Moist Silicone God.

by Victoria Brooks

"I'm embarrassed when I remember Les. Anything but him, with his crisp and coleslaw breath, his tongue slipping inside my mouth - a mouth much too small. A tongue prising the shell away from the outer membrane of an egg, while a blueish, angular embryo wriggles underneath, uncomfortable, fearful at being prematurely exposed to the light..." Shae wants to stop shagging other women's husbands and be a proper queer. Plus, she's bored of only ever getting to use her new strap on a pile of cushions. The answer seems simple enough: come out, go out, and finally get it on with the fit bird at Dyke Night. Or it would be if Evaline, a wayward silicone mistress from the future, wasn't jealous.... A surreal, dirty little book that falls somewhere between Derek McCormack, David Cronenberg, and the tentacle porn you 'accidentally downloaded', Silicone God is for those who like it very, very weird.

152 pages, Paperback

Published December 30, 2023

Reviews

[Drea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have never in my life done shrooms but reading this book is what I figured it would feel like.

A trippy with capital T dystopian novel where men suck as either humans or mushrooms, create systems that pit women against each other for their gain, and there’s a lot of things going in and out of vaginas.

This book was an experience that I don’t know if everyone else should go on. The story has a lot to say but because of how overwhelming strange what is happening on the page is, it feels like it says nothing.

I will say this, I won’t be forgetting this book any time soon.

TW: Biphobia, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Excrement, Vomit, Body horror, Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Misogyny, Toxic friendship, Violence, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Infidelity, and Sexual assault

[Chanel Chapters]

Ohm-wow-wow this is a sopping wet funghi scifi tentacle-porn sex romp mistress manifesto

4.25⭐️

[Megan T · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paints a modern day portrait of a world where some women are determined valuable and some aren’t, of men who promise young girls they are so special then rear their ugly head. I think in feminist dystopian lit, the utopia is often used to empower women but I think this is a great contribution because of how it speculates that if men did become mushroom gods with insane magical time travelling powers, of course, they would create this illusion that being a mistress (jealous of other women aka wives and subservient to men) is the highest form of empowerment.

As someone not a fan of fantasy/speculative worlds, the first quarter can be a pain to get through but the middle is a good solid read.

[joe]

Silicone God follows a few different perspectives, with the main pov being with Shae. Shae is done with fucking married men. She wishes to be her true self away from the battling with other women in order to bend to the whims and fancies of other men. This sounds far simpler than it is in reality, however. The world in which Shae navigates through is controlled by mushroom gods. These fungal bosses are the men within the story, and they, quite harrowingly, control the actions of the women at the heart of things.

The grittiness of this book is bound to stick to you like a gooey gunge slime for a long while after it’s done. The characters voices drift in and out of the page. Each paragraph can throw up its own unique surprise when compared to the previous text you’ve read, and I enjoy and respect the craft of creating this hazy perspective shift that fits in well with the lucidity around gender and identity that the book holds so dear. There are a few books that have done this, and some have really hit the nail on the head in terms of execution, but there is more purposefulness to the way this book delivers on its lucid, open nature.

When taking a step back from the general insaity that the book is baked in, the viewpoint that you’re left with can be quite a depressing one. Depressing in its realness and the knowing that it comes as a completely expected development of humanity. The men are the mushroom gods, and as already mentioned, they overrule the entire world that Shae lives in. She wants to escape her current character and image that she must keep up, in order to become who she wants to be. She can’t do this, however, and it’s incredibly bleak and dark when you see the realness in the idea of men having so much control, so much freedom to pick and choose how they allow the world to operate, and the one thing the men gods insist upon is complete and utter control over women, pitting them against one another and only allowing women to be tools and commodities to the pleasure of men.

It comes with the territory of aiming your book in the direction of haziness, in the direction of fuzzy, open-ended meaning, that you will find certain sections of the story to be quite confusing. With a book like this, though - and really this all depends on the tastes of the reader and the vibe you’re living in at the time - I find that these issues around open-endings, directionless prose, plotholes, can be taken much more leniently. They are not what the book is focused on. They do not target this craft and skill, so judging them harshly for it feels too regimented and lacking in context.

I’d been meaning to pick this book up for a long time, and like most of the books that sit within my periphery for a few months, it catches my interests completely and does not let go. Hoping to see more work of a similar fashion being released by Victoria Brooks, as I’m feeling the rumblings of something important and exciting.

[Lola · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was weird. I think I liked it?

There were elements that I loved, especially intricacies of queerness/bisexuality while operating in a heterosexual world, the difficulty of getting into the queer scene (Dyke Night had me cracking up) and the tendency the main character has to fuck awful men while thinking of “their” women. The tentacles though ?

I feel like more people should read this, not least so someone can tell me what actually happened.

[Jack Skelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Something is grotty in the fractal fucking: A disturbance in the octopussy portal, as the Singularity of Silicon God births horny bish whorror. #Bookgasm

[Linde Stevens · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had a hesitant start, as I didn’t immediately get into the narrative. There is a lot of shifting back and forth between characters: some feel grounded and real, while others verge on the fantastical. At first this was confusing, but from a certain point on I began to interpret it as not multiple voices in conversation, but rather a single voice unfolding as an inner dialogue, through other characters. Once that clicked, the book became much more relatable.

The book explores experiences of gender performativity in sexuality and (non-)monogamy as it is taught to young girls,the way we learn to perform, and are praised for performing, according to the male gaze. And breaking those barriers by getting to know ones personal sexuality and preferences along the way.

I felt quite touched by this, as these are realizations I’ve been going through myself recently. Entering queer territory often means first labeling yourself as bisexual because of a lack of experience with women and holding on to what you’ve been taught by in man-made world, while simultaneously fearing you don’t quite belong and that you might be a poser. But once you cross that bridge, there is no going back: everything begins to fall into place. Suddenly, sex becomes political.

I really have to read between the lines at times, and I don’t think this book is for everyone. I’m still not entirely sure whether I liked it in the end. The fantasy porn approach doesn’t really do it for me, it’s more the psychological parts I liked. It did still touch me in a way and contains a lot to think about

I don’t think it was the writing itself that made it a good read for me but more the train of thoughts it activated

[Anthony Pollock · Rating 4 out of 5]

There’s been Cronenberg comparisons made by other critics and authors about this book. And while to a certain extent I agree, it’s not David Cronenberg-coded per se, instead it exists in a similar realm to Brandon Cronenberg. To a level where viewers of movies like Possessor and Infinity Pool would feel right at home. With both movies serving up a unique way of testing the boundaries of human limits, like how Victoria Brooks tests us on what an acceptance of one’s queer self novel can look like.

Read the rest of the review here: https://www.mykindofweird.net/book-re...

[Kazbùe · Rating 3 out of 5]

mixed feelings towards the end, weird slutshaming while complaining about non consensual fantasies? at the end you realise it's just women blaming women, men put aside? I mean, Evaline is using Anémona as Shae is using men to get closer to what they want, that's why I guess at the end they arrive to the same place?

I really enjoyed the reading and the writing, I'm still a bit confused about the underneath message that wants to be sent tho.

Good book!

[Ida · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ytterst underlig science fiction om två olika tider och världar med ytterst underligt sex. Knasig, kul och förvirrande.

[Jahan J · Rating 3 out of 5]

still on page 10, will amend when i have finished but just wanted to flex that I'm mutuals with the author on insta xxx

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this.... I had no idea what was going on at any given point.... But I liked it 😅

[Lori LL · Rating 2 out of 5]

Couldn’t finish it … surely it seems horny but I’m not even sure what the hell was happening