Sister, Maiden, Monster

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Compulsive, masterfully wrought combinations of horror—body, plague, and cosmic. I was glued to Sister, Maiden, Monster way past lights-out. Snyder is going to clobber unsuspecting readers with the bad-dreams-bat.” Oh, and did I mention that in addition to Erin's milder diet of things like bananas and applesauce, she eats brains? It sort of felt like 3 different stories that all happened to be going on around the same time and place. The first story felt like a splatterpunk lust story between a newly turned zombie girl and a newly turned vampire girl and I wasn't really feeling it. Then the middle bit was the story of a newly turned serial killer realizing she really got off on murder which I didn't hate but it felt sudden and misplaced. The last bit of the book I LOVED with epic beasts and cosmic lovecraftian horror. I loved it all the way up to the end. I didn't care for the ending. It felt wildly abrupt and like the author was trying to figure out how to end it and was running out of time ao she scrambled an ending together and slapped it on like a bandaid... Snyder has created something unique here, it’s grotesque and repulsive, but it is also brilliant and beautiful. A story created in Dante’s vision of hell, then regurgitated into something addictive and infectious. I have already leant my copy to friends who felt the same as I did, we find ourselves in the same position as Maurice:

I loved the way the breakdown of society is seen through three unique female voices (Erin, Savannah and Mareva) whom are all impacted in hugely different ways from the early days in hospital isolation to later periods when the government have snipers on building roofs looking for anything suspicious. This was Covid-19 multiplied by a thousand as the three try to survive (or embrace) the virus which is destined to change humanity. Lucy Snyder has successfully written a novel riddled with body horror, erotica, and repulsion. Snyder has stitched together the darkest most disturbing thoughts a person might have, religious doomsday prophecies as well as left over anxieties related to covid-19. Within this novel, Snyder doesn’t just ask the question “what if…?” when it comes to the end of the world… she answers it, in the most horrific possible way. Absolutely recommended for readers of the cosmic and gloriously horrific.” ―Seanan McGuire, New York Times bestselling authorA hideously gory, kink-fueled, feminist cosmic horror apocalypse novel that should be on the top of everyone’s reading list.” — Christopher Golden, New York Times bestselling author of Ararat and Road of Bones This book is freaking WILD! It is gruesome and twisted and I LOVED it. This tells of a dark and horrific coming of end times and it completely engrossed me. I have found a strange new reading interest, for sure. A virus tears across the globe, transforming its victims in nightmarish ways. As the world collapses, dark forces pull a small group of women together. WHEN I TELL YOU THAT I AM OBSESSED!!!! Seriously, this book has everything I could have ever hoped for and more. There's humor, LGBTQIA+ representation, eldritch level terrors, body horror, sex positivity, and some incredibly creative uses of gore. Lucy A. Snyder really gave their audience their all in Sister, Maiden, Monster. If you are a fan of Lovecraft but crave a contemporary and socially conscious approach to sci-fi horror, then you need to get your hands on this book immediately. If you enjoy David Cronenberg levels of body horror, you've found the perfect book.

I blamed my exhaustion on stress and anxiety. Last week, the world had gotten the worst Valentine’s Day present ever: a new pandemic called PVG. Polymorphic viral gastroencephalitis. It had popped up in London, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Toronto, Honolulu, Los Angeles, Seattle, New York City, and Mexico City at roughly the same time, which made finding Patient Zero (if he or she existed) a challenge. Nobody knew yet where it had come from, exactly how it spread, or what it was likely to do in the long run. All anyone knew for sure was that it was landing people in the hospital with scary symptoms. I continued: “It looks like most of the other companies on the West Side have already shifted to work from home.”

Featured Reviews

Unflinchingly gory, fast-paced and full of disasters both expected and unexpected — every twist is earned and becomes another piece in this intricate puzzle that begins as a medical mystery. I promise you have never read another cosmic horror like this. It’s impossible to look away as we witness everything it takes to end this world in full, intimate detail.” A] horror story of cosmic proportions, a smart deconstruction of pandemic mayhem, and a timely narrative that delves deep into what happens when we collectively face something new, dangerous, and scary, Sister, Maiden, Monster is a mosaic novel that shows a five-time Bram Stoker Award-winning author at the top of her game....Synder is a keen observer, a sharp chronicler, and a great storyteller, and all of that is evident in this book.” — Locus Absolutely recommended for readers of the cosmic and gloriously horrific.”―Seanan McGuire, New York Times bestselling author

Told in three parts, Lucy A. Snyder's Sister, Maiden, Monster charts of the course of mankind's transformation through the eyes of three women. The first, Erin, is a recently engaged desktop support specialist who finds her body all but decimated by PVG. Savannah is a sex worker turned serial killer cannibal for the elder gods. Mareva's body, meanwhile, is prone to producing benign tumors even at the best of times, but in the face of PVG is forced to reconcile with even more horrific possibilities. A blood-and-brains splattered shotgun-blast romp through the apocalypse that will simultaneously excite and disgust readers with equal pleasure.”– PHILIP FRACASSI, author of Boys in the Valley With Sister, Maiden, Monster, we see that there’s not only beauty in the abyss, but equal doses terror and wonder.” — Maurice Broaddus, author of Breath of Oblivion I had a lot of mixed feelings about this book. Despite the description, I wasn’t entirely sure what I would be getting into and there was not a single point in reading this book that I truly knew what was going to happen next, which made for a great read! However, I did have some qualms especially upon first starting the book, though I ultimately did end up really enjoying the read overall. 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.This is a book for horror aficionados to exult in. It’s seamlessly constructed, frequently funny, joyfully queer, and unapologetically gross, with plot twists that feel both wholly unexpected and inevitable."— Booklist (starred review)