REVIEW
Woo Woo by Ella Baxter

God, I love weird-girl lit. Is this even a genre? If it is, I want to live in it. Feral and furious, Woo Woo is a fever dream of a read.

Thank you to Allen & Unwin for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

There’s something that this kind of literature does to my brain. Softens it, molds it, makes my brain all marshmallowy like. It’s the kind of vivid descriptive imagery that transports you–in this case, into the Melbourne arts scene– to new landscapes, and scenarios you’d just never imagine yourself winding up in. In Woo Woo, that’s being stalked right before your major art show exhibition.

The reader delves into MC Sabine’s fears, furies, and anxieties as she struggles with the impending deadline and her stalker. Despite the fantastical landscape, as a writer and ex-poet who often found herself at book launches and readings she felt just a little out of place in, I could definitely relate to the elevated emotions in this story.

I’m gonna temper the end of this review by admitting that this story will not be for everyone. But if you were a fan of Coco Mellor’s Cleopatra & Frankenstein or Amy Twigg’s Spoilt Creatures, I think you will enjoy this.

I've read enough of Woo Woo to appreciate the author's wit and skill with words but to know that this book is not for me. Clever writing in small doses but I found myself tiring of it after some time.
My thanks to NetGalley and A&U for an advance copy to review.

Woo Woo by Ella Baxter was quite frankly very "woo woo". It focuses on Sabine a conceptual artist who is having a bit of a meltdown/breakdown as her next exhibition opening looms. To add to this she begins to be visited by a ghost of one of her artist idols and is being stalked by an unknown man which her husband believes is in her head. As a conceptual artist she often livestreams aspects of her life. This includes a moment where she sees her life-size puppets (created for her to wear during her photoshoots) come to life. It was a lot.

I loved New Animal which was Baxter's debut novel released in 2021 so it pains me to say I just did not like this book at all. I found Sabine insufferable and her behaviour so completely bizarre that it alienated me rather than drawing me in. I'm usually all in for odd and mesmerising novels. This one was dark and deliberately provocative but the plot was just so strange. It was not for me.

There is an afterword relating to the stalker angle which gave me some additional insight into why Baxter chose to write about it which I appreciated but I was already too turned off by the book sadly. I really hope I am an anomaly in terms of this book as Baxter is definitely an author to watch.

Woo Woo by Ella Baxter is weird and wonderful - the ultimate weird art girl lit read.

Woo Woo follows Sabine, a conceptual artist preparing for her exhibition opening. Over the course of a few days, things go from weird to worse, culminating in a seriously whacky climax to the book, before calming down dramatically.

I found Baxter's writing, in her own words, 'surreal and sublime'. At times I was reading and when I stopped I felt like I was coming out of a trance. There was rhythm to the madness. I also really loved the descriptions of fruit, and her husband's cooking.

This book is not for the faint of heart! But that does not mean that it's not good. I would read this book if you're a fan of Ottessa Moshfegh or Melissa Broder, and a fan of contemporary art or have a penchant for trying to understand the art world. Fortunately for me, I fit into these categories so I enjoyed Woo Woo.

Thank you to NetGalley and Allen & Unwin for this e-Arc, I will be purchasing the physical book when it comes out!

When I read New Animal a few years ago, I distinctly remember thinking there’s no one who tells a story quite like Ella Baxter. Her latest novel, WOO WOO, is out at the end of this month and she has once again smashed it out of the park!

We witness conceptual and performance artist, Sabine, in the days leading up to the opening of her big-deal solo exhibition. During this time, she repeatedly doubts her purpose and legitimacy as an artist, questions the commitment of her husband, realises she is being stalked, is haunted by her muse Carolee Schneemann, and engages in some inpromptu and strange social media engagement. We stand by as Sabine’s increasing fear and insecurity amplifies to an uncontrollable level of pure feral in the process.

This had some of the best writing I’ve ever come across about an artist’s vulnerability and ego in sharing their art, and themselves, with the world. What starts as a relatively uneventful introduction to an eccentric and pretentious artist based in the inner north of Melbourne progresses to an unravelling that is absurd, fantastical, dark and unsettling. What is truly impressive is Baxter’s ability to navigate and subtly control the seemingly uncontrollable. And, similar to New Animal, it was so darkly funny at times.

The use and purpose of the headings of each chapter (song lyrics, quotes from creatives, references to actual artworks and exhibitions) had me on a frenzied trip down all sorts of rabbit holes, adding another layer of brilliance to this spectacular book.

What a brutal and breathtaking dissection of the creative mind and spirit, obsession, revenge and the feminine experience.

Review shared on Instagram @bookworm_with_a_brew

Art art art art art art art art.
The main character in this feels like a caricature of an artist - totally manic and humdinger and everything for arts sake. I don’t know if this is meant to be satire or performative but I do know that I’m not the right reader for this. I don’t get it.