This kept popping up on my amazon suggested reads all the time, regardless of what I was searching or looking for. So I went, FINE AMAZON, I'LL BUY IT. I'LL READ IT. GEEZ.
And I did. And now here we are.
An amazon summary, "It's been eighteen months since the Raxter School for Girls was put
under quarantine. Since the Tox hit and pulled Hetty's life out from
under her.
It started slow. First the teachers died one by one.
Then it began to infect the students, turning their bodies strange and
foreign. Now, cut off from the rest of the world and left to fend for
themselves on their island home, the girls don't dare wander outside the
school's fence, where the Tox has made the woods wild and dangerous.
They wait for the cure they were promised as the Tox seeps into
everything.
But when Byatt goes missing, Hetty will do anything
to find her, even if it means breaking quarantine and braving the
horrors that lie beyond the fence. And when she does, Hetty learns that
there's more to their story, to their life at Raxter, than she could
have ever thought true." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE
This is just a really weird book to talk about. The setup is that Raxter School for Girls is a boarding school on an island, and basically the only thing on the island. Over the years, the island has gone through some minor climate changes, and it's noticeable in some of the creatures and fauna. But, eighteen months ago, the school was put into quarantine as the children and teachers started to change. Teachers have started to die off, the students become more disfigured with each unnatural change to their body. They manage to break up their life into teams and to fortify the school against the wildlife of the island.
They're waiting for a cure. ...but is a cure coming?
I thought the pacing of this book was pretty excellent as things were revealed in non-overwhelming ways, and scenarios played out in ways that even the absolute chaos of a body transformation was going on, it was done in a way that it could be understood.
The relationship building was kind of all over the place, as the dynamics between the characters had almost gone a little feral. It was kind of a hard book to read as each page lent itself to another gloomy and kind of dismal happenstance. It's also hard to talk about the imagery of the book, since a lot of it was like each aspect of regular stuff was being warped or twisted by nature.
It was such a creepy read with all of these twists and turns and motivation shenanigans. The depressive atmosphere too made sense, but also put the icing on the cake so to speak.
I want to say it also tried to put forth this debate of if the needs of the many, outweigh the needs of the few. But it wasn't really successful. The book kind of does this fade off into the tide (sunset, no one is drowning, yet) so there isn't a conclusive ending.
I'm kind of at odds with how I feel about this. On one hand, it is an isolated part of the world that goes through devastation and kind of paints out that experience with some LGBTQIA+ spice thrown in. On the other hand, it's not asking any questions or giving a resolution to situations; kind of like a long drawn out, what if? situation. Not usually my cup of tea either.
Spooky, no resolution, what if, story. Hmm.
Happy reading!
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