WOWWWWW!! I don’t even know what to say. This book encompasses many genres, all of which I don’t typically read: sci-fi, horror, queer erotica, thriller, speculative fiction. Regardless, this book expands across space and time and just hits you full force, no matter who you are. I think this will be a runaway hit and I’m excited to see what others think about the explosive story. Vern, the main character, has got to be one of my favourite characters in a book ever. There is so much strength, beauty, and raw visceral emotion in Sorrowland. Give it a chance, you won’t regret it!

TL;DR: YET ANOTHER must-read from Rivers Solomon. Sorrowland is chilling, atmospheric, and fantastical horror that breaks down the gender binary and draws on dark histories of US government violence against Black bodies and communities. My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars.

Sorrowland is the chilling tale of Vern, an albino, intersex (but AFAB), queer, 15-year-old Black gxrl. Pregnant, she escapes the religious-Black nationalist-cult-compound where she grew up. In the years after her escape from the Cainland compound, Vern uses the survivalist skills she learned there to raise her twins--Howling and Feral--in isolation in the woods. They’re not completely alone, though. Vern is tormented by hallucinations--which she calls hauntings--and a very real and human pursuer--who she calls the fiend.

Without giving spoilers, Sorrowland’s plot also draws on extensive histories of medical experimentation on Black bodies in America and US government surveillance and undermining of Black opposition leaders and groups.

I loved An Unkindness of Ghosts. I loved The Deep. And now, Sorrowland has guaranteed that I will forever and always read anything that Rivers Solomon writes. I relate so hard to their characters, who are often defiant, bookish, academic, introverted, lovers of words and knowledge. And Vern is no different. She revels in being as contrary as possible--not just in rebellion against her upbringing, but against the whole world. Despite being illiterate due to her eyesight, Vern is formidable in her intellect and resourcefulness.

There are all kinds of chilling horror elements in Sorrowland, like when the fiend leaves threatening animal corpses dressed in baby clothes around Vern’s camp for her to find. Or when Vern’s body starts to change in startling and disturbing ways. Solomon’s rich and sensory descriptions of nature and the woods is also pretty spectacular.

When Vern, Feral, and Howling are forced to flee the woods and enter the outside world, they eventually find themselves building a new home and family with two indigenous womxn who have their own connections to Cainland.

Vern becomes romantically involved with one of the womxn, Gogo, and their relationship is a really heartwarming part of the story. Vern really, really deserved to find some joy and intimacy. I enjoyed their connection so much 1) because they have some incredibly steamy sex, and 2) because of how their perspectives balance each other out. Gogo is dedicated to exposing and fighting state-perpetrated violence, while Vern looks at history and her own experiences and is filled with far more pessimism about the possibility of preventing further injustices.

On another note, this book does SO MUCH to break down the gender binary. Vern is hermaphrodite, while her love interest, Gogo, is possibly trans, though both eschew the pathologizing labels of western medicine. The sex of Vern’s children is never revealed, and both are given exceedingly unconventional and gender-neutral names. They’re raised believing that their father is a girl named Lily, Vern’s childhood best friend at Cainland, and not the megalomaniac cult leader who took Vern as his child bride.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for giving me advance access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

I'm very disappointed to say I DNF this book. The summary was intriguing and the writing was fantastic. However, due to the triggering content of this book, I was unable to finish.

I have to admit that I DNF'd this. I just couldn't get through it. I didn't really care about Vern or even her twins. I only got about 10% in, and I know I should have tried to get through more, but I just couldn't. I think I would have liked this story if it started off in the cult before Vern escaped.

I don't want to really give this a rating and since I didn't finish this book. But I am going to give it two stars.

Vern is 7 months pregnant and living in the woods. She is a black albino 15 years old girl that managed to escape the Church of Cain, a cult led by black people for black people attempting to fight against white supremacy. They live in a close compound without contact with the exterior world. Vern was forced to marry the leader of the cainites and from that union she conceived twins. But before they were born, she left the compound, following the steps of her childhood friend, Lucy.
Vern is special. Her albinism affected her visual acuity but she is extremely intuitive and has the ability of magically healing herself. She is also stubborn and is determined to raise her kids far from Blessed Acres.
But while living in the woods, her body starts to change in a very strange way. Some kind of fungus is growing in her body and she is also experimenting what she calls "hauntings". Hallucinations? Hidden memories? Encrypted messages? She doesn't know. What she does know is that they are extremely disturbing and vivid.
As Vern and her children move further and further away from Blessed Acres, the threat and the fear of being caught by the fiend, a multiform demon sent by the church, grows within Vern, as also grows the realization, an epiphany, of the unbearable truth.
Told from Vern's POV, the story is a wonderful and heartbreaking reminder of how black bodies are treated in this country.
The writing is magnificent and poetic; even in the most disturbing scenes you get a sense of beauty. Lots of natural and supernatural elements that makes the book difficult to categorize genre-wise. Gothic, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Erotica, Philosophical Fiction. It has it all.
.
The last quarter of the book was a little bit too slow paced for my taste, but that didn't change my general perception of the book.
It was a wonderful journey.

I very rarely don't finish a book; but I think I should have paid better attention to the tw on this one. it's a testament to the writing and characterization how strongly I reacted. For those who can get through the first chapters and hang on, I'm sure this is a fantastic novel that will sit with the reader long after the last page has turned.

<i>Sorrowland</i> is the story of Vern, a young girl fleeing the only life she has ever known, her abusive husband and the cult he leads, to create a life for herself and her babies. But the tentacles of Cainland, the home she left, are always following her as she grows into a young woman and something more, something terrifying and powerful thanks to the “vitamins” she’s been raised with, that just might allow her to break free from all that haunts her.

<i>Sorrowland </i>seizes the history of white supremacy, racist medical experimentation (think Tuskegee), and the danger of the commune she lives within, spinning a fantasy that blends confrontations with power, gothic horror, and parenting while on the run. This is a fairy tale for adults, with scenes of both touching and erotic love, sealed in the wreckage of the world Vern thought she knew.

There are cinematic scenes, and there are lulls in the book where you want to hurry to the next confrontation. Overall it was a good book, and one I will recommend to people looking for gothic horror, life in the margins, and the ingenious blend of the LGBTQIA culture.

Many thanks to #NetGalley, #MacmillanPublishers, and the talented author Rivers Solomon for graciously providing me with an electronic ARC in exchange for my unbiased review. You can find all my reviews at http://OceansOfBooks.com. This novel will be available for purchase May 4, 2021.

I went into this read with high hopes - love a good cult novel, some super natural twists, futuristic themes and dark stuff. I was disappointed and barely made it to the end.
I am glad Vern escaped the cult. I am glad she loved her kids, but it was admittedly hard for me to get through the parts where she left them alone to indulge herself, and yes, I understand those moments were all part of her journey towards self acceptance - just didn't love it.
Vern is a true survivor. I will grant that. And her journey does end well and the end was satisfying.
I just didn't love the journey as much as others as I went along with her.
Thankful for the ARC!

This is the first book I've read by Rivers Solomon and I really, really loved it! It kind of reminded me of Room by Emma Donoghue, the way Howling and Feral didn't realize that there was a world outside of the woods, and Mexican Gothic, the insidious fungus. I found the story to be really interesting, the pacing was great and I really enjoyed Vern and specifically her relationship between Lucy and Gogo. Also, the scene where Vern basically has an orgy with the two dead men and Gogo made me cry because it was so beautiful. I tried explaining the scene to a friend though and I realized how bizarre it sounded. The fact that Rivers Solomon made me think that scene was beautiful is a true testament to her ability to craft a provoking and engaging narrative that leaves you hanging on each page. Very well done and I will highly recommend this book to others as well.

Characters: While I never felt truly connected to these characters they were well fleshed out and dynamic. I would have loved to read from the children's perspective and see this story through their innocence.

Atmosphere/Plot: This was an excellent take on generational trauma coupled with the consequences of growing up in a cult. Very well described settings and emotions.

Intrigue: Finished this is about 3 days.

I decided to DNF this book at 13%. It just wasn't for me. The writing was impeccable, however there were just too many disturbing images and triggers for me to continue reading. I do not mean to imply in any way that this is not a good book, someone else may love it, it just was not something that I am able to enjoy because of the difficult subject-matter.

See below for a list of the triggers that ultimately led to my decision not to finish this book. These contain minor spoilers for the first 13% of this book.

TW: pedophilia, child abuse/neglect, self-harm, animal carcass desecration, rape, death, racism, homophobia, etc.

Sorrowland is a book I’ll be thinking about for a long time to come, possibly a reread in a few months once it settles in my mind. Rivers Solomon is one of my favorite authors. when stepping into one of faer worlds, I expect something dark, unflinching, and beautiful. Sorrowland definitely delivered.

A blending of gothic horror and science fiction, Solomon takes on themes of race, identity, queerness, mental health, and many others, with a serving of gorgeous sentences. The story follows Vern, a 15yo albino Black girl. She’s been traumatized and abused, and flees her home in the Cainland cult for the woods. I admit, it took me a longer than usual to get into this book knowing there would be suffering ahead, but once I did I was absolutely hooked. Yeah, Sorrowland is definitely going to stick with me.

I am going to say this is NOT my genre - SciFi, Gothic Horror! Rivers Solomon has crafted a story on inequality and intolerance for a very unique book. I started out intrigued with the hauntings, Vera's back story, the fiend and Cainland but soon lost interest. Solomon is a good story-teller but ultimately it did not land with me.

Thank you NetGalley for the courtesy copy for an honest review.

I tried to read this, but gave up about 1/4 of the way through. It was definitely a DNF for me. I would still read more by the author. However, I just didn't connect with this story.

2/5 Stars

This book has been given a lot of amazing reviews, and I hate to be the person that gives it a lower star rating because I did not enjoy it like others did. "Sorrowland" is beautifully written. Rivers Solomon is a talented writer and I'm happy to have been able to experience their book. There is representation and normalization of many marginalized groups, and it was great to see the way that Solomon dealt with relationships and social issues.

The story just wasn't what I expected. Yes, "Sorrowland" is sci-fi/fantasy horror, it is not these genres in a traditional sense. The 'horror' at times is literal- there is a beast that hunts the main character living in the woods. But the horror is also the cruel treatment and injustice of black people. The sci-fi/fantasy aspect of the story didn't happen till later in the book, and by then I wasn't invested in that part of the story.

The main character, Vern, is not likeable. Vern is not supposed to be likeable, but I couldn't connect with her at all. Her treatment of others stems from the way she has been treated, and it was a wonderful character portrayal of how the way that we have been taught and treated shapes us.

3 stars because I did like parts of the book, it just wasn't something that I loved or would read again.
Thanks to Netgalley and Farrar, Straus, and Giroux for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This was my first book by Solomon Rivers, and they have a wonderful way with words that obviously speaks to many. I would read another book by Rivers. :)

Vern fled the Blessed Acres to live alone in the woods two months prior to giving birth to her twins, Howling and Feral. She was 15, and she wasn’t exactly alone. The fiend tracked her from the Black power religious cult and intends to bring her back. The fiend tries to scare Vern into going back by leaving dead animals dressed in baby clothes hanging from the trees.
Vern is changing. Wounds are healing quickly, pain and heat don’t affect her, and hard white growth on her back and getting larger. It is time to leave the safety of the woods with her twins and try to find her childhood friend that also escaped the cult.
As Verns back growth gets larger and almost forms a carapace the fiend gets more aggressive.

There is so much hatred in this book that I almost stopped reading before I got to 10%. Anti white, anti America, religious angst, and the men are all abusive jerks. This is not the escapism I wanted. It did tame down and the story was so unique that I enjoyed the unraveling of this labyrinthian story.

Sorrowland is an exciting, bizarre, and wholly original novel. After reading, you can certainly count me as a Rivers Solomon fan. I can’t wait to go back and read everything they have already published. I can only hope it is all as fascinating and unique as this book!

Immediately pulled in by the writing, I loved the worldbuilding and the characters. I enjoyed the mounting complexity as the story developed in gradual revelations. Vern is a compelling protagonist and between Solomon’s prose and the bizarre plot developments, it’s difficult not to feel engaged in her journey. Speaking of plot developments, this novel had one of the best twists (that I did not see coming) that I have probably ever read? Like put down the book and whisper to myself in shock for several minutes kind of plot twist.

While I rate this a 4.5, I am going to round down rather than up as it hit a bit of a lull in the middle for me and it almost felt at times like the story was “going too big”, so to speak. That being said, I more than enjoyed the novel as a whole and would recommend it to any fan of the sci-fi genre.

Rivers Solomon is one of my favorite authors, so I came into this book with high expectations. Sorrowland starts off strong with its folkloric writing and memorable protagonist but starts to drag about the halfway point as illogical events accumulate. This novel includes some topics that Solomon has written about previously - an intersex, queer, and disabled protagonist; non-penetrative/ non-normative sexualities; nontraditional parenting; community as a balm and threat to the individual; and rebellion against the status quo. The protagonist Vern's defiance and pragmatism reminds me a lot of Aster from Solomon's debut An Unkindness of Ghosts. Vern has a distrust of all authority figures due to her education in Cainland and the abuse of authority that happened there. She's also very self-sufficient. In terms of how this departs from Solomon's previous writing, this includes the most graphic sex scenes that Solomon has written, and the writing might be their simplest. There's a poetry to the simplicity in the beginning, but after a while, there's a lot of telling with it being unclear to the reader how Vern knows certain things (for example, one of Vern's children is having trouble breathing, and without checking she knows that the child's ribs are fractured) which made me feel emotionally detached and like there wasn't much suspense or momentum. It's also unclear what Vern's abilities are and her antagonists, which is important for establishing stakes when they face off. The moments of body horror are phenomenal. I really liked Vern's children Howling and Feral. They have a mix of confidence, freedom, and adaptability that makes their world view very fresh and endearing. Gogo and Vern have an interesting relationship. It's very tense because Vern has been raised to be ashamed of her body and desires, and Gogo hasn't been in a serious relationship before. For people who don't know about the history of medical experimentation and counter-insurgency efforts against Black people in the United States, this could inspire readers to do some research.

Rivers Solomon's "Sorrowland" is unlike any book I've ever read (and I've read many books!). It's not quite fantasy, not quite dystopian fiction, not quite historical fiction -- it's a genre all its own. The story of Vern and how she makes her way in a very strange, surreal but all-too-familiar world is gripping. I was unable to put the book down! Extra points for normalizing diverse representation (PoC and LBGTQ+) !

Vern's story is very moving. This is one of those books that is a struggle to review without giving up too much! Let's see... Very is a very young, black woman who has escaped her life. Shortly after she gets away, she gives birth to twins. Thus begins the journey of the novel.

The writing is beautiful in this novel... although at times I found the twins voices to be a little too mature (if that makes sense). I often found myself caught up in the language that Rivers Solomon chose as it was quite lyrical t times.

If you're interested in magical/supernatural novels, dark stories... you will definitely enjoy this one.