Solomon always writes a captivating and inventive speculative narrative about race, gender, and other issues, and this one is no exception. The end got away from them a tad with too many expository asides about historical injustices— important info, but not necessarily needed in this book and clumsily added. ARC from NetGalley; the book is out May 4 & well worth a read.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for gifting me a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review. This did not in any way influence my rating or overall review.

Well damn... I'm not sure how to review this.

5/5 stars, highly recommend it. I'm fascinated to see how readers will react this book. It has a pretty intense message that goes above and beyond the typical/commercial conversations of racism and generational trauma. It's a bold move, and will likely be seen as "radical" even though it's accurate when you look back at American history (and take stock of how the country operates today).

This book starts off as a cult book, but opens up into SO MUCH MORE. I can't say much else without spoiling it, but if you're on the fence when you first start reading it, please keep going. I read the entire book in one sitting/one afternoon and it's not necessarily a fast read....so that tells you how compelling it is.

This book will make you feel a lot...mostly rage, and likely shame.

TW: childbirth, killing of animals (mostly for food, but there are more upsetting scenes with animal death), body horror (think Wilder Girls but more intense), murder, suicide, rape of minor (off page), gun violence, knife violence, generational trauma, cult indoctrination, trauma from US government, and one big one that I really can't say without spoiling the entire book. Please tread carefully when reading this book and take breaks if needed. It's by no means a light read, and it will be upsetting to many readers

I’m a little lost for words. This was truly unlike anything I have read before and definitely once of the most interesting books I have come across. It took me a bit to get into but the second and third parts were excellent.

Being in the mind of Vern was so intriguing because you could feel her confusion and hurt and anguish through the pages. She was’t necessarily a good person but she was able to put herself and those she loves first and you can’t really fault her for anything she does in this book.

There were some things about this that made me uncomfortable such as Vern being a minor but having a relationship with two adults (one consensual and one non consensual) in the first part, and also that scene in the motel with the two gay hauntings was a bit weird to read.

But everything else was enjoyable and this was such a wonderful, unique book.

Thank you Netgalley for this book!

Holy smokes this book. I have already read An Unkindness of Ghosts and The Deep, so I am familiar with Rivers Solomon’s genre-bending style. I discovered them in last year’s PopSugar challenge for the “author who is trans or non-binary” prompt, so I’m using Solomon’s preferred pronouns of they/their. I am so thankful I stumbled upon their work because all their books have been outstanding. And seriously, thank you to Netgalley for letting me have this one. I was so excited to read it.

From Goodreads: Vern – seven months pregnant and desperate to escape the strict religious compound where she was raised – flees for the shelter of the woods. There, she gives birth to twins, and plans to raise them far from the influence of the outside world.

But even in the forest, Vern is a hunted woman. Forced to fight back against the community that refuses to let her go, she unleashes incredible brutality far beyond what a person should be capable of, her body wracked by inexplicable and uncanny changes.

To understand her metamorphosis and to protect her small family, Vern has to face the past, and more troublingly, the future – outside the woods. Finding the truth will mean uncovering the secrets of the compound she fled but also the violent history in America that produced it.

So, this book isn’t at all what I thought it would be. I should have known not to expect “traditional” when it comes to a book written by Solomon. I was thinking it would be a story about a woman escaping a cult and struggling with the outside world. It is that, of course, but so SO much more. Vern begins to notice that her body is stronger than it should be. She doesn’t tire as quickly and can heal herself. By the time she realizes this, she knows she has to figure out why.

Vern’s journey takes her to people who are kind and helpful, and she finds a home, of sorts. Her children are protected, while Vern can search for answers. And those answers, whew, they are pretty crazy. And so terrible. I had no idea where this book was going once Vern left the woods, but the story just becomes richer and richer as the story unfolds. What a fantastic, important adventure.

I have been meaning to read Rivers Solomon for a while now but committee works, waiting lists, and ARCs always seemed to be in the way...oh, and that pandemic thing. When I saw I could get quick e-access to this one, I leapt at the chance. I'm so glad I did because this book was half-fever dream, half-child of Octavia Butler: a book rooted in Blackness and self and connection, but also deeply and lushly rooted to Earth and nature that all the gardening in Xenogenesis and the Parable books never could never touch. This book is at times eerie and confusing and truly scary, and at others funny and romantic and real.

Different and I enjoyed it! The story and characters were enjoyable. Thank you for the advance reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

I don't think I've read a book like this before. The story follows Vern, who escapes Cainland, a cultish compound that purports to be a black utopia. I enjoyed the historical references in the book. Sorrowland uses fantastical elements of the story to explore America's exploitation of black people. Although the fantasy elements don't feel real, as a reader, it is easy to believe that Vern's story is a logical extension of this sordid history. I will admit that it took me a long time to get invested in this book. I was about halfway done before I felt gripped by the story. At that point, the pieces started to come together for me and I was able to appreciate it. Overall, Sorrowland is masterfully written and thought-provoking, and although it is not my usual sort of of book, it was well worth the read.

The first quarter or so of “Sorrowland” intrigued me. Here was a young mother—barely past childhood herself—giving birth alone in the woods and then keeping herself and her children (twins!) alive while fending off a mysterious and sinister being she refers to as “the fiend.” My reader antennae were up in a good way. Who was she? Where had she come from? Why was she here? What was she running from? Who had she left behind? Vern seemed a totally unique and fascinating character.

As the book went on, the tightness of the writing loosened. Once I discovered where Vern had run from and why, the narrative no longer held my attention in the same way. I was fascinated by the ideas in the book, which is a mash-up of fantasy, social/religious commentary, and government conspiracy. But by the final third, I felt that too much was being explained. Many scenes would have benefited from cutting down and sharpening their focus. There were a couple of sex scenes that felt a bit gratuitous—not that I have anything against sex scenes; I just didn’t understand their relevance to the plot.

Rivers Solomon has great imaginative flair and a gift for unusual characters and interesting situations. The fantasy elements were well developed and I understood the premise of how the fantasy world operated. But ultimately the book’s pacing and lack of polish toward the end prevented me from being as fully immersed in it as I wanted to be.

Wow. Such a brilliant story. I absolutely loved it and cannot believe I have never read this author before. Well, that is definitely changed now. I loved this lovely story.

I wasn't sure what I was getting into when I started reading this book. Where I landed was in a sad, dark world with Vern. Vern has escaped a cult when 7 months pregnant. She raises her children in the woods while changes are happening to her. This book is more of a fantasy than horror but it's a wonderful, at times, hard to follow story of a girl who makes the changes she needs happen.

This was dark and confusing to read, but that's what makes it so good.

I've been interested in Rivers Solomon's books, but never got around to actually picking one up. Thank you for the E-Galley. I am now a Solomon fan.

If you are looking for an important novel that touches on many dark topics such as womanhood, motherhood, raising children and feminism, this is the book for you.

I have a feeling that this is going to be one of the star books of 2021. The ideas and writing feel unique and raw, while the subject matters are contemporary and relevant. It's a dark book with the ability to draw you in completely.

Vern has grown up in black power utopian cult that lives off the land, only she's starting to see the huge cracks around the edges. When you're a teenage girl with a mind of your own and you find a way to escape into the woods, you do so. Only now, she's given birth to twins in the woods and is being hunted by a sadistic fiend who seems bent on her destruction.

Being an albino and being able to raise toddlers in the forest without modern conveniences are not the only things that are different about Vern. She seems to be experiencing some sort of transformation that she doesn't understand. She sees people who aren't really there, she is getting stronger, and she is growing some type of polypore on her back. Eventually, she becomes so sick that she has to seek help from civilization.

I can't believe I haven't read anything by Rivers Solomon before. Her identity and the main character's identity as a black lesbian is definitely at the forefront of the book.

The genre of this book runs somewhere between literature, speculative fiction, and horror. As a fungi enthusiast, I really appreciate the mycelial threads that run through the book (pun intended). That concept alone would have been worth the read. I always enjoy when authors speculate about the what-ifs of our world and bring those ideas to life in a big way.

I’m really having a struggle trying to review this book. I’ve read over others reviews but they obviously got much more from the story than I did. I didn’t hate the book but I can’t really say that I liked it either. The main character was not likable at all. The first 2/3 were very slow but the last was entirely too fast. There was so much going on that I found it difficult to keep up. The ending just sucked. Maybe just not my kind of book.

A dark fantasy, filled with passion, richly written and deeply challenging. In some respects, a hard book to read but very entertaining.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I think Solomon is a terrific writer, but this book just didn't click with me. Failure of reader and moment, not of the book or the author. I think I might come back to this someday, but it was too dense for me to really do anything other than admire from a distance this time around.

A deep complex story of an albino black girl in a weird and violent world, with touches of science fiction, horror, social commentary, and good discussion on matters of gender and identity. Sorrowland is one of those good and weird books that stick with you and makes you wonder.

There we follow Vern, a pregnant teenage girl, as she scapes the cult in which she was raised. Living in the woods with her children, finding strength in Nature while trying to escape those who are hunting her.
As she realizes her body is changing in ways not possible, and fearing for the children, Vern will have to face her past and all that led to her escape, finding the truths behind the compound where she was raised.

I really liked the book, and have to point it out, as another reviewer said, the lack of "male gazing" was refreshing from the start. It felt good to read this book. The main theme was well developed and the twists and turns of the book very good until the last third which I found not as good as the rest.

Other than the end, the only issue I had with it was that I found it somewhat ambitious, and, at times, I felt overwhelmed with the number of topics discussed.

This book is…astonishing.

It’s impossible to classify. It’s a cult novel and a dark fable and an adventure and paranormal and sf and…everything. It’s diverse in terms of race and sexuality and gender. And if it sounds like I’m saying the author threw in everything but the kitchen sink, I’m not.

Instead, the author manages to weave together everything I mentioned and create something new and exciting and utterly unique.

It’s just…Sorrowland.

I loved this. I loved our characters, adored the writing style, and found myself complete immersed in a world that managed to be new on its surface, but which spoke to familiar truths at its heart.

Five stars.

*ARC Provided via Net Galley

Firstly, a million thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Sorrowland kicks off with Vern, a terrified 15 year old running from the only home she's ever known, giving birth to twins alone in the woods. The writing was immediately stunning, captivating and vivid enough to have me hungrily turning the pages, eager to have my questions answered. As it goes on, pieces are told to the audience slowly, gradually painting a picture of Vern's marriage to a much older, dangerous and abusive man in the heart of a compound that Vern once considered home but learned to hate. As she runs from the cult, she is continuously and ruthlessly hunted by the people who work for them, no matter how long she manages to settle down in one spot with her children. Vern not only has these hunters to fear, but something impossible that has taken root in her which begins to rapidly grow and change to worry about as well.

To reveal anything else would be a disservice to interested readers, for one of the things I found most fascinating about is that every time I thought I understood where the story was going, it went another direction. You really can't predict anything with this one: it will constantly surprise you. There are many things to love here, though, the beautiful creativity only one of them.

I loved Vern fiercely. She struggles to feel "soft" or loving emotions, certain they don't suit her, so to watch her slowly but surely open her heart up to another person, someone who will love her for who she is and not for the power they can exert over her or for the body they can use, made me feel immensely proud and happy. The pride definitely did not end there; Vern is consistently resilient and strong in situations where weaker-minded people would have crumbled and given up. She accepts the changes her body brings, and learns to live around them and grow despite, or perhaps also in part because of, them.

I found her kids to be incredibly delightful. Their ceaseless, insatiable curiosity, humor, energy, and fun was a welcome break from the very intense and heavy themes this book explores, providing a perfect balance and causing me to feel an unbearable amount of fondness. They were one of my favorite pieces of this amazing novel.

Wonderful as the kids were, though, the brutally honest commentary on racism, the US government, capitalism, misogyny, and abuse was a hundred times more satisfying. I do not have the words to explain how impressive and refreshing it is to see an author so frankly and ferociously challenge and condemn controversial topics such as these. The importance of a book like this cannot be overstated, and I am grateful to have had the lucky opportunity to read it early. I cannot wait to get my hands on it physically, so I can revisit the passages that I found most alluring.

Major TW for many instances of pedophilia, rape, child abuse, emotional abuse, manipulation, brainwashing.

Sorrowland is both an incredibly sad and powerful book about the travesties that have been inflicted upon Black America.

Vern delivers and subsequently raises twin boys in the woods after escaping a cult-like community called Cainland. Cainland’s purpose was to empower and give safety to its black occupants. Upon her harrowing adventures on the run after leaving Cainland, Vern finds she has been much transformed and that Cainland is not all as it seems.

Speculative fiction at its finest, Sorrowland is for any fans of the genre along with those curious about black history in America and the depths some will go to preserve power. Rich with symbolism and full of emotion, Vern is a character that will not soon be forgotten.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this free ebook ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

This book is raw and wild and intense and one helluva story, wrapped up in prose that is beautiful and aching.

Vern, fifteen and pregnant, flees the quasi cult/commune that she was born into - known as Cainland - finding shelter in the woods where she is haunted and hunted as gives birth to her children, Howling and Feral. So begins a fierce tale of reckoning as Vern begins to unfold the true nature of the life that was ordained upon her and the violence that has been part and parcel of that life. Rivers Solomon does not shy away from exploring issues of race, violence, misogyny, sexual identity, and, most importantly, the history of othering and committing violence against black bodies. And, while tackling all of this, they deliver an extraordinarily readable and enjoyable tale.

There were definitely some parts that were difficult and, at times, I felt the pace falter (just a bit) but this was a story unlike any I have read in a long while - its unique, profound, bold, ferocious, beautiful, and with a strong beating heart at its core.

I highly recommend this book.

Thank you to netgalley, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, and the author for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.