable, shown very early on in the book, but by the time she becomes gargantuan she just...doesn't do anything. And it was frustrating because there's all these themes and reasons that she has for not doing anything, doesn't want to hurt people, not be a monster, that be a gentle woman mentality that exists within her due to an oppressive culture. But the entire time I couldn't help thinking "you are 50 feet tall. Slap some bitches and get shit done." Which is an issue because that was at the forefront of my mind whenever Phoebe encountered a very...let's just say human problem. The fact is, if Phoebe smashed a few things she'd get stuff done and reach her goals. But she never did because the story and the themes wouldn't let her. Her actions were hindered because the plot demanded it not because of her as a character.

Attack of the 50 Foot Wallflower is a lot of fun and I would very much recommend it to people looking for something a little kooky, a little crazy, and a whole lotta brains. But, personally, the issues the book raised and the handicaps it put on the characters for the sake of story were enough to shake my rating.