DRC provided by Farrar, Straus and Giroux via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Representation: Black queer albino protagonist with nystagmus, Black albino secondary character with nystagmus, Black secondary character, Black tertiary characters, Black queer tertiary characters, queer tertiary character, Oglala tertiary character, winkte lesbian Lakota tertiary character.

Content Warning: child abuse, violence, cultism, homophobia, transphobia, torture, death, mention of forced sterilisation, racism, misogyny, body horror, gore.

Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon is an incredible story about growing, fighting for your family and love in its many forms.

After escaping the commune where she lived her whole life, Vern gives birth to twins in the woods Always on high-alert and ready to run to avoid the clutches of the person sent by her commune to bring her back, she raises the children in the woods and it is there she first realises her body is changing. She has developed regenerative powers and a phenomenal strength. A day, a strange rash starts spreading on her skin, weakening her. Scared about what would happen if she is not there to protect her children, she decides it is time to live the woods. The family then begins the long journey towards the only safe haven Vern knows of.

I loved this book. I honestly was not expecting it to be this way —mostly because I forget the synopsises after some time and I trust my past-self about the books I add to my to-be-read list, so I avoid reading them again— but I was pleasantly surprised though. I loved everything, from the pace to the writing style, the characters and the plot. As first experiences with authors go, this went extremely well and I cannot wait to dive in another work of faers.

I received a digital advance copy of Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon through NetGalley. Sorrowland is scheduled for release on May 4, 2021.

Sorrowland is the story of young Vern, a pregnant teenager fleeing the religious compound where she was raised. Vern ends up a resident of the woods, giving birth alone on the very night a fiend comes to find her. Vern raises her two small children in the wood, fighting both the pull of the community that is unwilling to let her go and the changes that are happening in her body.

Sorrowland has definite speculative and supernatural elements. There is the mysterious, shape-shifting fiend that hunts Vern. There are the hauntings of dead children and others that followed Vern into the wood. There are the strange changes in Vern’s own body. Despite these speculative elements, this story is very much about reality.

Rivers does a great job of weaving together Vern’s very real world and challenges with the amazing things that are occurring around her. This weaving is done in a way that leaves us (and often Vern) questioning what is real and what is not. The line between reality and fantasy becomes very blurred, along with our definitions of concepts we may have been taught have very clear boundaries.

Rivers also weaves historical issues into Sorrowland, showing us that what we consider history continues to impact today. Racism, colorism, the treatment of religious groups, the use of individuals (especially black individuals) are a few of the pieces of the past that follow Vern into the woods, ultimately forcing her back out to deal with what she hoped she had left behind.

While I felt the power of the story Rivers wove in Sorrowland, and loved the characters they created (especially Vern’s two little wildlings), I did struggle a smidge with the use of one of the fantastical elements. Hauntings follow Vern into the woods, and while Rivers explains why they are occurring and explores what they have to offer Vern, the use of these hauntings felt a bit convenient in spots, especially in the last twenty percent or so of the story. What the hauntings revealed here was important, but the way the reveal happened felt a bit out of place for me, and actually pulled me out of the this high-impact part of the story. I wish that Rivers had found another way to get us that needed piece of backstory without breaking the forward momentum of Vern’s story.

Overall, Sorrowland was a really good read. It is a creepy, speculative tale woven through and around history and its ability to follow us into both the present and future.

I was instantly hooked by this novel that tells the story of young, pregnant women escaping from what seems like a cult but there’s so much more to it than that. The sci-fi and horror elements at play were very unique and I applaud how this book let women characters shine.

Rivers Solomon is a fantastic writer. If you have not discovered them, start here! Sorrowland tells an exciting story of Vern, a woman who has escaped a religious compound to live in the woods--if you like survival or adventure stories, you'll like Sorrowland. The book is so, so much more though--it's also an exploration of gender, race, sexuality, religion and motherhood and the ways in which those categories intersect. Destined to be a much-discussed story.

Sorrowland is a unique, haunting combination of gothic fantasy, science fiction and American history. I truly had no idea where this book was going to take me, but what an extraordinary journey it takes you on. There are layers upon layers in the story, from the fantastical transformation of Vern, the experience and trauma of growing up in a cult, to the history of government experimentation on African Americans. The story follows Vern who has escaped Cainland, a strict religious compound while young and pregnant. She hides out in the woods and gives birth to twins who she raises out in the wild. Vern finds herself haunted by visitations that seem incredibly real, as well as being hunted by those who run Cainland and want her back all the while her body is going through physical changes that she doesn't understand. As Vern fights to stay free of her past, her desire to protect her children takes her out into the world where she finds others who will accept all of her as well as a path to finding the answers to what is happening to her and what the truth is behind Cainland. Vern's journey of accepting the changes to her body as well as opening herself up to her own sexuality and the power and freedom that gives her are an integral part of this powerful, thoughtful story full of remarkable imagery. I loved Howling and Feral and Vern's relationship and interactions with them, and their absolute joy in everything nature and the ability to adapt so readily to new situations and experiences. So many of the images, characters and story elements will stay with you long after you have finished this remarkable story.

Teenaged Vern leaves the only life she has ever known when she flees her husband, the leader of a malignant cult that veered from its roots in Black liberation decades ago. She vows to raise her newborn twins Feral and Howling in the woods, far from the social ills and strictures that so wounded her. Her woodcraft can keep her small family safe, but it does not shield her from the dark visions and inexplicable physical side effects of her time in Cainland. Fiercely independent Vern must forge human connections before she can understand the depths of the violence done to her. Powerful and difficult, with an unfortunately rushed ending.

This story is a beautiful tapestry of intersections of identity. Vern was a great protagonist, and I really loved the surreal aspects to the story. Having read two other books by Rivers Solomon, I knew to expect beautiful writing, creative ideas, and poignant themes, and I was not disappointed. A huge thank you to Netgalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for a copy of this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Vivid. Powerful. Transgressive. Transcendent. Sorrowland is at once the breathlessness of love and the sharp shock of being winded. I’m utterly floored by my first Rivers Solomon and can’t wait to get my hands on more.
The cast of characters is relatively small, but they’re all engrossing and three-dimensional. Vern’s intense determination to survive and to resist is present from page one, and I loved her more every time she defied expectations. The children were utterly delightful—I don’t want to spoil anything, not even their names. And Gogo... a medic on the front lines in activist circles? A theorist? Deeply connected to her culture? Truly a woman after my own heart.
Vern’s hauntings and her transformation were expertly threaded through the story, and the rotting root of Cainland—and of a structure much bigger and more damaging—was laid bare at the perfect pace. Solomon exposes the horrific history of medical development in the USA subtly and masterfully.
I went into this book knowing it represented many identities across the LGBTQ+ spectrum, but I was delightfully surprised to find that the book itself—its thematic through-lines and philosophies, its imagery, its gaze—are queer as hell. Being immersed in queerness in its most liberating forms is a feeling I will hold close to my heart long after the finer details of this story have faded from my mind. While I can’t speak on this from personal experience, Vern’s disability also seemed to be well written, influencing her character development and requiring accommodation, but never undercutting her power.
Solomon’s writing was rich and careful. The similes in particular were chosen with great precision, always revealing something about the worldview she was weaving around Vern. Solomon balances the line-by-line mastery of language and layering of meaning most common in literary fiction with the powerful imagery and imaginative breadth of science fiction and fantasy. Sorrowland sits between the two genres, straddling them with a firm, wide stance. And genre is far from the only dichotomy it shatters. I hope it finds its perfect audience; it deserves it.

This was a strange and genre bending and I loved it. Vern is a fantastic protagonist and I love her journey. Sorrowland starts with Vern heavily Pregnant running away from the cult in which she was raised. She gives birth in the woods and for four years raises her twin children completely removed from any society. She begins to realize that Cainland may not be done with her. Sorrowland contains elements of scifi, horror, fantasy and biting social commentary,

I received a free digital arc via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Sorrowland is the first book by Rivers Solomon that I've read and has left me looking forward to exploring more of their works in the future. Sorrowland dives into heavier topics (ex: religious extremism, racism, sexism, pedophilia) and how they affect the main character, Vern, in her day-to-day life without making the book's plot feel too weighed down. These topics enhance the story by driving the plot and give readers reasons to sympathize with Vern as she tries to survive on her own outside of Cainland.

I'm sorry to say I would have given it one star, but I liked the premise. I found the writing to be shallow and sporadic, disjointed and inconsistent.
even so, I appreciate the chance to read and review

We’re introduced to Vern, who has just run away from her religious compound, Blessed Acres of Cain, and in the woods near the compound, she also gives birth to her twins, Feral and Howling. Vern is now a runaway from the land that is supposed to be free of the influence of white people (fiends), and according to the preaching on the compound, their toxicity. However, to the outside world, the compound is a place that has socially deviant beliefs, including child abuse.

The book navigates between glimpses into the past and Vern’s “unruliness” on the compound because of her longing to be free to think and make decisions for herself, and periods of time where she lives in the woods navigating motherhood, as well as the society outside of the compound walls. Solomon tries to tackle a lot, gender, race, rebirth, and identity. We are shown these things through a character that initially begins this journey at 15 and as the years pass, she has to emerge from the shelter of the woods to find healing from the “changing” that’s occurring within her, as well as the hauntings of the past.

This story moves slowly for me and I feel that Solomon tried to tackle too many issues in one novel. Race or identity are topics that could have easily encompassed the novel by itself, but tacking on gender, religion, sexuality, resistance, oppression, and even experimentation just made it a big hodgepodge of themes.

had a hard time staying engaged with this book. There are a number of time jumps, that made it hard for me to keep track of when things at times. Large spans of time took place over paragraphs, and then something that happened months or years ago would be mentioned and that would last for about a page, and then with barely a pause, we'd be back in the present with Vern and her children.

I loved The Deep, and plan on reading their other books, but I just struggled with this book.

Reading this made me resolve to go back and read The Deep. Rivers Solomon is such a major voice. You know you're in a different reality from the opening scene's language, and yet reminders of our reality - "a five year' old's birthday party", "a man wanting a fuck" - also tell you that this science fiction portrayal will offer shrewd commentary on our reality too. I don't think I've ever seen the philosophical meditations "up front" in a suspenseful, sci-fi novel like this either, except maybe in some of Walter Mosley's work. The comparisons with Octavia Butler will be inevitable. But there's a spark and a newness here that makes it a "can't miss." You will be on the edge of your seat wondering what's next for the twin infants, Howling and Feral (their real names. :)

I think Rivers Solomons stories are not for me. They go over my head most definitely. Good representation of diverse characters and LGBT+ representation.

I spent a lot of my time reading this and only thinking about how bad a mother that Vern was. She kept leaving her kids behind time and time again and I just kept getting mad at her. I get she is young and was raised in cult but how is it that she knows every single plant and different hunting and crafting techniques but not to leave your infants in a lean-to all night long while you spend the night out with a random person. I read other reviews that said she had a lot of growth but I personally didnt see it.

I felt like there was also a lot of plot holes that some people explained as hallucinations but maybe it was the writing that it didnt convey that to me with the first few instances. Especially the scene where her son was floating down the river but then all of sudden just fine playing on the bank and then another situation where they wefe walking off with a random woman in the woods but then not.

Along similar themes of how The Deep was, both books went over my head and I was just left confused a majority of the time. I think there is definitely some good things going for this one with the writing and atmosphere but the weird skips and the rapid events made this a bummer for me because the premise was so interesting to me.

Thanks to Netgalley for the earc for early access to read and review.

A modern gothic horror story with tons of twists and turns and a whole range of characters. It was a very dark read, but unique in its own right. The author created a whole world full of unique circumstances and even more unique story line. Definitely recommended for someone looking a different, original story. Based on the cover alone, I thought it would be more sci fi oriented, however I still enjoyed the story.

Representation matters and that's what I enjoyed in this story. I plan on looking for more work that this author puts out.

Rivers has this incredible voice that makes everything around you disappear. The writing is an art in and of itself. The story feels so real despite the knowledge that it can't be (or can it?). It's raw and angry and beautiful. Rivers has the talent of a century.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with an advance reader copy!

I just saw the wonderful cover of this book and the author, and didn’t even bother with the synopsis before requesting the advance copy. Because gothic horror is not my thing at all and the author’s fierce and unbridled writing makes for an unforgettable but difficult read.

The writing is truly gorgeous right from the get go. Despite the difficulty of the subject matter, I was engrossed completely and didn’t wanna put it down at all. The author perfectly captures the unforgiving atmosphere of the woods as well as the dread that follows Vern in the form of the far reaches of the cult Cainland she is escaping. There are also lots of horrifying and unexpected twists and turns, which kept me on my toes, always wondering what was gonna happen next. But the ending did feel quite different from the rest of the book and I still don’t know how I feel about it.

Through Vern’s harrowing struggle for survival with her two little boys, the author explores many themes like identity, motherhood, gender, sexuality, misogyny, race, and what it means to crave connections - either with humans or the nature. At the same time, the author also shows a mirror to the darkest parts of American history, especially how the exploitation and experimentation of Black bodies forms one of the major sources of progress for this country.

The writing is very straightforward, giving us unflinching truths through Vern who doesn’t know any pretense and is full of rage and grief. Her kids Feral and Howling literally grow up in the wild without knowing other humans but they are sharp and tough, with lots of love for their mother even if their relationship doesn’t feel very conventional in societal terms. Gogo and Bridget are great side characters, full of compassion and caring, who finally show that there is still some hope left in this cruel world. On the opposite spectrum, we get to see some of the members of Cainland and experience the horrific results when naked ambition for power at the cost of humans meets religious fanaticism and misogynistic entitlement.

To conclude, this is not a book for everyone and I’m not even sure to whom I can recommend it. Pick it up if you are ready for stunning atmospheric writing, an unflinching look at history which is also very much relevant to our contemporary times, and a group of characters who may be on the fringes of society, but their capacity for survival and love is boundless.

I didn't think I'd like this book at all, but I was pleasantly surprised halfway through. I've never read anything like it before. It feels like a blend of stories and genres I've read and enjoyed while being completely new to me. I enjoyed the mentions of events in the history of the relationship between the African-American community and the government in a way that prodded me to explore further even though I'd learned about these things before. This book sorta defies categorization. It's about race and religious fanaticism and exploitation and queerness and connection and so much more.