Synopsis:
The rule is simple: don’t bleed.
For as long as Molly Southbourne can remember, she’s been watching herself die. Whenever she bleeds, another molly is born, identical to her in every way and intent on her destruction.
Molly knows every way to kill herself, but she also knows that as long as she survives she’ll be hunted. No matter how well she follows the rules, eventually the mollys will find her. Can Molly find a way to stop the tide of blood, or will she meet her end at the hand of a girl who looks just like her?
Edition:
E-book/Paperback (I own both)
My Thoughts:
This is another one that had been sitting in my TBR pile for quite some time, but I saw someone post about it on Instagram 3 weeks or so ago, and it reminded me that this was something I had been REALLY excited to read back then (oh, the tribulations of constantly having a massive TBR pile), so I decided to just go ahead and read something just because I wanted to (for the first time in quite a while, really). What a concept, right?
We all know by now that I have a thing for body horror, right? Like, maybe you remember the time(s) I wrote about different types of body horror for Horror Bound, right? No? Well, head over there when you wrap up here and search “body horror.” That should get you where you want to go.
Anyway, I love body horror. And the more violent and squishy, the better. The Murders of Molly Southbourne is both of those things, and in a conveniently short-form package. At this point in my brain’s history, that low page count was like a beautiful beacon of hope.
But let’s get on to the specific of why this book works so well! First of all, peep this opening line:
“I wake into a universe defined by pain.”
I mean, that’s a strong opener. It’s short and sweet (like the book), it’s visceral, and it really sets the mood for what’s to come.
Molly’s life is messed up. I mean, she’s like a hemophiliac mixed with a one woman pod-person creation machine. Can you imagine going your whole life trying not just to not hurt yourself, but not to bleed altogether? And if you’re at all curious, her problem can also be caused by menstruation, so…where does a person go from there? How do you live like that?
If you’re Molly, you live in a constant state of vigilance, and a constant state of ready-and-willingness to fight to the death at a moment’s notice. You try to avoid connecting emotionally with anyone, and you train and train and train until you’re a finely-tuned killing machine.
When I first read the synopsis, I remember thinking to myself that this was going to be one hell of a hard story to tie together in a satisfactory manner. But I’ll be damned if Thompson didn’t manage to do exactly that. The ending and its explanation were incredibly satisfying.
See also: The Survival of Molly Southborne
About the Author:
According to MacMillan’s website:
TADE THOMPSON lives and works in the south of England. He is the author of the Rosewater trilogy (winner of the Nommo Award and John W. Campbell finalist) , The Murders of Molly Southbourne (nominated for the Shirley Jackson Award, the British Science Fiction Award, and the Nommo Award), and Making Wolf (winner of the Golden Tentacle Award). His interests include jazz, visual arts and MMA. He is addicted to reading.
Rating:
This book is icky, gooey, creepy, and really, really good. I honestly can’t recommend this book highly enough. I can’t wait to get my hands on the sequel!
The Murders of Molly Southbourne By Tade Thompson Tor.com ISBN: 9780765397126 Published: October 3, 2017 Paperback, E-book 128 Pages
Great review!! I LOVED this one so much. Have you checked out the second one yet? I’m soooo antsy for the third book that I heard rumor of! 🙂
I haven’t. I did order paperback copies of both as soo as I finished this one though!