Good Reads, Lifestyle

Good Reads Challenge Book Review: Mary, An Awakening of Terror

July 30, 2024August 17, 2024 by LifeByWyetha

Hello to you, and welcome back to the blog.

BOOK QUOTE
“Boys get to keep that confidence [as they age], I think; girls have to give it back like it never really belonged to them.”― Nat Cassidy, Mary, An Awakening of Terror.

Friends, and how are you? I hope you are well, getting plenty of rest, staying hydrated, eating clean, focusing on your mental health, and giving yourself grace.

Today, today, and today, I’m reviewing my latest book on my Good Reads Challenge. My reading has really slowed down this summer, and all I want to do nothing, but once I start a book, the story grabs me until I know I don’t like it or I can’t wait for the next chapter. I’ve also lined up my Fall and Halloween reading, but I’ll be lucky to finish three titles because September and October are busy blogging months, so stay tuned. Now, without further ado — here’s my review!

Book Details

Storyline

Mary is a quiet, middle-aged woman doing her best to blend into the background. Unremarkable. Invisible. Unknown even to herself.

But lately, things have been changing inside Mary. Along with the hot flashes and body aches, she can’t look in a mirror without passing out, and the voices in her head have been urging her to do unspeakable things.

This is a story about perimenopause (hell, plain ole’ menopause), which is something I know well.
4.85 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Characters/Players

🕯️ Mary Mudgett (our main character; don’t call her the C-word)
🕯️Aunt Nadine (raised Mary after her parents died in a fire, the most hilarious character EVER)
🕯️ Eleanor (Daughter of one of Mary’s childhood bullies)
🕯️ Detectives from the prologue (Got famous from the Easter Massacre)
🕯️The Loved Ones (Mary’s little trinkets or tchotchke that she talks to)
🕯️Damon Cross (former cult leader and killer)

Memorable Quotes

🖤 “Another flickering room in the memory mansion.” 🏫
🖤 “You look good …. wanna try that again.”
🖤 “Getting old is indignity upon indignity—a race to obsolescence between body and mind.”
🖤 “Mary, are you there? I can’t keep calling you. I’m not made of time.” ⏰
🖤 “They think they’re all King Shit of Fart Mountain. I wouldn’t be surprised if their family tree were a straight line.”
🖤 “I am the observed of all the observers.”
🖤 “ Fucking poltergeist skills.” 🙌🏽
🖤 “For all her grumbling, she actually loves being a woman, pains and all. She just wishes she’d been born into a world that let those pains earn a little goddamn space.”

Prologue Metion

Several bodies have been found in a mansion. They’ve called it the Easter massacre. It starts with detectives going from room to room. The mayor and his family and acquaintances have been killed. All the women have a pillowcase over their heads soaked with blood.

First Nine Chapters

There’s something a little wrong with Mary. Every time she looks in the mirror or at any woman, she sees their faces melting. Mary is of a certain age and has seen a doctor about her perimenopausal symptoms with little result. The scenarios and stories Mary creates in her head lead me to question what happened to her as a child.

At this juncture in the story, Mary travels to Arizona to help her Aunt Nadine, who is freakin’ hilarious. Nadine asked Mary to be her home health aide because her daughter had skipped town. Yes, there is a story there.

And …What the hell is the undervoice…the one in her head with whom she interacts? Now … I don’t want to use the “C” word, but come on. It’s beyond the beyond.

The Connection

I have a feeling that what Mary is seeing or hallucinating are snippets of the Easter massacre mentioned in the prologue because she keeps seeing and dreaming about dead women with sheets over their heads covered in blood.

Chapters 10-20

That C-word again … It’s a horrible label that people say about women when we are at a particular crossroads in our lives, and things seem to go haywire.

But trying to figure out what was going on with Mary was a bit confusing. Was she bullied as a kid (or was it in her head)? Why was she sent away as a child, and did she really burn down her house? I had so many questions, and I couldn’t leave out the ghostwriting, where she would black out and fill her journal with text.

This is where the prologue and Mary’s current visions intersect, so this was challenging and triggering.

Observations I Found Eye-Opening

♀There is no cultural celebration of middle age or a second puberty about navigating the ills of adulthood and relationships. It deserves honor and respect.

♀Menopause is a biological right of passage that is pushed under the rug in our society. We are considered past our prime and deemed crazy or too sensitive. It explains why the main character (Mary) hated that word.

My Conclusion

While the story was weird..(meaning the paranormal part), there are several misogynistic undertones about the usefulness of women and how we fit or not into society, how we are demonized and constantly criticized and conditioned to be unseen or blend into the background. (Be porcelain …the story notes)

I really enjoyed this title, and I would recommend it if you’re looking for a horror novel in a different vein. It’s very violent, and there is language, gore, and OMG moments.

My podcast review on this title will be available on Friday!

Good Reads Challenge Progress

Where I’ve posted a link, I’ve created a podcast on that review, which is a little more detailed than the written review and, of course…commentary. All my other reviews can be found ➠➠➠ here.

What Moves the Dead (read)
Leslie F*cking Jones (read)
The Cousins (read)
September House (read)
The Echo Wife (read)
Her Lost Soul (ARC: read)
The Black Girl Survives This One (ARC: read)
The Bad Ones (ARC: read)
The Eleven (ARC: read)
The Sundown Motel (read)
We Lie Here (read)
The Black Guy Dies First: Black Horror Cinema from Fodder to Oscar (read)
Kill The Boy Band (read)
I Need You to Read This (read)
The Wishing Game (read)
Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide (read)
The Kind Worth Killing (read)
Home is Where the Bodies Are (read)
My Heart is a Chainsaw, Stephen Graham Jones (read)
Mary: An Awakening of Terror, Nat Cassidy (read..review in draft)
Houses of the Unholy (ARC: read)
Suck-U-Bus (ARC read)
Antenora (ARC)
Sadie (read)
The Night She Disappeared (read)

Good Read Challenge (Currently Reading)

Sleep Tight (ARC)
Wasp in the Ice Cream (GR, Audible)

For my partial Good Reads Challenge list, check out this ➠➠➠ post. For all the other posted reviews, check out my page. For the review podcast, check out my Spotify.

Bonus: I found this fantastic challenge on The Nerd Daily that I think you’ll enjoy. Click on the image for the PDF version. How many can you fill out?

Thanks so much for visiting the blog today. Don’t forget to follow and subscribe, as I appreciate the support. — Peace

Good Reads Challenge Book Review: Mary, An Awakening of Terror