3.5 stars. Magnolia just lost her grandmother and is feeling pretty rudderless. She's coerced into prostitution in order to pay rent, but she soon comes across a strange offer from a strange man — would she like to model? Turns out, the "modeling" gig is a rather bizarre one, and at a funeral home to boot. Haunted by the ghost of her grandmother as well as some of the decisions she's making, Magnolia descends further into the madness that is the House of Cotton.

This book is...weird...but enjoyable? I think? Truthfully I had NO idea what I was getting into; I thought this was historical fiction so I was extra taken aback by the direction it went! The pace is pretty quick and it did hold my interest, out of sheer perversion most of the time. There are makeup wizards, tinder douchebags, and some of the oddest zoom calls you could ever imagine. It's glorious in its singularity and strange plot points.

I'm not sure that I "got" the message that the summary promises, the witty commentary on modern plantations and being a black woman in the south. Magnolia's experiences were objectively awful much of the time, but I just didn't feel the connection between her story and something grander. Might just be me! Either way, this book was a unique ride and I'd recommend checking it out if you're looking for something truly out-there.

Thank you to Monica Brashears, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for my advance audio copy.

3 stars

This book gave me a lot of visceral reactions, and while that may sound like an overtly bad thing, it's very much the point. Readers just have to be in the mood for it and have a high tolerance for some subject matter that many will find challenging.

Marigold is a young woman who is on her own in terms of her family structure, her financial support, and the institutions that comprise her world. Out of necessity and circumstance, she falls into a situation that readers will KNOW is creepy...but it's actually worse than expected. Through limited options, Marigold makes choices with her body, her welfare, and her personal safety that often have shocking outcomes (at least to me. I might have realized during this read that I am becoming more sensitive to certain issues). While it can be easy to judge some of Marigold's choices, it is also impossible to avoid empathizing - or at least sympathizing - with the circumstances that happen TO her. Whether readers love, hate, or fall somewhere in the middle with this read, I expect most will have a strong reaction to this character, at the very least.

The joint comparison of this book to _Luster_ and especially _The Other Black Girl_ hooked me instantly, but I'm coming out of this one so focused on the macabre, visceral, sensory elements that I'm still trying - post completion - to really dig back into the general plotting and overall concept. I struggled with some of the content enough that it hampered my enjoyment and appreciation of the novel overall, but conceptually, I know this is an author I want to try again.

Did I love this book? Yes. Do I know who to recommend this to? No. There were so many themes of self destruction, lost, feeling an emptiness inside, but no plot. It was very in your face, but I don't know who I could suggest it to. This is not my normal type of book, so I have nothing to compare it to. The writing I really enjoyed.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced audiobook copy. I really enjoyed the narrators voice. Easy to listen to and held my attention.

There is such a darkness in this book. It’s morbid, but I couldn’t seem to look away.

Magnolia has just lost her beloved grandmother, the most important person in her life. She is hiding from her skeezy landlord and just all around feeling hopeless, finding solace and comfort in clandestine sexual encounters. When Cotton, a strange white man offers her a modeling job… in his funeral home… she accepts because why the hell not?

This job, Cotton and his funeral home become pretty much her whole world very quickly. I think the strangeness of it all satiates the darkness swirling within her. Each contract they take gets weirder and weirder, turning Magnolia into something wholly different each time.

Magnolia was such a fantastic character. She has many realistic flaws and ultimately just wants love, even if it’s not clear at first. She wants to keep slaking the hunger within herself and this new life seems to be filling a void.

I loved this book with an intensity because it was just raw and gritty. It was nothing at all like I thought it was going to be. Once I started, I could not stop… all the way to last words. It was just so good.

Magnolia is just scraping by with little money, a dick for a landlord and, of yeah, her grandmother’s ghost. At her crappy job at a gas station, Magnolia is approached by Cotton, a questionable character who offers her a modeling job. At this family’s funeral home. After accepting this rather creepy offer, Magnolia finds her financial affairs are falling into order, but her life is getting weirder every day. This story started out with a bang and an ultra creepy vibe, but the ending fell flat for me

House of Cotton has such a unique story to it, one that I definitely have not read before. A girl who is down in her luck is offered a random modeling job and accepts it because of her precarious position. I really enjoyed this bizarre world and all that went on with it. I do wish there was a bit more explanation of some things like why all of a sudden it seemed like things were taking a downward turn and the controlling aspect of it. However, I couldn’t put this book down once I started to get into it, very well done. Thank you to Macmillan Audio & NetGalley for allowing me to listen to this book

💭Thoughts:
First off, I love this cover! It’s both beautiful and dark! I don’t think I will soon forget this book. It’s definitely a story that will stick with me. It’s dark and strange, while still being very thought provoking. Magnolia is a very flawed character, but I still felt for her and the difficult situation she found herself in.

The story is hard to follow at times. I think I missed some of the social commentary I was suppose to pick up on. The author did a great job with descriptive language. I could really envision Magnolia, Cotton, and Eden. Magnolia is a well flushed out character. I felt like I really got to understand her and her grief. Her relationship with sex was very disturbing and at times had me audibly gasping. It was crass and rough.

The ending seemed rushed and it wasn’t as satisfying as I had hoped it would be. The narrator did a great job bringing these characters to life. I definitely recommend the audiobook if you decide to pick this one up.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan audio for this ARC! I enjoyed the narrator and their accents were on point. I think the plot had a lot of potential, but ultimately fell flat for me. The prose was wonderful, but I found the story very hard to follow at times.

This book was not for me. It was weird. I also felt it was all over the place. The plot had potential but it kept veering off somewhere. I kept reading thinking it would get better but it got worse. It is a very dark book with triggers so be aware. The lead was annoying and came off as naive and desperate. The book cover is nice.

****Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review****

LISTEN YALL! I almost spit out my coffee when I saw this approval email come in via NetGalley. This was the best news I got this week. I am so very, very thankful to Flatiron Books and Monica Brashears for granting me early access to this gorgeously heartbreaking southern gothic tale before it's set to publish on April 4, 2023. Hidden in the valleys of Knoxville, Tennessee, is a little town made up of guilt, church on Sundays, and hard times. Hard times get dealt directly to Magnolia after her grandmother's sudden death. Mama Browne raised Magnolia because her blood mother's addictions and misgivings deemed her an unfit mother. Now stuck with 19 dollars in her bank account and nowhere to go, she trusts the guidance of a friendly stranger who refers her to his business as a presumed model scout. Upon nibbling at the bait, Magnolia learns that this man, Cotton, and his Aunt, Eden, are in the business of death and have used their extra resources to recreate interactions with the dead to give grieving families one last chance at goodbye. According to the business offering, families who have lost a loved one reach out to Cotton with money enclosed, asking for one final goodbye, and that's where Magnolia comes into the equation. Aunt Eden paints her as the spitting image of these lost souls, and they set up an interaction via Skype or Zoom to deliver on that family's transaction. The orders keep coming in, and as skeevy and grimy as this purchase sounds, this offering is settling a battle for some families, and in Cotton and Eden's eyes, that's enough. As Magnolia undergoes each transformation, she begins to see the ghost of Mama Brown, who then guides her through the topsy-turvy unknowns of her life, helping her see the clearer picture and escape the demons from her past with each coming day.