Beautifully written story of survival and freedom and escape from oppression, with some startling developments that combine horror and fantasy, and very powerful imagery. Reminiscent in some ways of Toni Morrison's Beloved. Definitely recommended.

This book was different to anything I’ve read before. I’ve seen it defined as genre bending and I agree with this description.

We follow Vern a young teenager who has fled her separatist commune while heavily pregnant and her journey as she and her children survive in the woods with its hidden villains.

At times when I was reading this tale I wasn’t too sure but it kept me hooked and I really wanted to know what would happen.

This nearly 400 page book unfortunately was not for me, although I can see how other people would love it. It will be one of those books where you either love it or hate it. Unfortunately, I landed on this side. I usually love gothic literature, but i felt this one the author tried to do too much and nothing really got concluded. Sorrowland follows 15 year old Vern, who is heavily pregnant, nearly blind and an albino, while she escapes the cult she grew up in (Cainland). While on the run, she gives birth to twins and decides to live in the forest to raise them as she is skeptical of others and grow up fearing the "white man's land".

This book is split up into different parts or sections. It's told in third person, however I think it was third person through Vern's lens of the world. Each section was very distinct and if the characters weren't the same, I would have had a hard time that the sections where from the same book.

The first section is about Vern and her children, named Howling and Feral. The naming of her kids made sense early on. They are secluded in the forest, not far from Cainland, that Vern gave birth in; and there's no contact with the outside world. Vern is 15-16 and clearly only got the education that was given to her in Cainland. Which given it was about being a submissive wife, I doubt it contained any real survival skills, and the author never really talked about how Vern at that age and with newborns survive and I find it unbelievable that Vern just knew these skills. As the book progresses and despite being raised, living and raising her children in isolation and seclusion, Vern seems to know everything her children ask her and doesn't seems taken aback about anything she experiences in the "real world" when they leave the forest. Vern also knows how to do everything and get everywhere, despite only leaving the cult grounds on " chaperoned field trips" and not being able to read or write. This for me is very unbelievable and makes me think the author wrote things in just when it was convenient without looking back on how Vern's childhood would affect her as an adult. But the author does do this for some aspects, and not for others, and this inconsistency made it hard for me to connect to the story.

After leaving the forest, we transition to section two fo the novel, which seems somewhat connected to section one but there is also a disconnect at the same time. Some new characters are introduced which adds some diversity and representation to the novel. But this section of the story has a lot more dialogue and seems to be weighed down by it. The actual plot progresses extremely slowly throughout this section. Vern is no longer a meek little girl, despite her upbringing and isolation this change seems to happen overnight. She's not shy or subtle about what she believes and theres no room for change. But even this is inconsistent, for example, a character refers to the children as "boys" and then "girls" and Vern says, "They're not boys/girls they're CHILDREN.". I understand the intent, but it's contradicted as the narration refers to the children with the "he" pronoun instead of using their name or the singular "they/them". The important topics that are brought up in the novel just don't work with the fantasy narrative when they are introduced halfway in.

The third part of the novel is what I was expecting to be reading but have it throughout the book not in the last 25%. This section feels like such a different book that the first parts. The mystery and fantasy come into play. Some questions are answered. There's action and intrigue. But the ending seems too just fall flat. Basically turns into an anti-climatic "that's that and let's go" with no repercussions for anything, and seemingly no real conclusion to a lot of the plot points, which I really dislike as it is a standalone novel.

While I appreciate what Rivers Solomon was attempting to do in this novel and the messages and themes they wrote about, I feel like is was too much to tackle within this standalone. The plot seems to disconnected, there is no sense of time in it, and it seems to have random aspects thrown into it at some points throughout the book that were not weaved in to the story but just thrown in. I'm not sure if I'd read another book by Rivers Solomon and I probably won't be recommending this book to anyone.

This one is a trip!

I read "The Deep" last year and loved it, so I was definitely intrigued when I saw this was coming out this year.

Characters 5/5
The characters are the highlight of this book. Oof! They're great! All so different and yet all so relatable. You can either see yourself in them, a friend, your sister... these just feel like characters you've known forever.

Plot 4.5/5
The overall plot of this book is so fascinating, but difficult to discuss without spoiling at least some aspect of the book. This feels more like a character-driven story, but it had enough plot to make this plot-driven reader happy.

Storytelling/Writing 3.5/5
The writing in this is so beautiful. I have so many highlighted passages and phrases in this book, especially right at the beginning. Some of the turns the story takes are hard to follow at times, but I just decided to let the book take me where it wanted to go, and that seemed to be the best thing to do for me. This is definitely one of those books where you just have to ride the ride and trust it will all work out in the end.

Enjoyment 5/5
Like I said, this was a trip. It was my style of "weird." My kind of mix between horror and sci-fantasy, with some gothic vibes thrown in for fun. This will not be for everyone, but it worked for me.

Atmosphere 3.5/5
Similar with "The Deep," I just wanted more of the world. I'm okay with not understanding things fully when I'm reading, but it doesn't mean I don't still want to know! The vibes in the book are so good though! The imagery and language really draw you in. Definitely looking forward to more by this author and picking up their backlist.

Overall 4.3/5
This book will not be everyone's cup of tea. If you need to know everything that's happening in a book to enjoy it, this might not be a good one for you. If you like books where things are "weird" and you go "WTF was that?!?" then this might be one you'd enjoy.

I tried to like this... I really did. But I ended up not finishing it because I just couldn't stand it anymore. I got about 60% of the way through it BUT NOTHING HAD HAPPENED YET! OK OK there were things that happened, but all of that could have been shortened to a chapter or two and it would have been fine. But it just kept going on and explaining weird things and... it just didn't make sense! 3 year olds who have only ever seen their mom (who doesn't talk much) are oddly eloquent. Like I don't know 3 year olds who can talk like that in general, let alone ones raised in the woods....

4,5/5

Vern is a young 17 year old pregnant black albino women. She is about to give birth to her twin boys when she decides to escape Cainland, a land on which there is a small black community leading a cult-like life. Not only must she survive in the woods with no ressource, but also keep her twins alive and raise them. In this thrilling adventure, Vern will discover the secrets behind Cainland, her own family and the impact it had and still has on her.

**DISCLAIMER: I am not an own voice reviewer. This book has many representations (albino, black community, cult survivors, LGBTQ+ relations). As I am not part of any of those communities, I cannot pronounce myself on the representation of those communities.**

This is my first experience reading a book from this author. I have heard amazing things about their writing. And I was not disappointed in this one. I was hooked from the beginning of the book. It is a thriller/horror book, especially during the first half. One aspect I really appreciated was how realistic Vern's character was. At the beginning, her character acts and makes decisions as you would expect a 17 year old teenager would. She had an great character development throughout her journey. I was attached to her character pretty fast and was genuily concerned for her. The characters in general were very complex. Nothing was ever black and white with the characters (or the plot for that manner). There was internal conflicts for most of the characters which is what made this book amazing. The world building was great as well.

The only thing keeping me from giving this book a whole 5/5, is the pacing in the middle that I found a little slow. I do believe it was necessary for the character development to slow down the pacing, but I thought it was just a little too slow.

Another great thing I appreciated from this book is the many great discussions surrounding marginalized communities. As I am not from the communities represented in this book, I probably missed a lot of discussion points and arguments. This definitely deserves multiple rereads to be able to full grasp the book as a whole and in its details. For those reasons, I did have read this in parts and take breaks while reading because the topics are very heavy to read.

Trigger warnings for child abuse, cults, physical abuse, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, animal abuse. I do not believe this book is for everyone, though. I recommend this to readers who can get past the trigger warnings, are interested in conversation about marginalized communities and about cult survivors.

A huge thanks to NetGalley and MCD Publishing for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'm not sure I was the intended audience for this book. It seemed, from the blurb, but I guessed wrong.
The main character was a bit annoying fromt the start. There was just a feeling of unrealness of Vern. Vern was there but caused no emotions in me, it didn't make me sympathise at all, despite the dangers and the problems she faced.
The writing style was good, but a bit confusing with abrupt time jumps.

Is there anything I can say about Sorrowland or Rivers Solomon's writing that hasn't already been said by those much more intelligent and much more eloquent than I? Sorrowland is a deep and disturbing book, but it's supposed to be. It's about Vern, a young girl who becomes pregnant while living in a cult. Over time Vern decides to escape and face the world, and everything else that comes with it. There are so many poignant themes throughout the book that had me stop, put down my book, and really process what I read before moving on. A great read for everyone, if you give yourself time to breathe between some sections.

5/5 Stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux, MCD, for providing me with an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review?

Simply beautiful, fanatical, and overall, important! I'm not a black reader, so own voiced reviews are certainly more valuable, but I can see how important this book will be for those who read it and love it .... and they will love it. I wasn't a huge fan of Solomon's previous works, but this book solidified them as an author-always-on-my-mind. I recommend this to everyone!

"The child gushed out from twixt Vern’s legs ragged and smelling of salt."

Rivers Solomon throws you into Sorrowland from the very first line and doesn't let you out until the very end. And that point you're reluctant to leave after the crazy ride you just went on with the main character, Vern, and each individual character within.

So picture this: all Black commune, who call themselves the Blessed Acres of Cain, centered on fighting and living against white civilization and heavy on survivalism.

"Intimate familiarity with the land reduced dependence on the white economy."

But like most communes we read about or see on TVs, although founded on a pretty decent, safe and moral premise, the execution of the lifestyle there doesn't always stay decent, safe and moral. Add in a spoonful of government corruption and you've got a novel that goes to a dark, dark place.

"Whatever had made her strong had also made her hurt. She sensed the hauntings, too, were connected. There was a foreign body inside, making her over, and it was no accident."

On the surface, Sorrowland, seems like such a simple mission of a woman trying to live life on her own terms and find a safe space away from the commune she escapes for her and her children. But when you look deeper you'll notice something horrifying is also occurring. The metamorphosis mentioned in the summary that Vern goes through I guarantee you will not be expecting and it is the meat and most thrilling of Vern's adventure. The mix of sci-fi and horror is completely accurate when the genre of this book is described along with a good amount of action and adventure.

Sorrowland's inclusion and diversity in characters when it comes to race, Black culture, Native culture, reflecting on America's history of violence against those cultures, sexual orientation, unpopular religious confrontations, and gender identity make this book whole. Vern and one of her children also characters with albinism and nystagmus which I personally don't come across often in books and it was refreshing to read and reflect on in terms of the colorism and ableism that still exists in today's world. If you're into tough women, precocious children, weird biology, woodland survival tactics, letting desire in for whoever you want biological gender be damned and accepting that that's totally fine, cult-y vibes, and classic American government conspiracies all wrapped in one, I recommend you read this.

This was hard to definitively rate because I definitely enjoyed Sorrowland, it was a great adventure and it was reflective in a lot of ways. I loved a lot of the characters and how they were written, especially Vern's children Howling and Feral and seeing the world through their eyes. Solomon is a talented poetic writer in general. But occasionally in the last 25% I felt like the plot kind of got a little wonky and I'm also just kind of surprised it's a standalone. I feel like something is missing with the ending but I could just need more closure than others would. Please correct me if I'm wrong and there's a sequel in the works that I just haven't heard about yet!

Warnings: Mentions of child abuse and child death. Self-harm. Some pretty 'adult' scenes. Reader disrection advised.

"Ollie and those like her wanted people to think their power was eternal, but even gods died. Empires, too. Continents shifted. Nations came. Nations went. Castles became ruins ."

Thank you NetGalley and MCD Books for this eARC! All opinions in this review are honest and my own.

I have never read a book like this. Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon broke me out of my brief reading slump and took me on a haunting I won’t forget.

Vern grows up in cult-like Cainland, a compound where Black folks seemingly live free of outside influence and are guided by teachings of Black leaders. However Vern struggles with night terrors, a phenomenon she realizes many of the folks around her also have. After escaping the confines of an a shove marriage, birthing two babies in the woods and scraping out a sense of survival, she recognizes something is different about her—deep changes in her body that she can connect to things that happened in Cainland. Once she figures out she is being hunted, the plot quickly unfolds an incredible amount of surprising details.

I knew Solomon was an incredible writer from their previous novel, An Unkindness of Ghosts, but there’s a ease at which the writing flows that highlights their storytelling abilities in a brand new way for me. This ease lays out a complicated story brick by brick in front of the reader; like I could feel the novelists’ hands paving the road quickly but meticulously through flash moments of violence, tender failings of motherhood, the shudder of painful memory, and the joys of queer love. Solomon knows how to turn the readers’ eyes with a phrase. They unpack plot points that bring the fantastical elements of a story to stand parallel with our terrible history. No matter the situation or state of the characters development, Solomon never misses a chance to linger in a moment of humanity.

It’s stomach-twistingly familiar and deeply revealing of the complexity of love; in a genre-bending, magical package.

4.5/5 stars

Sorrowland follows fifteen year old Vern as she flees a commune to give birth to her twins in the forest. There she begins to raise her children away from the world. But she’s being hunted by a fiend ready to drag her back to the community she fought to leave. Slowly Vern’s body begins to change in ways that she cannot understand, forcing her and her children to leave the forest behind and go in search of Vern’s childhood love.

I really enjoyed this. The writing style and prose in this sci-fi horror novel was fantastic. I though that it handled difficult themes extremely well. The book was engaging and thought provoking.

In the latter third of the book, the pacing was a bit too quick in my opinion. It just felt like so much was happening all at the same time, which was a change from the rest of the book and made it harder for me as reader to keep track of all the action.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it. Be sure to check out the content warnings though!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange for a review.

Going into any Rivers Solomon novel, you have to know that you're either going to start confused or reach a point where you realize you fully have no idea what's happening. Solomon has a way of writing out of time - their novels often feel like the could take place at any point, which was how I felt about the beginning of this book. It did take me quite a while to get into the story. Things were fragmented, hard to piece together, and I was a bit more confused than I generally enjoy. However, Solomon pulled me in eventually. I had a hard time connecting to Vern, but it made sense given how profoundly different our life experiences are. This book is straight up weird, has some aspects that are sure to make you uncomfortable, and is an impactful book to have read.

Rivers Solomon (The Deep) returns with the gothic sci-fi type thriller Sorrowland, a contemporary genre-bending story that is both a brutal shock to the senses and a hauntingly poetic story of freedom and survival. With incredible poise and fearlessness, Rivers looks at the ugly history of racism in America and the marginalization of its people.

Imagine if all social commentary, and I mean mostly the bad stuff, was written in perfect prose, a melancholic type of sonnet that lures you to sleep with images of monsters swirling around your head and dreams of ancestral brutality…that’s Sorrowland.

With an opening scene that will shock you in its physicality, not since Rebecca Roanhorse’s Black Sun has a book immediately and without remorse thrust you into a story so inhospitable, you’ll wonder if a happy ending is even possible. I of course won’t comment on the ending but if somehow you find yourself in need of a pick me up, Sorrowland might not be the book for you.

Having said that, I’m literally begging you to read this book, it’s just too good to pass up and will undoubtedly be in the conversation at the end of the year. The reasons are many but at its core, Sorrowland is a brutal accounting of the evil that we humans are capable of in its many forms, and its execution will often times leave you feeling defenseless, dependent, and alone. And then, before all is lost and nothing seems important anymore, Rivers gives us a small glimmer of hope.

For the full review, please follow the link below!

https://www.cinelinx.com/off-beat/sorrowland-book-review/

This book was a profound look into own voice fiction dripping with reality that needs to be put front and center in our world today.

I can not recommend this book enough. The magic of the written word illuminates the pages and forces you to continuously turn page after page until you realize it is now 3am and you have to be up with your children in 2 hours. Might as well keep on reading now. Am I right?

Do yourself a favor and get this book today

Sorrowland is a completely unexpected, but ultimately disappointing, tale.

Fifteen and pregnant, Vern runs away from everything she knows. The abusive husband and cult that she is fleeing hunts her down in the nearby woods, but she evades them. Meanwhile, Vern gives birth to twins while learning to live off the land by trial and error. She feels empowered by her freedom. Her body is much stronger. But the headaches and “hauntings” continue unabated even far away from the cult’s reach. Eventually, Vern and her two children emerge from the woods. Luckily, Vern doesn’t have an inkling of what is in store for them.

The first half of Sorrowland is a compelling and completely different read. It feels like a science-fiction/fantasy fable. And then, screech!!!, it takes a crazy left turn into what I can only describe as “popular entertainment” to avoid spoilers. I felt the foreshadowing of the plot turn but hoped I was wrong. How can such a unique book can’t end in such a stereotypical way? But it did. I wish I had stopped reading at around 60%. For these reasons, I can only rate the book as 3 stars. 5 for the beginning and 1 for the ending averaged together.

Thanks to MCD, Farrar, Straus and Giroux and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

Disturbing, enthralling, gripping and thought provoking.
A book that mixes different genres creating something new and fresh.
There's a lot going on in this book, there are well thought characters and tightly knitted plot, emotions and a young woman who deals with a lot and fight.
It's an excellent story, highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Sorrrowland is a difficult book to review only because it encompassed so much.

This is my first Rivers Solomon book and I'm quite impressed. The prose with which they write is beautifully descriptive and detailed. It often felt as if I could not only see the book in my mind, I could hear and taste it as well. Quite simply, the words painted pictures with ease.

But as beautiful as this author's writing is, the topics being woven into Sorrowland were not easy ones. Even though the setting appears to be an alternate version of our world, many things are the same. There is a great deal of suppression based on race, gender, sexuality, education and more.

The main character, Vern, is fifteen, alone, living in the woods and parenting her recently delivered twin boys. Vern knows that her body is changing but isn't sure why or to to what extent. However, she has a strong will to survive and to keep her babies alive as well. Vern has recently escaped from a compound that felt very cult-like in its teachings. In addition to feeling sick and suspecting something is wrong with her body, Vern is also haunted by ghostlike sightings that only she appears to see. They seem to be more frequent and intense than she noticed previously. Fearing what the future would bring, Vern goes on a journey, with her children, to find an old friend and discovers more than she anticipated along the way.

Overall, this book was unique and beautifully written with a great deal of emotion. I won't say it was a relaxing read. It was intense and sometimes frustrating. At the same time, moments occurred that would break your heart.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I voluntarily chose to review it and the opinions contained within are my own.

I won't lie to you. 98% of my interest for this book started with the very *very* pretty cover. Another 1% was from other people's anticipation and the other 1% was how genius this book sounded. OH thank goddesses for pretty covers because I LOVED THIS AND IT WAS JUST AS GENIUS AS I EXPECTED IT TO BE.

*Sorrowland* begins with Vern at 15 years old where she has just escaped from an abusive religious compound and has now given birth to twins in the forest, land that she has chosen as her utopia. But the Cainites refuse to let her go and she's transforming into something unnatural in order to counter their power. To survive, she must travel outside the borders of the forest with her children to find answers to her condition and the place she was forced to obey for so long.

The genre bending narration makes you constantly wonder where it's all heading. I'd say the genres include gothic/coming-of-age/dark contemporary/survival/LITERALLY SO MANY MORE. There's an obvious split in between each part of Vern's life we get to see so the more you read, the more intense everything gets. I can 1000% visualize this as a movie. The writing is a standout feature as it mixes implicitly and explicitly to explore the themes. The genius comes in with the the subtly it sometimes took. I can guarantee you I did not catch all of the Black history the author decided to integrate into Vern's story. It would be worth a reread. Right of the bat, there are introductions to discussions of gender, one of my favorite topics. I really liked Vern's perspective on herself and how she wanted to raise her children to view themselves.

In this imaginative narrative was this very normal world. It really grounded the story and made these visionary ideas not so distant from reality. Solomon intensifies the setting most of the time through vivid imagery, putting us into Vern's lens. First is the forest, which she see's as her protector. Then is the new world, one that she has never experienced. I do think the pacing was TOO slow in some bits of the second part and I wish the last couple chapters were expanded. Those are two very minor criticisms though.

*Sorrowland* is all at once painful and beautiful following our main character experience herself and new relationships. It is one that will possibly take you a while due to the dark subject matter and slow pacing but it's all worth it in the end. If you already love the gothic genre and want to experience something special, READ THIS BOOK.

[4 Stars]

I went into this pretty blind and wasn't disappointed. Vern is an incredibly strong, complex character. I loved her dynamic with her kids and the struggles she faced with trying to be a good parent to them among all the changes she was undergoing. The conversations around race, trauma, parenthood, love, and more were so powerful. This is a genre-bending story entrenched in bittersweet heartache.

Good if you're looking for: a story-driven by themes, LGBT+ and BIPOC representation, something to make you think