I received this as an ARC from Tor Nightfire via NetGalley. My thanks for the opportunity.

And . . . I'm not sure what I just read. This is, quite literally, the most messed up thing I've read in a long, long time. It's hardcore horror that begins with a Covid-like pandemic shutdown, and ends in near cosmic annihilation. In between there's so much blood, gore, and body fluids that I felt as if I need two giant bottles of disinfectant to clean up.

My mind will not be the same after reading this. But I most definitely enjoyed the ride, and I look forward to more from Lucy Snyder. Awesome job!

3.5 out of 5, rounded up. Thank you for the ARC!

"Sister, Maiden, Monster" is a body horror with a cosmic edge, and it made me go "what the EFF" a lot. I read it in one sitting - it's under 300 pages and utterly gripping. While I can say that I was definitely picking up what this book was putting down, I couldn't have actually identified WHAT it was putting down: it was all over the place. Interesting takes on women? Yes! Unnecessary references to Dahmer? Yes! Biblical horror? Yes!

It's split into three sections that overlap; I felt like the first section was easily the most interesting, but I enjoyed all three. If you're a fan of fever dream type horror that you come out of gasping for breath, this one's for you.

I want to start by acknowledging how difficult it is to write pandemic fiction in a world still reeling from a pandemic. This was definitely a much more unique take on the genre than most I have read or heard about since it dealt with a very different kind of virus.

I am torn on this one because I loved the characters of Erin, Savannah, and Mareva. They are all very different types of female main characters and how their stories draw them together is so fascinating. The author touches on so many interesting themes particularly sexuality, motherhood, how women are treated by the medical field, power in relationships, and so much more.

There is also some great body horror in this one for those that typically like that sub-genre.

The first third of this book worked really well for me, and then it all kind of felt like too much was happening. It went from a pandemic story to an apocalypse story, and I was left feeling kind of confused and overwhelmed. I think the plot began to overwhelm the strong character development that had taken place which left me a lot less high on this one than I was when I initially started the book.

Oof this book was not for me. It is VERY strange, and for me strange has to be intriguing not just weird for the sake of it. I didn't feel like the payoff was worth the utterly bonkers. But if that is your thing, this may work great for you

Allow me to introduce you to the weirdest book I have ever read 🤲

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Part pandemic tale part body-horror syfy saga, Sister, Maiden, Monster follows three women throughout different stages of a transformative pandemic.

That's all you're going to want to know about this one. Just know it's a lot of gory fun and weird as hell (in a good way).

QOTD: do you have a favorite pandemic or apocalypse story? I am loving The Last of Us right now and HBO and definitely got similar vibes from this one.

First off, what in the actual hell…? Second, can I have some more?
We meet three women, lives interconnected, during the peak of a pandemic that has its hosts becoming something “more.” Bloody and gruesome and weird; this book came out of nowhere and snagged me. I’m really hoping a sequel comes out because I’d love to continue on in this world.
If you are a fan of body horror, this book is chock full of it!

Immediately, I was pulled in on the first pages. And then regretted my decision to start this book on my lunch break. After finishing my lunch, I jumped back into the book. You can feel the fear and confusion as Erin goes through the symptoms of catching the virus. Waking up in a fog, and learning about her condition from a doctor while strapped to the hospital bed. The book then continues in the view of two others living through the chaos of what the virus is doing to humanity.

I really enjoyed the beginning with Erin’s view of everything. But the next two were hard to get through sometimes but that was just me. I’m sure others will love it! If you like a book with three l different POV, this is for you! It was a great horror read!

This book was messed up and so good wow. It follows three women’s stories following a crazy new virus which becomes so much more. Queer apocalyptic body horror. If you’re a fan of horror check out this book!

As someone who has studied classic fiction and Middle English literature on an academic level, I am well aware of the concept of contextualization. Essentially, to be aware of the social and political climates that could either advertently or inadvertently influence a writer. Given that we as a species have lived through a significant global event—speaking of course, to the pandemic—I did find myself wondering how such events would relay themselves into our more recent literary culture. As if to answer this ponderment, I have seen distinct theming in some of my more recent arc and new release reads. Vampire Weekend by Mike Chen focussed around self reflection and loneliness, for example. Sister, Maiden, Monster was less subtle than that, and as a result, came off as cheap.
I do not like the idea of umbrellaing certain stories as “pandemic books.” I think it degrades the effort and imagination it took to produce those stories by whittling them down to the point in time they were written. However, when a novel is made to go to such great lengths to encourage that association, then I simply have to roll my eyes and accept defeat.
Sister, Maiden, Monster was beyond obsessed with portraying pandemic specific horror. Right on down to extensive descriptions about improperly fitted N-95 masks, public fear, and stinging hand sanitizer. Outside of the obvious allusions to the pandemic, and some fetishist stereotyping, the horror elements were interesting. Nevertheless, I just could not get into this book. I lived this for the past 3 years, and it is still way too fresh in my mind to be reading about it.

Award-winning horror writer Lucy A. Snyder unleashes "Sister, Maiden, Monster" onto readers with great aplomb. Folks who prefer their fiction without any plagues or pandemics may want to steer clear of this novel, and even though I myself am in the camp that prefers not to read about pandemics, Snyder's writing and storytelling are magnificent, so I made an exception. The novel begins with a pandemic--not Covid-19, but something called PVG, or Polymorphic viral gastroencephalities. It has spread all over the world at roughly the same time in major cities, and the medical powers-that-be aren't sure about a Patient Zero, if one exists. PVG has also emerged after the previous 'coronavirus years,' so the landscape imagined here includes a world in which something worse comes after our current pandemic. The protagonist, Erin, and her boyfriend Gregory, are celebrating their anniversary a bit early. She becomes extremely ill not long after, and things take a turn for the worse.

She has been moved to a night shift job at her company, and has memory issues. She may go on a murderous rampage unpredictably, or an infecting spree. At one point, she was transported from the hospital to a place called Greenlawn, which is a recommissioned insane asylum. Although the protagonist concedes no one would call it that now, it's how city residents called it when it was built in 1908. After a shutdown in the 1980s, it became an army training place for a while, then was re-abandoned, until more recently. This pandemic presented a need for a secure recovery space, so the current owners envisioned that for it.

This novel falls under the camp of science fiction horror. Years ago, readers would have read this as post-apocalyptic fiction and have a veil of comfort about how X scenario would never really happen and thank goodness for that. Now that we've lived through--and are still living through--three pandemic years and counting, that have felt like three centuries, we know that's not the case. The veil of security is no longer there as a comfort. When Snyder describes things like Pandemic Safety Acts and government protocols on phones, Homeland Security being involved, etc, the reader will be chilled at the way we have all been so collectively invaded, and the scenarios don't seem far-fetched.

Oh, and did I mention that in addition to Erin's milder diet of things like bananas and applesauce, she eats brains?

Type Ones are people who contracted this PVG virus, got some headache and nausea, but then after a few days of rest they recovered, never had to see a doctor, didn't have to go to an ER, and didn't need to be in a containment facility like Greenwood. Erin has become a kind of living zombie who has significant trouble with digestion, healing, sunlight, X-rays, and a dozen other things. She could also still become a 'total cancer farm' by the time she becomes 35 years old. Further still, pregnancy is no longer an option, adoption and fostering are also not options, and her brain will degenerate significantly over time. It's not clear if there is a cure.

A Type Two means that if you were given daily supplements of vitamins and survived the initial severe onset of the virus, you could survive on fresh human blood, so you would become a vampire. Or you could drink fresh animal blood, or pasteurized. However, Type Threes are those who need to eat, as the author describes, "a nice fresh bowl of raw brains." Erin is a Type Three. Because of this, she is also far more prone to violent psychotic episodes if she doesn't regularly get raw brain material to eat.

And as she reminds readers, the worst part is that she's a contagious Type Three, so until she's no longer contagious... things are even worse. She tells her partner that they can no longer live together because it's not safe. She has to try to find a lodging of her own that will accept her.

The discussion she has with the Homeland Security agent when she's about to be discharged is like "1984" (Orwell) times a million. In some cases, Type Three patients are required to wear ankle bracelets. In Erin's case, her phone has an app she has to report into daily. They'll also check monitor her activities to make sure she's not on any dating apps. And if she thinks about violating rules about being in crowds or gyms, she'll be shuttled off to a supermax facility in Elderville for PVGs who are 'particularly violent.'

In light of the Roe v Wade downfall in real life and the fundamental robbing of women's rights, reading that IUDs are mandatory for women in this situation while men don't have to get vasectomies is ... par for the course. The body horror, gore, and brains make this a novel not for the faint of heart. With a brash mix of horror comedy to the religious horror aspects as well as the situation on the whole, and switching points of view to the other perspectives in the novel, "Sister, Maiden, Monster" is definitely one of the most unique and unforgettable horror novels of 2023. Don't miss it!

“I looked up at him, really looked at him. His pupils were constricted to small, dark points. A single bead of sweat trickled from his tidy gray hairline down his golf-tanned forehead. He was afraid. I knew it deep in my bones. A man is only afraid of a woman if she has power.”

I’ll be honest. I’ve found it hard to read pandemic fiction in the last couple of years. It’s felt too soon. Too fresh. I’ve been very particular about the virus stories I’ve been checking out. So when I heard about a virus that transforms people into eldritch horrors I was all in.

The strength of this book was the cast of women. Even when they’re selfish and monstrous they’re so vividly human. Their rage becomes your rage. Their pain is yours. I loved how the women’s stories tied together.

I was fully engaged in this story and loved the way the transformations were revealed. The cravings, the treatment! It was all so interesting especially experiencing it through our multiple narrators.

While the scope is micro in it’s telling, it leaves a lot of potential for future stories in this newly ruined world. You genuinely don’t know where this is going to go.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you so much to the team @tornightfire for providing me with an arc of this title. Sister, Maiden, Monster comes out February 21st.

A new favorite, Snyder's SISTER, MAIDEN, MONSTER captivated me from the first page, thrilled me through each POV shift, and horrified me from start to finish. Quite possibly one of the BEST books I have EVER read. Full review forthcoming.

What a fun book! Lovecraftian gore and spookiness abound, constantly kept me guessing at where it'd go next. It really captured the idea of the end of the world with elder gods, without falling onto super familiar tropes. As someone who isn't a billion percent familiar with Lovecraft, this was a fantastic intro for a modern audience.

This was very much a book of two halves for me, both of which I enjoyed in their own right, but which as a whole, felt pretty disjointed. The first half focused on Erin and her ongoing struggle with a new virus which can cause extreme violence and a need to consume human brains. We get a lot of character and world building in this first part, which gives Erin a depth that the protagonists of the next two parts don't get. The tone of the novel shifts pretty wildly and, although I did like the direction the second half went in, it felt a bit like two separate novels welded together. This meant that a lot of the second half felt pretty rushed and left a lot of things unexplored, which is a real shame. I think overall, I genuinely would have preferred this to be a duology, which would have given Snyder enough space to explore the themes brought up in the second half which didn't get enough time here.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Fearsome female ferocity. This book is a vivid and visceral look at a violent post-pandemic world. Gory and graphic, the imagery in this 3-part story made my skin crawl on multiple occasions.

Y,all #bookreview coming at you, thanks to
@netgalley and @tornightfire for the eARC in exchange
for an honest review.

Do y'all enjoy #cosmichorror ? Let me know below.

Sister, Maiden, Monster by @lucyasnyder is a #sapphic
cosmic horror tale, about a #virus that hits in a
post-pandemic world. We follow the POVs of three
women and find out how they are all interconnected, as
a virus spreads across the world, that gives people
some strange symptoms. At first, I thought this was a
typical monster story, a virus turning people into
vampires or zombies, but I WAS WRONG. I had not
realized the cosmic horror nature of this story, and
once it was apparent, I was hooked.

Not only is it an excellent #horrorbook , but the rep in it
is 💯, with sapphic rep (including #birep ), #acerep,
and a character that struggles with #genderidentity. I
was so pleased with this. I would have liked to see
more of a world after the events, as the ending is left
open, and would enjoy reading more about this world
and the eventual outcome.

Check TW's before reading.

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

#bookish #horrorcommunity #netgalley
#sistermaidenmonster #lucyasnyder #bookstagram
#queerbooks #queerhorror #wlw #lgbtq🌈
#queerbookstagram #wlwbooks #tornightfire

First and foremost, this book is a lot. It is short but so much. If you don’t have a weak disposition and enjoy apocalypse style writings, you may want to check this out. Lots of body horror and adult themes, making this a recommendation for adults who are not squeamish. It is heavy in political and religious factors as well and I feel it’s good to know that before reading or attempting to read.

Now, there are a plethora of themes and deeper meanings smashed into this book. The author mentioned in her acknowledgements that several short stories contributed to the writing and I could sense that separation yet togetherness while reading.

I can’t fully recommend it because it’s not something everyone should or would want to read. I feel it’s a very particular type of story. When you start reading, it’ll be hard to see the big picture of it all but it mostly comes together at the end. The ending is a bit of a cliffhanger and could definitely be taken further. However, I do not think at this time I would read the next installment of one were to be written.

I will say it is a sickening horror and maybe not in the way you would initially think. If you decide to check it out, let me know in the comments if you feel the same.

Thanks to NetGalley and Tornightfire for the opportunity to read this arc for my honest review.

There was definitely a lot of potential here for this to be an interesting apocalypse horror novel, but a lot of that was undercut by what I felt was kind of rushed pacing and uneven page time distribution between characters. The story is told from the perspective of 3 characters, each one being centered in their respective part, the first part takes up a bit over 50% of the book, which left the other two feeling a bit rushed and disjointed- especially the very last one which I felt should have been the longer of the three. The pacing along with the fact that the characters didn't really feel distinct enough for me to really care about any of them left me in that place where you read a book simply because you want to finish it because of how short it is rather than dnf instead of reading a book because you're enjoying it. There were a lot of interesting apocalypse fiction ideas here that I think could have been interesting if executed differently, but ultimately this really wasn't for me. There were also a few topics that were brought up in the story such as racism and gender dysphoria that I didn't feel were really handled that well or discussed properly, along with a moment that I felt was in very poor taste in which a character brings up what Jeffrey Dahmer had done to one of his victims. In general, this just wasn't what I was hoping for it to be

Thoughts: This was an incredibly weird and demented collection of three interconnected novellas that I ended up really enjoying. Snyder always comes up with some crazy stuff and doesn't shy away from the gory details. I really enjoyed her Jessie Shimmer series and continue to enjoy her writing here as well.

The synopsis does a decent job describing the plot, so I won't reiterate it here. This is pretty much an apocalyptic set of stories where a strange virus starts to manifest in people in different ways.

This is viciously twisted and gory, and at times you will think, "Did I really just read that?" It is also incredibly creative and intriguing since Snyder delves into depths of depravity that most authors wouldn't be comfortable delving in to. I love it for its uniqueness and just how much fun it ends up being to read.

The characters here are easy to engage with and come across as intelligent and introspective in their own ways, even when they are vicious and amoral. There is plenty of action and suspense, as you sit back and wonder how everything will play out. The ending is open-ended but I thought it fit the story tone well. Most endings to an apocalyptic tale like this are a bit open-ended.

My Summary (5/5): Overall I loved this and was so happy to see Snyder back to writing full-length books (even if it is more of a novella series in one novel). The weirdness and creativity here is awesome, but stomach turning at times. This is not a book for the faint of heart, but if you are a fan of Snyder you already know that. She does not turn away from gore or uncomfortable strangeness. I loved this and am excited to see what she writes next!

So, this is absolutely one of those books where you finish it, stare at a wall for two minutes, then exclaim: "what the f*ck did I just read?"

I honestly have no clue how to describe this to anyone, even though I certainly tried. It's like ... if the next pandemic we had sought to turn people into almost but not quite biblically accurate angels to prepare for an inevitable apocalypse that is handed down by eldritch beings who have a thing for octopuses. Curious yet?

Based on the synopsis, I assumed this was in triple POV. And, in a way, it was, but not how I expected. Rather the book is broken into three parts, with each character taking turns to show the different stages of the literal plague. Interestingly, while completely separate from each other, all three women are connected through some degree of separation. Each woman played a specific role in the upcoming Rapture, and they carried them very well, I thought.

Erin kicks us off for the first Act, being one of those who caught one of the more serious PVG cases and adjusting to her new reality. How being Type 3 has broken her relationship, changed her work position, her diet, and overall physical and mental needs.

Savannah slips into the middle with the shortest Act 2. She contracted PVG but did not get badly sick. Rather, her transformation comes from witnessing someone else's, and she finds a new purpose in life that involves some pretty nasty stuff for those aforementioned eldritch peeps.

Finally, Mareva takes us home to the finale by being the Chosen one. She has a disease/disorder that causes her to grow benign tumors. And boy howdy do we know she's the Chosen one when one of those tumors turns out to be not very cancer-like at all.

Never before has a book made me so squeamish. Usually I'm pretty good with body horror, but this did not shy away from the gore and unnerving. I mean, there was one scene involving a brain that literally made me scream and skip to the end because it was to gross to fathom. First for everything I suppose. And as weird and uncomfy as this book was in some places, it was so damn interesting and incredibly well written. I kid you not when I say I could not put it down. I just had to know what it all led to, what everything meant.

I waffled incredibly hard on what to rate this. Flipped between a three and a five on multiple occasions because there were some incredible moments that made me forget the not so good ones. In the end, I'm settling on a four because of that ending. I swear my copy was missing an epilogue or something because it was far too abrupt for me. I needed just a little more.