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The Book of X
The Book of X tells the tale of Cassie, a girl born with her stomach twisted in the shape of a knot. From childhood with her parents on the family meat farm, to a desk job in the city, to finally experiencing love, she grapples with her body, men, and society, all the while imagining a softer world than the one she is in.
284 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 16, 2019
197 people are currently reading
21538 people want to read
About the author
Sarah Rose Etter
13 books1,344 followersSarah Rose Etter is the author of Tongue Party, and The Book of X, winner of a Shirley Jackson Award for Best Novel. Her second novel, RIPE, is forthcoming from Scribner in July 2023.
Her work has appeared in Time, Guernica, BOMB, The Bennington Review, The Cut, VICE, and elsewhere. She has been awarded residences at the Jack Kerouac House, the Disquiet International program in Portugal, and the Gullkistan Writing Residency in Iceland.
She earned her BA in English from Pennsylvania State University and her MFA in fiction from Rosemont College. She lives in Los Angeles. For more info, visit SarahRoseEtter.com.
Her work has appeared in Time, Guernica, BOMB, The Bennington Review, The Cut, VICE, and elsewhere. She has been awarded residences at the Jack Kerouac House, the Disquiet International program in Portugal, and the Gullkistan Writing Residency in Iceland.
She earned her BA in English from Pennsylvania State University and her MFA in fiction from Rosemont College. She lives in Los Angeles. For more info, visit SarahRoseEtter.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,035 reviews
March 13, 2019
There is a quarry made of meat, marbled rich with fat. There is a family who lives at the meat quarry’s edge. There is a girl who lives with a knotted body, as does her mother, as does her mother’s mother. There is a girl who yearns to be seen with kind eyes, to be touched with soft hands, to be loved by an open heart. In the utterly unique and remarkable The Book of X, Sarah Rose Etter has crafted an intriguing world not quite like our own. She takes the surreal and expertly shapes it into a portrait that is as beautiful and compelling as it is horrifying and unbearable. In doing so, Etter brilliantly, viciously lays bare what it means to be a woman in the world, what it means to hurt, to need, to want, so much it consumes everything.
January 11, 2023
Perfection of a kind. A musky odor emanates from every sentence, and each word seems meticulously chosen to evoke, mm, something like sanguinarian, or even coprophilic pleasure. This is ruthless, relentless, and visionary writing. The story could well mean more than its superficial meanings, I'm open to it meaning more...something deeply feminist...something deep about the many indignities and pains suffered by any person living inside a female body...but even before I try to ruminate over any possible metaphorical meanings I am filled with admiration, with elation even, for Sarah Rose Etter, and for her clarity of vision, and for the way she dares to be this ruthless in her storytelling.
Ok, I loved it. Even though I feel a little sick.
People who have followed me a while know I have a beloved shelf for what I call ruthless books. After reading The Book of X I'm thinking I need a sub-shelf for unabashedly, bravely repulsive books, where I would give this novel a place of honor, along with recently read, much admired novels Three Plastic Rooms by Petra Hůlová, Feebleminded by Ariana Harwicz, and Ultraluminous by Katherine Faw. I can't say whether this is a trend, or whether I'm simply attracted to these wild-and-musky-female-author-breaks-every-taboo type of novel right now, but all of these novels gave me the same mixed feeling of nausea & joyful release.
If you decide to read this novel, or to read any of the others I'm mentioning here, I'd love for you to ping me with your review. Something wild unites them all.
Ok, I loved it. Even though I feel a little sick.
People who have followed me a while know I have a beloved shelf for what I call ruthless books. After reading The Book of X I'm thinking I need a sub-shelf for unabashedly, bravely repulsive books, where I would give this novel a place of honor, along with recently read, much admired novels Three Plastic Rooms by Petra Hůlová, Feebleminded by Ariana Harwicz, and Ultraluminous by Katherine Faw. I can't say whether this is a trend, or whether I'm simply attracted to these wild-and-musky-female-author-breaks-every-taboo type of novel right now, but all of these novels gave me the same mixed feeling of nausea & joyful release.
If you decide to read this novel, or to read any of the others I'm mentioning here, I'd love for you to ping me with your review. Something wild unites them all.
September 4, 2019
yorgos lanthimos film adaptation WHEN
July 6, 2019
Cassie is born with a knot, just like her mother and grandmother. She enters a world of bullying, inadequate medical care, isolation and boredom. Outside of school her life seems intended for repetition of pain and cleaning the walls with lemons, while her father and brother work in the meat quarry, but her life is vivid with visions that provide some form of escape, although it isn't always positive. (It's fascinating to read interviews with the author because she was incredibly isolated in Iceland while writing most of this. The landscape feels unworldly in that way that only Iceland can.)
The cover is striking. When I saw it online I thought it was sunset in a valley, then I realized it's hair and a woman in the center, but now that I've read it I realize it is both and also probably the meat quarry.
The feeling of the novel kept making me think of Kassandra and the Wolf by Margarita Karapanou, mixed with The Yellow Wallpaper.
I received a copy of The Book of X from the publisher. It comes out July 16.
The cover is striking. When I saw it online I thought it was sunset in a valley, then I realized it's hair and a woman in the center, but now that I've read it I realize it is both and also probably the meat quarry.
The feeling of the novel kept making me think of Kassandra and the Wolf by Margarita Karapanou, mixed with The Yellow Wallpaper.
I received a copy of The Book of X from the publisher. It comes out July 16.
September 24, 2023
The writing was insanely good in this one, but I wasn’t really in the right mindset for such a bleak story
February 8, 2020
2.5 stars
the prose here is what didn't work for me. it was trying to be poetic but couldn't quite get there, so what you got as a result was writing that felt clunky and forced more than anything else. the book is also very episodic in terms of the way its told—typically in half-page mini chapters—and so that, too, ended up making the story feel more fragmented and less cohesive as a narrative.
i do appreciate the focus on loneliness and isolation in this story, though. etter definitely didn't sugarcoat her protagonist's experiences of sometimes unbearable solitude and longing.
the prose here is what didn't work for me. it was trying to be poetic but couldn't quite get there, so what you got as a result was writing that felt clunky and forced more than anything else. the book is also very episodic in terms of the way its told—typically in half-page mini chapters—and so that, too, ended up making the story feel more fragmented and less cohesive as a narrative.
i do appreciate the focus on loneliness and isolation in this story, though. etter definitely didn't sugarcoat her protagonist's experiences of sometimes unbearable solitude and longing.
December 31, 2020
Aw man I wish this had been a book club read because I want to hear other people's takes and interpretations! Not that comparisons need to be made but I would put it in a similar category as The Vegetarian, Luster, My Year of Rest and Relaxation. I enjoyed a lot of the surrealist images but didn't know what to make of them most of the time. Also not convinced that the structure was necessary? Really didn't like the bullet point lists of facts. Idk all of the reviews are like this is an incredible rumination on what it is to be a woman!!! And like yeah your mom gives you body shame and men never fail to harm you - these observations didn't rock my world. But I think there are probably some more nuanced points I'm missing from the surrealism of it all. I think maybe I've also read too many super bleak/depressing/lonely woman narratives? Anyhow I will probably be thinking about this one for a while and will likely reread it at some point! Please borrow my copy and then tell me your thoughts!!!
January 10, 2025
For fans of the weird and strange sad surrealism stuff, this was an exploration on conformity and the pressure to adhere to societal expectations, deeply resonant with themes of depression, body dysmorphia and death this makes for an evocative read, I.e I was sobbing, vicious visionary writing that examines what it means to be a woman
July 31, 2019
this book is a lump in my throat! this book made me start crying out of nowhere! everything hurts!!! I wasn't sure how I felt about it until the last ~20 pages when my face starting leaking. the protagonist's relationship with her mother continues to wound me, maybe more so than anything else there is a scene with her mom that spooks me in how easily it made me feel things I actively avoid feeling. anyway! the book is so very sad & gross & so so bleak. IF I read one more book about the world being too painful for women to live in.....wrap me in tinfoil & put me in the microwave boys I'm done.
TLDR: haha ouchie :•)
cw: rape, suicide
TLDR: haha ouchie :•)
cw: rape, suicide
January 14, 2021
A surrealist, glittery membrane that envelops a deeply mundane story. The grotesque elements are unique, and I admire the author's commentary on trauma passed down between generations, the clashing of class and beauty, and some of the reflections on how melancholy manifests itself when true grief arises.
That being said, this is a flat story with flat characters. Cassie is the classic outsider, so consumed with fitting in or receiving affirmation from men that no other elements of her personality are given space to develop. In the second half of the book she becomes obsessed with "nothing" and the plodding pace is only broken up by "visions" that reassert basic desires that are circled about again and again.
The rest of her family falls into familiar stereotypes. The secondary characters are cartoonishly cruel and the exaggeration provides us with no new insights. The ending seems to aim for a particular closing image with no concern for earning it emotionally.
Listen to the full review at: https://bookclubbed.buzzsprout.com/15...
That being said, this is a flat story with flat characters. Cassie is the classic outsider, so consumed with fitting in or receiving affirmation from men that no other elements of her personality are given space to develop. In the second half of the book she becomes obsessed with "nothing" and the plodding pace is only broken up by "visions" that reassert basic desires that are circled about again and again.
The rest of her family falls into familiar stereotypes. The secondary characters are cartoonishly cruel and the exaggeration provides us with no new insights. The ending seems to aim for a particular closing image with no concern for earning it emotionally.
Listen to the full review at: https://bookclubbed.buzzsprout.com/15...
November 24, 2024
Goodreads si era messo contro di me. Nessuna notifica a segnalare che i miei dolci coniglietti avevano deciso la nuova condivisa.
Così la mia bunny mi scrive. Mi aspettano per leggere il libro di X.
Un libro che voglio leggere da parecchio, mi aveva affascinata la copertina ad una fiera.
E così inizio.
60 pagine scorrono così velocemente che quasi non ci credo. Sono letteralmente catturata dalla scrittura della Etter.
Un romanzo che parla di donne, donne sbagliate.
Cassie nasce con una malformazione, un "nodo" all'altezza del torace che le crea un disagio profondo.
Viene emarginata dai ragazzi del suo piccolo villaggio. Viene usata, umiliata.
Anche il rapporto con la madre non è idilliaco.
Costantemente messa di fronte allo specchio e costretta a migliorare se stessa. Ma il miglioramento estetico non fa altro che creare crepe e annodare ancora di più Cassie.
Diventata adulta, lascia la campagna e la cava di carne dei sui genitori, si una cava di carne dove all'inizio la paura di vedere con i propri occhi sangue e grasso, impediscono a Cassie di avvicinarsi, per poi scoprire di essere un' ottima mietitrice.
Va a vivere in città, nell'anonimato dei numerosi abitanti. Qui tra un bicchierino e un altro incontra uomini che si porta a letto, ma la maggior parte scappa non appena incontra il NODO.
Non voglio svelare troppo, perché è davvero una lettura coinvolgente.
Uno specchio sulla nostra società, costantemente giudicata per l'aspetto esteriore di un individuo. Ultimo fatto di cronaca della ragazza che voleva rifarsi il naso. Era una bella ragazza, non aveva certo bisogno di migliorare chirurgicamente il proprio corpo, ma ormai siamo inondati dalla perfezione e volente o nolente tocca tutti, soprattutto i più deboli.
Torniamo al libro, mamma che stretta allo stomaco a volte, il nodo lo avevo pure io.
Devo leggere assolutamente altro di suo.
Sono ancora in dubbio sul vero significato della cava di carne, ma c'è tempo per pensare.
E poi le visioni.....visioni di una vita all'inizio perfetta e man mano che conosciamo Cassie sempre più orrorifica. Vi dico solo che c'è un fiume di cosce ed un giardino di gole....
Visione
Sono sul divano, sto leggendo un libro con uno strano nodo sulla copertina, una tazza di tè e il mio cagnolone sui piedi.
Inizio la lettura che fuori splende il sole, un vento gelido sferza la palma in giardino. Mi immergo sempre di più nella lettura, sono così presa che non mi accorgo che fuori è buio. Nessun rumore, sono rimasta sola, sola con un nodo allo stomaco che mi fa contorcere e piegare dal dolore. È una bruttissima sensazione, mi manca l'aria, mi sale il panico e gli occhi si riempiono di lacrime. Sono sola nella stanza e fuori non c'è più nemmeno il vento.
Così la mia bunny mi scrive. Mi aspettano per leggere il libro di X.
Un libro che voglio leggere da parecchio, mi aveva affascinata la copertina ad una fiera.
E così inizio.
60 pagine scorrono così velocemente che quasi non ci credo. Sono letteralmente catturata dalla scrittura della Etter.
Un romanzo che parla di donne, donne sbagliate.
Cassie nasce con una malformazione, un "nodo" all'altezza del torace che le crea un disagio profondo.
Viene emarginata dai ragazzi del suo piccolo villaggio. Viene usata, umiliata.
Anche il rapporto con la madre non è idilliaco.
Costantemente messa di fronte allo specchio e costretta a migliorare se stessa. Ma il miglioramento estetico non fa altro che creare crepe e annodare ancora di più Cassie.
Diventata adulta, lascia la campagna e la cava di carne dei sui genitori, si una cava di carne dove all'inizio la paura di vedere con i propri occhi sangue e grasso, impediscono a Cassie di avvicinarsi, per poi scoprire di essere un' ottima mietitrice.
Va a vivere in città, nell'anonimato dei numerosi abitanti. Qui tra un bicchierino e un altro incontra uomini che si porta a letto, ma la maggior parte scappa non appena incontra il NODO.
Non voglio svelare troppo, perché è davvero una lettura coinvolgente.
Uno specchio sulla nostra società, costantemente giudicata per l'aspetto esteriore di un individuo. Ultimo fatto di cronaca della ragazza che voleva rifarsi il naso. Era una bella ragazza, non aveva certo bisogno di migliorare chirurgicamente il proprio corpo, ma ormai siamo inondati dalla perfezione e volente o nolente tocca tutti, soprattutto i più deboli.
Torniamo al libro, mamma che stretta allo stomaco a volte, il nodo lo avevo pure io.
Devo leggere assolutamente altro di suo.
Sono ancora in dubbio sul vero significato della cava di carne, ma c'è tempo per pensare.
E poi le visioni.....visioni di una vita all'inizio perfetta e man mano che conosciamo Cassie sempre più orrorifica. Vi dico solo che c'è un fiume di cosce ed un giardino di gole....
Visione
Sono sul divano, sto leggendo un libro con uno strano nodo sulla copertina, una tazza di tè e il mio cagnolone sui piedi.
Inizio la lettura che fuori splende il sole, un vento gelido sferza la palma in giardino. Mi immergo sempre di più nella lettura, sono così presa che non mi accorgo che fuori è buio. Nessun rumore, sono rimasta sola, sola con un nodo allo stomaco che mi fa contorcere e piegare dal dolore. È una bruttissima sensazione, mi manca l'aria, mi sale il panico e gli occhi si riempiono di lacrime. Sono sola nella stanza e fuori non c'è più nemmeno il vento.
November 22, 2024
⭐⭐⭐1/2
Un libro davvero strano, anzi straniante. A renderlo tale non è soltanto la trama, ma anche e soprattutto la tipologia di narrazione che ha adoperato l'autrice. Quello di rendere la storia una sequela di fotogrammi di vita e di sogno, dove le due realtà si fondono talmente profondamente, da non riuscire più a comprendere quale sia l'una e l'altra.
L'ambientazione e la situazione cardine della narrazione estremamente surreali poi, mi hanno tenuto come appeso all'ultimo barlume di razionalità che mi era rimasto, fino ad arrivare ad un finale, forse troppo affrettato e poco chiaro, che mi ha deluso, viste le premesse dell'intero libro.
Nel complesso, comunque, si è rivelata una lettura molto particolare e coinvolgente!
Un libro davvero strano, anzi straniante. A renderlo tale non è soltanto la trama, ma anche e soprattutto la tipologia di narrazione che ha adoperato l'autrice. Quello di rendere la storia una sequela di fotogrammi di vita e di sogno, dove le due realtà si fondono talmente profondamente, da non riuscire più a comprendere quale sia l'una e l'altra.
L'ambientazione e la situazione cardine della narrazione estremamente surreali poi, mi hanno tenuto come appeso all'ultimo barlume di razionalità che mi era rimasto, fino ad arrivare ad un finale, forse troppo affrettato e poco chiaro, che mi ha deluso, viste le premesse dell'intero libro.
Nel complesso, comunque, si è rivelata una lettura molto particolare e coinvolgente!
June 26, 2019
Originally published on The Nerd Daily | Review by Beth Mowbray
The Book of X follows Cassie, a girl who is born with her stomach literally twisted in a knot, from her childhood into her adult years. Cassie is raised on a meat farm, a piece of land with an enormous quarry where her father and brother work all day mining meat. Cassie’s overbearing mother spends her days obsessively cleaning the house and even more obsessively harping on Cassie’s appearance while pretending to ignore her own knotted stomach. More than anything Cassie wants to be like other girls her age, to be “normal.” So she finishes school and moves into the city, grateful to be away from her family and ready to navigate the world independently. Yet she continues to be inhibited by her physical deformity, always dreaming of a life without the knot and never content.
This novel is an incredible example of surrealism in current literary fiction. Etter blurs the line between the grotesque and real life, normative experiences. In one scene, the world appears as it should be, in the next it may as well be melting before your eyes like a Dali painting. The reader never knows what they might find upon turning the page – perhaps a river of thighs or a shop where one may have their jealousy physically excised like a tumour. Interwoven are scenes more traditional for a coming-of-age tale: disagreements between Cassie and her mother, bullying by peers at school, and the bonds of female friendship. Combined skilfully, these devices work as both symbolism and commentary on themes central to the female experience such as body image and beauty, acceptance and loss, identity and gender roles.
Merely scanning through the pages of The Book of X, it is immediately clear this book is different from any other. The structure is built upon tight prose that is sectioned off into small blocks, often less than a page each. This minimalist approach provides pieces of a puzzle that fall into place as the story progresses. Echoing how the content of the story distorts reality, the unconventional structure stretches the normal bounds of a novel by combining the main narrative with two other elements: visions of a different, dream-like reality and bulleted lists of facts relating back to the storyline.
Each of these unique choices made by Etter, along with the severe beauty and crippling pain of her writing, work together to create a singular emotional experience. This novel sustains an atmosphere of discomfort for the majority of its 279 pages. A feeling of being completely transfixed by something terrible, unable to look away. Etter has such a compelling way of communicating emotion that reading this novel becomes an immersive act. Without hesitation, I highly recommend The Book of X! It is one of the most visceral, mind-bending reading experiences I have had in a very long time.
My sincere thanks to Two Dollar Radio for the advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are my own.
The Book of X follows Cassie, a girl who is born with her stomach literally twisted in a knot, from her childhood into her adult years. Cassie is raised on a meat farm, a piece of land with an enormous quarry where her father and brother work all day mining meat. Cassie’s overbearing mother spends her days obsessively cleaning the house and even more obsessively harping on Cassie’s appearance while pretending to ignore her own knotted stomach. More than anything Cassie wants to be like other girls her age, to be “normal.” So she finishes school and moves into the city, grateful to be away from her family and ready to navigate the world independently. Yet she continues to be inhibited by her physical deformity, always dreaming of a life without the knot and never content.
This novel is an incredible example of surrealism in current literary fiction. Etter blurs the line between the grotesque and real life, normative experiences. In one scene, the world appears as it should be, in the next it may as well be melting before your eyes like a Dali painting. The reader never knows what they might find upon turning the page – perhaps a river of thighs or a shop where one may have their jealousy physically excised like a tumour. Interwoven are scenes more traditional for a coming-of-age tale: disagreements between Cassie and her mother, bullying by peers at school, and the bonds of female friendship. Combined skilfully, these devices work as both symbolism and commentary on themes central to the female experience such as body image and beauty, acceptance and loss, identity and gender roles.
Merely scanning through the pages of The Book of X, it is immediately clear this book is different from any other. The structure is built upon tight prose that is sectioned off into small blocks, often less than a page each. This minimalist approach provides pieces of a puzzle that fall into place as the story progresses. Echoing how the content of the story distorts reality, the unconventional structure stretches the normal bounds of a novel by combining the main narrative with two other elements: visions of a different, dream-like reality and bulleted lists of facts relating back to the storyline.
Each of these unique choices made by Etter, along with the severe beauty and crippling pain of her writing, work together to create a singular emotional experience. This novel sustains an atmosphere of discomfort for the majority of its 279 pages. A feeling of being completely transfixed by something terrible, unable to look away. Etter has such a compelling way of communicating emotion that reading this novel becomes an immersive act. Without hesitation, I highly recommend The Book of X! It is one of the most visceral, mind-bending reading experiences I have had in a very long time.
My sincere thanks to Two Dollar Radio for the advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are my own.
April 23, 2019
I’m obsessed with this book! Sarah Rose Etter has shown how you can push fiction to its bounds, break through, and create a wonderful, eccentric blend of storytelling, surrealism, insight into the female experience, and visceral portrayals of humanity and the loneliness, pain, and longing that come with it.
Etter’s shrewdness regarding female suffering, being different, and societal expectations of normality are what makes this narrative so powerful. We follow Cassie, born with her stomach tied in a knot, as she moves through life as a girl who is not like others. Etter employs storytelling that is simultaneously real: family drama, obsession with weight, your first intense female friendship, the boy who treats you horribly but you love nonetheless...and the unreal: rivers of thighs, harvesting meat from the land, fields of throats. Even with all this imagery, Etter manages to be economical with her words; always something I admire in writing: the ability to paint a sublime picture with words that aren’t flowery or too heavy.
I actually found myself staring off into the stack of raw steaks next to the grill for Easter dinner last night thinking about the Meat Quarry on Cassie’s family land...I can’t stop thinking about this book. Safe to say it is one of my favorite books this year. I’m so excited for this to come out and for readers to experience its magic. Also stoked that we have such an innovative new voice on the literary scene in Etter - indie press Two Dollar Radio garnered my respect and praise last year when they introduced me to Katya Apekina with her novel, The Deeper the Water the Uglier the Fish, and once again, I am totally wowed by the phenomenal, female-led stories they are putting out into the world. Add this to you TBRs NOW! Thank you Two Dollar Radio for sending me a copy of The Book of X 🖤
Etter’s shrewdness regarding female suffering, being different, and societal expectations of normality are what makes this narrative so powerful. We follow Cassie, born with her stomach tied in a knot, as she moves through life as a girl who is not like others. Etter employs storytelling that is simultaneously real: family drama, obsession with weight, your first intense female friendship, the boy who treats you horribly but you love nonetheless...and the unreal: rivers of thighs, harvesting meat from the land, fields of throats. Even with all this imagery, Etter manages to be economical with her words; always something I admire in writing: the ability to paint a sublime picture with words that aren’t flowery or too heavy.
I actually found myself staring off into the stack of raw steaks next to the grill for Easter dinner last night thinking about the Meat Quarry on Cassie’s family land...I can’t stop thinking about this book. Safe to say it is one of my favorite books this year. I’m so excited for this to come out and for readers to experience its magic. Also stoked that we have such an innovative new voice on the literary scene in Etter - indie press Two Dollar Radio garnered my respect and praise last year when they introduced me to Katya Apekina with her novel, The Deeper the Water the Uglier the Fish, and once again, I am totally wowed by the phenomenal, female-led stories they are putting out into the world. Add this to you TBRs NOW! Thank you Two Dollar Radio for sending me a copy of The Book of X 🖤
November 26, 2025
I could not make sense of what I was reading. Plot points would be introduced and then COMPLETELY dropped as if it never happened. It even went as far as a character giving birth only to never mention the baby again throughout the entire rest of the book! It was incredibly confusing and made me feel like everything I was reading was pointless and fake. Maybe this would have worked better as a collection of poetry of short stories. This way the author could introduce things that could be dropped completely without any follow up telling a new story every 30 pages instead of trying to tell a linear story following one character throughout her life.
The symbolism was heavy and opaque! Things like the knot in the main character’s stomach, the meat quarry her family works at, and other strange elements didn’t make much sense to me. I couldn’t tell what was meant to be part of the world building and what was supposed to be metaphor/dream/dissociation. I love a surreal atmosphere and when books bend reality, but maybe it was the execution that failed here. There wasn't a dreamy/immersive tone to the writing... it was flat and clinical. Consequently it was hard to tell if we were supposed to be in a weird warped world or inside someone’s dissociative state. Reading outside interpretations on The Book of X it seems this was all a giant metaphor and that these elements were meant to reflect trauma and the experience of living in a female body... but I didn’t pick that up while reading AT ALL. Maybe that's just a personal issue that I couldn't connect with this one at all or maybe it's a failure of the writing not being more clear.
Also, the main character Cassie really irked me due to her passivity. I was pulling my hair out, frustrated with her choices, especially when it came to her desire for male validation and the approval and attention of men who only treated her with disrespect and cruelty. I felt like she just let stuff happen to her without showing much agency or resistance. She doesn't seem to grow at all. She never really unravel/breaks down either, despite the trauma she goes through, which would have AT LEAST been a way to find connection with her! Despite everything she goes through, she felt emotionally flat to me (but not in an edgy cynical way, more like in a cardboard cutout way).
There were a lot of moments in the book that confused me. For example, what happened to her baby? Why was there no follow up? She literally buys half a man at one point, and I kept waiting for that to tie back into the story, but it never did. There were so many scenes that just ended without explanation or context. I kept waiting for the book to clarify what was real and what wasn’t, but it never happened. Maybe I'm dumb for taking this at face value and assuming this was a weird world, not that the main character was just dissociating the entire time. If it was truly meant to reflect dissociation, I wish the writing had made that more obvious because it feels like a cop out to just say it afterwards to excuse poor storytelling.
I like books that are surreal and metaphorical, or portraying ungrounded characters that are on the fringes of reality, but this one didn’t come together in a way that worked for me.
It was an exhausting read with no pay off.
.
.
.
Reading notes:
32% can the mc stop meeting this horrible guy over and over again when hes clearly horrible and treating her like dirt. She's being so passive while i want her to tell him off, and storm over his dead body like a triumphant warrior lol. Im hating reading this pov so much!!! I strongly dislike reading about main characters who accept being treated poorly
83% i really dont like this and I dont get the point. What the heck happened to her newborn daughter? No mention at all. Also in part II what were those random parts with Jared...was that just her imagination? It would just end randomly and then be no mention again.
This is pretty much the mc seeing a string of horrible men and her lonliness/body hatred and trying to fill that void with more random horrible men.
This is not resonating for me.
100% okay but what happened to the baby she gave birth to?! Also that scene where she turns into a plant. Also where she imagines herself on her wedding day to the married man Henry i think his name was. Then when she imagines him dying. And all those scenes where she was hanging out with Jared. Or when she goes to that man store and buys half a man... where did he go? I kept expecting him to pop up in her house when she'd bring home the random dudes and scare them. I felt no indication that these were dream sequences. Or that she was dissociating. Maybe the writing could've made it a lot more clear that these moments weren't really happening. Or at least hint at the fact that some of this could be just in Cassies head. Maybe im dumb for taking this at face value and assuming this was a weird world, not that the main character was just dissociating the entire time.
I dont even know. I love books with magical realism and surreal, bizarre imagery, or where the whole thing feels like a metaphor...so why didn't this work for me?
The symbolism was heavy and opaque! Things like the knot in the main character’s stomach, the meat quarry her family works at, and other strange elements didn’t make much sense to me. I couldn’t tell what was meant to be part of the world building and what was supposed to be metaphor/dream/dissociation. I love a surreal atmosphere and when books bend reality, but maybe it was the execution that failed here. There wasn't a dreamy/immersive tone to the writing... it was flat and clinical. Consequently it was hard to tell if we were supposed to be in a weird warped world or inside someone’s dissociative state. Reading outside interpretations on The Book of X it seems this was all a giant metaphor and that these elements were meant to reflect trauma and the experience of living in a female body... but I didn’t pick that up while reading AT ALL. Maybe that's just a personal issue that I couldn't connect with this one at all or maybe it's a failure of the writing not being more clear.
Also, the main character Cassie really irked me due to her passivity. I was pulling my hair out, frustrated with her choices, especially when it came to her desire for male validation and the approval and attention of men who only treated her with disrespect and cruelty. I felt like she just let stuff happen to her without showing much agency or resistance. She doesn't seem to grow at all. She never really unravel/breaks down either, despite the trauma she goes through, which would have AT LEAST been a way to find connection with her! Despite everything she goes through, she felt emotionally flat to me (but not in an edgy cynical way, more like in a cardboard cutout way).
There were a lot of moments in the book that confused me. For example, what happened to her baby? Why was there no follow up? She literally buys half a man at one point, and I kept waiting for that to tie back into the story, but it never did. There were so many scenes that just ended without explanation or context. I kept waiting for the book to clarify what was real and what wasn’t, but it never happened. Maybe I'm dumb for taking this at face value and assuming this was a weird world, not that the main character was just dissociating the entire time. If it was truly meant to reflect dissociation, I wish the writing had made that more obvious because it feels like a cop out to just say it afterwards to excuse poor storytelling.
I like books that are surreal and metaphorical, or portraying ungrounded characters that are on the fringes of reality, but this one didn’t come together in a way that worked for me.
It was an exhausting read with no pay off.
.
.
.
Reading notes:
32% can the mc stop meeting this horrible guy over and over again when hes clearly horrible and treating her like dirt. She's being so passive while i want her to tell him off, and storm over his dead body like a triumphant warrior lol. Im hating reading this pov so much!!! I strongly dislike reading about main characters who accept being treated poorly
83% i really dont like this and I dont get the point. What the heck happened to her newborn daughter? No mention at all. Also in part II what were those random parts with Jared...was that just her imagination? It would just end randomly and then be no mention again.
This is pretty much the mc seeing a string of horrible men and her lonliness/body hatred and trying to fill that void with more random horrible men.
This is not resonating for me.
100% okay but what happened to the baby she gave birth to?! Also that scene where she turns into a plant. Also where she imagines herself on her wedding day to the married man Henry i think his name was. Then when she imagines him dying. And all those scenes where she was hanging out with Jared. Or when she goes to that man store and buys half a man... where did he go? I kept expecting him to pop up in her house when she'd bring home the random dudes and scare them. I felt no indication that these were dream sequences. Or that she was dissociating. Maybe the writing could've made it a lot more clear that these moments weren't really happening. Or at least hint at the fact that some of this could be just in Cassies head. Maybe im dumb for taking this at face value and assuming this was a weird world, not that the main character was just dissociating the entire time.
I dont even know. I love books with magical realism and surreal, bizarre imagery, or where the whole thing feels like a metaphor...so why didn't this work for me?
June 5, 2024
I prefer Ripe but this was just as odd and has strong commentary on being a woman.
December 21, 2019
When a book speaks to existential dread and the deadness inside us caused by late capitalism and the labour expected of us you know you’re reading something special. Add to that complex and weird explorations of womanhood, societal expectations and pain and set it on a meat quarry where raw meat can be ripped from the ground and men are for sale and I’m yours for life. This is for fans of Melissa Broder, Han Kang, Carmen Maria Machado – writers I would joyously classify as weird women writers. Consider this added to my best books of the year list.
March 14, 2025
This book ROCKED me in a way I did not anticipate at all. The first half of this read is incredibly gritty, a dystopian experience of this life with mystical aspects that confused me yet kept me intrigued. 50% into this book, I really had no idea where it was going or if I was going to get any answers to my increasing list of questions. What exactly is this knot, what the heck is a meat quarry, what kind of reality is taking place in this book? The mixed mediaesque writing style of 'The Book of X' made this a quick and easy read, however all of it nuances made this an incredibly deep and pensive experience. Slowly but surely as you peel back all the layers what you find is a sobering, devastating and painfully relatable story of the disappointment of this experience of life.
Currently and personally, I would say I'm going through a mid-life crisis. At the age of 32, I've been grappling with my own experience on this earth. Troubled by my arrested development and mental health due to trauma, I find myself wondering, is this really it. If you can relate to any of that, this book will CRUSH you. 'The Book of X' is a masterfully crafted conversation about general curses/trauma, rejection, self-loathing and loneliness. One moment you're wondering what's going on and the next it hits you square in the jaw, HARD. I finished this book crying. Etter perfectly encapsulated in a gritty, raw and dystopian way exactly how I've been feeling with an absolutely bleak ending that ruined me in the best way.
The irony of me reading this in one day on my birthday was certainly not lost on me. I really couldn't of picked up a better book to read given the current space I've been in. I really cannot properly express how incredible this book was and how seen it made me feel in the most sobering way. Unfortunately, try as you might, you cannot escape yourself.
Currently and personally, I would say I'm going through a mid-life crisis. At the age of 32, I've been grappling with my own experience on this earth. Troubled by my arrested development and mental health due to trauma, I find myself wondering, is this really it. If you can relate to any of that, this book will CRUSH you. 'The Book of X' is a masterfully crafted conversation about general curses/trauma, rejection, self-loathing and loneliness. One moment you're wondering what's going on and the next it hits you square in the jaw, HARD. I finished this book crying. Etter perfectly encapsulated in a gritty, raw and dystopian way exactly how I've been feeling with an absolutely bleak ending that ruined me in the best way.
The irony of me reading this in one day on my birthday was certainly not lost on me. I really couldn't of picked up a better book to read given the current space I've been in. I really cannot properly express how incredible this book was and how seen it made me feel in the most sobering way. Unfortunately, try as you might, you cannot escape yourself.
April 9, 2025
Such a surreal haunting story surrounding body dysmorphia and grief.
July 4, 2019
In The Book of X we meet Cassie, a complicated young woman who was born with a unique genetic mutation, her stomach is literally twisted into a knot, a disfigurement that seems to be passed down to each female in the family. Told in a barrage of flash fictiony vignettes, we become hopeless observers as Cassie alternates between moments of severe self-love and self-hate, falling victim to bullying, developing a lukewarm friendship with a girl named Sophia, manuevering through awkward parental relationships, and ultimately falling prey at the hands of Jarred, a boy at school with whom she had started to massively crush on.
Haunted by the reality of her body and damaged by what Jarred did to her, we follow Cassie as she escapes The Acres and moves to the city in an attempt to lead a normal life... working an unglamorous job, picking up strange men at the bar, and undergoing a procedure she believes for once will make her whole.
As lovely as it is grotesque, Sarah Rose Etter's lyrical prose pulls us along through a surreal landscape of meat quarries, rivers of thighs, fields of throats, and meetings with doctors who perform bizarre surgeries. The Book of X never ceases to amaze and awe.
As I read this, I couldn't help compare Sarah's style of writing to that of Zachary Schomburg. If you dig this book, you absolutely need to pick up his novel Mammother. These two were made for one another!
Haunted by the reality of her body and damaged by what Jarred did to her, we follow Cassie as she escapes The Acres and moves to the city in an attempt to lead a normal life... working an unglamorous job, picking up strange men at the bar, and undergoing a procedure she believes for once will make her whole.
As lovely as it is grotesque, Sarah Rose Etter's lyrical prose pulls us along through a surreal landscape of meat quarries, rivers of thighs, fields of throats, and meetings with doctors who perform bizarre surgeries. The Book of X never ceases to amaze and awe.
As I read this, I couldn't help compare Sarah's style of writing to that of Zachary Schomburg. If you dig this book, you absolutely need to pick up his novel Mammother. These two were made for one another!
March 25, 2025
a long and painful metaphor of what it means to be a woman. I can’t scrape the image of harvesting meat from the mountain’s soul. haunting, sad & dreamy.
June 9, 2025
The Book of X by prize-winning author Sarah Rose Etter tells the story of Cassie, a girl born with a hereditary condition that affects the women in her family. This is the second Shirley Jackson Award winner I have read, and I cannot stress enough how great this Book Prize is for literary horror. “I was born a knot like my mother and her mother before her. Picture three women with their torsos twisted like thick pieces of rope with a single hitch in the center.” Etter follows Cassie from childhood to adulthood, exploring her relationships with her parents and brother, life on the family’s meat farm, and how she navigates love and her own body. It is a deeply disturbing, surreal coming-of-age horror novel that will appeal to fans of the dark, the deranged, and the unhinged.
The Book of X does what few books achieve, it grabs the reader by the guts and refuses to let go, forcing them to confront its unsettling themes. The opening chapter is powerful, sharp, vivid, and immersive, immediately pulling the reader into a world where allegory and surrealism bleed into reality. “My vision goes wild. The grass begins to breathe. Through the window at breakfast, the green blades heave, pulsing like a large body below the house. ‘The land is alive,’ I say.” One of the most striking images is the Meat Quarry, where Cassie’s family harvests chunks of red meat from the earth. Through Cassie’s childhood, we witness moments of bullying that shape her desires and perceptions. She is an imperfect, deeply compelling character, and her struggles are reflected in her raw, unfiltered narrative voice.
The exploration of sexuality is a recurring theme, handled with nuance and intensity. Cassie’s friendship with Sophia, and the way they experience childhood together, was particularly touching. Many scenes in the novel are poignant, with each chapter opening on a surreal, dreamlike vision of Cassie, often serving as an epiphany or expression of longing. These moments add an extra layer of depth to the story. The novel is saturated with metaphors, yet they never feel excessive.
Etter’s versatility as a writer shines through her use of different styles without pretension. Some sections read like bullet-pointed lists or encyclopaedia entries, reflecting how Cassie makes sense of the world (she is a nerd at heart). These stylistic choices provide breathing room and are often witty, ensuring the reading experience never feels overwhelming, even when it delves into unsettling themes. Her writing is both playful and melancholic, blurring the lines between reality and dream, clawing at the reader like a piece of meat waiting to be consumed. The pacing is lightning-fast, though at times I wished certain chapters had lingered longer, allowing more space to explore key moments.
This novel does not shy away from difficult moments, some of which may be upsetting for readers. One particular scene lingers, and Ette handles it with unflinching honesty. Cassie’s experience of abuse and its lasting effects are harrowing and thought-provoking, and unfortunately will resonate with many readers. Reading this book is an emotional rollercoaster, with Ette orchestrating an emotional maelstrom, dragging the reader from gut-wrenching horror to unexpected moments of tenderness, then back into the innards of Cassie’s mind.
There are no easy answers, and there is much room for multiple interpretations (making this an excellent book club pick) and at the end of the book there are discussion questions that further deepen the reading experience.
The Book of X demands to be revisited, each time revealing new insights and meanings, each page equally unsettling and unforgettable. I cannot recommend this book enough if you enjoy unapologetic, thought-provoking, and unflinching narratives that tackle many of the difficulties faced by many women.
Rating: 4.5/5
Disclaimer: I received an Advance Reader Copy (ARC) of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
Quotes might differ slightly from the final printed version
The Book of X does what few books achieve, it grabs the reader by the guts and refuses to let go, forcing them to confront its unsettling themes. The opening chapter is powerful, sharp, vivid, and immersive, immediately pulling the reader into a world where allegory and surrealism bleed into reality. “My vision goes wild. The grass begins to breathe. Through the window at breakfast, the green blades heave, pulsing like a large body below the house. ‘The land is alive,’ I say.” One of the most striking images is the Meat Quarry, where Cassie’s family harvests chunks of red meat from the earth. Through Cassie’s childhood, we witness moments of bullying that shape her desires and perceptions. She is an imperfect, deeply compelling character, and her struggles are reflected in her raw, unfiltered narrative voice.
The exploration of sexuality is a recurring theme, handled with nuance and intensity. Cassie’s friendship with Sophia, and the way they experience childhood together, was particularly touching. Many scenes in the novel are poignant, with each chapter opening on a surreal, dreamlike vision of Cassie, often serving as an epiphany or expression of longing. These moments add an extra layer of depth to the story. The novel is saturated with metaphors, yet they never feel excessive.
Etter’s versatility as a writer shines through her use of different styles without pretension. Some sections read like bullet-pointed lists or encyclopaedia entries, reflecting how Cassie makes sense of the world (she is a nerd at heart). These stylistic choices provide breathing room and are often witty, ensuring the reading experience never feels overwhelming, even when it delves into unsettling themes. Her writing is both playful and melancholic, blurring the lines between reality and dream, clawing at the reader like a piece of meat waiting to be consumed. The pacing is lightning-fast, though at times I wished certain chapters had lingered longer, allowing more space to explore key moments.
This novel does not shy away from difficult moments, some of which may be upsetting for readers. One particular scene lingers, and Ette handles it with unflinching honesty. Cassie’s experience of abuse and its lasting effects are harrowing and thought-provoking, and unfortunately will resonate with many readers. Reading this book is an emotional rollercoaster, with Ette orchestrating an emotional maelstrom, dragging the reader from gut-wrenching horror to unexpected moments of tenderness, then back into the innards of Cassie’s mind.
There are no easy answers, and there is much room for multiple interpretations (making this an excellent book club pick) and at the end of the book there are discussion questions that further deepen the reading experience.
The Book of X demands to be revisited, each time revealing new insights and meanings, each page equally unsettling and unforgettable. I cannot recommend this book enough if you enjoy unapologetic, thought-provoking, and unflinching narratives that tackle many of the difficulties faced by many women.
Rating: 4.5/5
Disclaimer: I received an Advance Reader Copy (ARC) of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
Quotes might differ slightly from the final printed version
December 21, 2019
This ended up on a few end of year lists - not a ton, but the few it did were well curated enough that this shot up my TBR list pretty quickly.
I read a bit of this last night, only having maybe 20 minutes of time available before exhaustion overwhelmed me. I was hooked quick, but very shallowly into the actual narrative. I picked it back up tonight and read through to the end in one taut sitting.
This book made my chest hurt and my temples throb for somewhere around 2 hours straight; and I’m fairly certain I mean that as an expression of praise. There is much of this narrative that is alien to me - and that’s not even in reference to the surrealistic passages - where it is speaking to a truth that is not mine, and it hurt to be inside it, even for a small while. I’m not sure what I’m supposed to take from that - I’m not really even sure what I should take from that - but I am always grateful for viscerally affecting reads; and this is a fucking good one.
I read a bit of this last night, only having maybe 20 minutes of time available before exhaustion overwhelmed me. I was hooked quick, but very shallowly into the actual narrative. I picked it back up tonight and read through to the end in one taut sitting.
This book made my chest hurt and my temples throb for somewhere around 2 hours straight; and I’m fairly certain I mean that as an expression of praise. There is much of this narrative that is alien to me - and that’s not even in reference to the surrealistic passages - where it is speaking to a truth that is not mine, and it hurt to be inside it, even for a small while. I’m not sure what I’m supposed to take from that - I’m not really even sure what I should take from that - but I am always grateful for viscerally affecting reads; and this is a fucking good one.
April 1, 2022
I honestly could not tell you what this book was about. The author must really like raw meat, the way sandwiches look as they slide into people’s mouths whilst eating (I have never thought sandwiches could “slide” into a mouth before 🤦🏼♀️, such a strange word to describe the act of masticating a piece of thing stuck between two slices of bread), sweater cardigans, and bleached bird bones that gather like crumpled fingers…
November 2, 2021
Surreal, provocative, imaginative, grotesque, sharp. So bloody good.
December 28, 2021
God, what a beautiful and devastating little book. I can't begin to tell you the time I had trying to fit this one into Goodreads shelves. I honestly don't think I knew what I was getting into here. I had picked it up and put it back down several times before finally just sitting and finishing it in one uncomfortable stretch. This is a difficult book to read, and by extension difficult to review. I'm not sure I have the words, but if you only read the first paragraph of this review, I do want to be clear that you absolutely should read this book.
We follow Cassie who, like her mother before her, was born with a knot in her stomach. From the start we are privy to Cassie's anguish and shame, to her complicated relationships with her mother and with her womanhood, and her impossible relationship with her body. We have a front row seat to her shame playing out across the pages, across the years, across relationships. It's a rocky road to self-acceptance for every woman, and Cassie's journey is just so visceral that I felt it like an ache everywhere. It was a remembered pain. So many of Cassie's relationships are laced with lack. This is a hungry book. I came out of it feeling emotionally wrecked and in need of a long sleep.
This is a very prosey novel with strong Southern gothic vibes. Etter writes cleanly even though it is nearly all in metaphor—admittedly a bit heavy-handed with it at times—in that she is neither excessive nor careless with her words. Everything she writes is precise. She speaks at length on the relationships many women have (and struggle to have) with their own bodies and bodily autonomy, with the commodification and the impossible standards placed on women's bodies, and how all of these things are things we inherited from the mothers before us. Adjacent and inescapable from those are themes of misogyny and dysmorphia, of the exploration of sexuality, and of such a thorough shame. Further still, there's isolation and loneliness, otherness, anger, and just the sheer struggle that is coming of age as a woman in a world that polices and leaves little room for forgiveness when it comes to femininity.
Do not mistake prosey for pretty. This is not a pretty book. This is an ugly book full of ugly images, grotesque images that make your stomach churn and make your chest ache. It's also full of beautiful writing and suffering and a strength, sometimes loud, sometimes screaming.
I don't think this review did this book justice. The fact is that it'll probably be divisive because it evokes strong feelings in a lot of directions. For me it is disgust and ache, warmth but also horror, and at the heart of it there was the strangest urge to be soft. I can see very easily how this book can be off-putting, how it is perhaps a little too prosey, a little too heavy-handed in the metaphor (after all I did give it 4, not 5 stars), or just straight-up too uncomfortable.
I encourage you to read it anyway.
We follow Cassie who, like her mother before her, was born with a knot in her stomach. From the start we are privy to Cassie's anguish and shame, to her complicated relationships with her mother and with her womanhood, and her impossible relationship with her body. We have a front row seat to her shame playing out across the pages, across the years, across relationships. It's a rocky road to self-acceptance for every woman, and Cassie's journey is just so visceral that I felt it like an ache everywhere. It was a remembered pain. So many of Cassie's relationships are laced with lack. This is a hungry book. I came out of it feeling emotionally wrecked and in need of a long sleep.
This is a very prosey novel with strong Southern gothic vibes. Etter writes cleanly even though it is nearly all in metaphor—admittedly a bit heavy-handed with it at times—in that she is neither excessive nor careless with her words. Everything she writes is precise. She speaks at length on the relationships many women have (and struggle to have) with their own bodies and bodily autonomy, with the commodification and the impossible standards placed on women's bodies, and how all of these things are things we inherited from the mothers before us. Adjacent and inescapable from those are themes of misogyny and dysmorphia, of the exploration of sexuality, and of such a thorough shame. Further still, there's isolation and loneliness, otherness, anger, and just the sheer struggle that is coming of age as a woman in a world that polices and leaves little room for forgiveness when it comes to femininity.
Do not mistake prosey for pretty. This is not a pretty book. This is an ugly book full of ugly images, grotesque images that make your stomach churn and make your chest ache. It's also full of beautiful writing and suffering and a strength, sometimes loud, sometimes screaming.
I don't think this review did this book justice. The fact is that it'll probably be divisive because it evokes strong feelings in a lot of directions. For me it is disgust and ache, warmth but also horror, and at the heart of it there was the strangest urge to be soft. I can see very easily how this book can be off-putting, how it is perhaps a little too prosey, a little too heavy-handed in the metaphor (after all I did give it 4, not 5 stars), or just straight-up too uncomfortable.
I encourage you to read it anyway.
July 19, 2019
Step into the extraordinary life of Cassie living with a knot with a hypnotic first person narration, one venturing into surrealism, haunting visions, a coming of age tale to womanhood, her home the Acres, at school, the meat quarry, the country to the big city, with the complexities with kin and friends, pursuing a kind of happiness and self discovery, a cycling life, harvesting and learning of many things, not keeping away away from the rocking horse, rock diet or meat quarry, lemons, a boy, men, and a friend called Sophia, moving through the many aspects of love and finding it, many forms of relationships and love, mostly unrequited, meetings of bodies attracting or repelling.
Recalled the use of language with things used in the novel As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner, “I feel like a wet seed wild in the hot blind earth,” and “My mother is a fish.”
Unconventional lives we live, dreams askew, ambitions, Kin, friends, an intimate portrait living with a knot, words and objects, senses, visions, emotions and complexities, pain and trauma, beauty lay waiting in the narrative walking with an outsider and outlier.
Pastoral and personal ballad, a poetic and visionary work, words, metaphors, surreal and real, a human pain and joy continuous within a greatly crafted debut that make you feel maybe human, a potent continued dream evoked within the reader.
Another read to make my best books of 2019 list coming soon.
This was recommended to me by the author Brian Evenson in my interview with him this year (Read More).
Review with Excerpts @ More2Read
Recalled the use of language with things used in the novel As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner, “I feel like a wet seed wild in the hot blind earth,” and “My mother is a fish.”
Unconventional lives we live, dreams askew, ambitions, Kin, friends, an intimate portrait living with a knot, words and objects, senses, visions, emotions and complexities, pain and trauma, beauty lay waiting in the narrative walking with an outsider and outlier.
Pastoral and personal ballad, a poetic and visionary work, words, metaphors, surreal and real, a human pain and joy continuous within a greatly crafted debut that make you feel maybe human, a potent continued dream evoked within the reader.
Another read to make my best books of 2019 list coming soon.
This was recommended to me by the author Brian Evenson in my interview with him this year (Read More).
Review with Excerpts @ More2Read
October 11, 2019
I thought I liked dark, depressing stories, but I guess this one was just too depressing, even for me. The ending seemed to ? Troubling! I also didn't really understand the whole knot situation. Sometimes it seemed visible even when Cassie was clothed, and sometimes it was a shock when people found out. So I don't really know what was going on there. I think Etter has some really beautiful sentences, but overall it didn't work for me.
We read this for Episode 56 for The Bookstore Podcast. Find it wherever you get your podcasts!
We read this for Episode 56 for The Bookstore Podcast. Find it wherever you get your podcasts!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 22, 2024
Sarah Rose Etter imbastisce un romanzo fondato sul corpo e sull'inconciliabilità e sull'accettazione di esso da parte della protagonista e della società.
Cassie, per una rarissima condizione genetica, ha un nodo all' altezza dello sterno. Derisa, discriminata, guarda allo specchio quel corpo annodato e, inconsciamente, vive una sorta di sdoppiamento: da un lato assistiamo alla sua crudele quotidianità, dall' altro a quelle che lei definisce "visioni"; versioni a lieto fine di un determinato evento oppure allucinazioni al limite dell' onirico e del perturbante che conferiscono un taglio orrorifico all'esposto.
Il libro è diviso in tre parti, in ognuna delle quali avviene un significativo cambiamento che costringe la ragazza a reinventarsi. Brama amore come un assetato nel deserto desidera acquietare la sua arsura... Ma anche in quel campo ci saranno esperienze che la segneranno nel profondo.
Etter consegna ai lettori una storia di un' attualità sconcertante dove temi stringenti vengono abilmente celati nel testo dall' aura di surrealismo che impregna queste pagine. C'è spazio per la criticità dell' età adolescenziale dove la linea di demarcazione tra innocenza e malizia è sottile, il rapporto conflittuale con i genitori - in particolare con la madre con cui condivide la stessa condizione - spesso ostacolato da incomunicabilità e incomprensioni, si parla anche di canoni di bellezza, di relazioni affettive e sessuali talvolta malsane.
Lo stile è eclettico, a pagine ruvide e di stampo grottesco se ne alternano altre punteggiate da suggestioni e raffinata poeticità.
Tralasciando il finale "evanescente" e sfilacciato, l' autrice mi ha incuriosita e convinta con questo romanzo - a metà tra il bildungsroman e il metafisico - per l'inquietudine provocata dalle sue fantasmagorie disturbanti.
Cassie, per una rarissima condizione genetica, ha un nodo all' altezza dello sterno. Derisa, discriminata, guarda allo specchio quel corpo annodato e, inconsciamente, vive una sorta di sdoppiamento: da un lato assistiamo alla sua crudele quotidianità, dall' altro a quelle che lei definisce "visioni"; versioni a lieto fine di un determinato evento oppure allucinazioni al limite dell' onirico e del perturbante che conferiscono un taglio orrorifico all'esposto.
Il libro è diviso in tre parti, in ognuna delle quali avviene un significativo cambiamento che costringe la ragazza a reinventarsi. Brama amore come un assetato nel deserto desidera acquietare la sua arsura... Ma anche in quel campo ci saranno esperienze che la segneranno nel profondo.
Etter consegna ai lettori una storia di un' attualità sconcertante dove temi stringenti vengono abilmente celati nel testo dall' aura di surrealismo che impregna queste pagine. C'è spazio per la criticità dell' età adolescenziale dove la linea di demarcazione tra innocenza e malizia è sottile, il rapporto conflittuale con i genitori - in particolare con la madre con cui condivide la stessa condizione - spesso ostacolato da incomunicabilità e incomprensioni, si parla anche di canoni di bellezza, di relazioni affettive e sessuali talvolta malsane.
Lo stile è eclettico, a pagine ruvide e di stampo grottesco se ne alternano altre punteggiate da suggestioni e raffinata poeticità.
Tralasciando il finale "evanescente" e sfilacciato, l' autrice mi ha incuriosita e convinta con questo romanzo - a metà tra il bildungsroman e il metafisico - per l'inquietudine provocata dalle sue fantasmagorie disturbanti.
September 6, 2019
In an unknown place, in an unknown time, a girl named Cassie is born with her stomach twisted in the shape of a knot, just like her mother and her mother before her. She is a freak, an outcast, destined to be alone and lonely for her entire life.
The surreality of this novel doesn’t end there. There is other strangeness, too: she lives on the edge of a Meat Quarry, where her father and brother harvest meat to make money for the family. She and her mother spend all day cleaning the house by rubbing lemon halves on the walls. Her mother, intent on helping her “fix” herself as much as possible to attain conventional beauty, forces her to try a new diet which involves sucking on rocks. When she leaves home for the city, her boss at her menial job scolds her for radiating a deep sadness and suggests that they have a training to help her with that.
Although the world in this novel isn’t exactly like ours, it captures the same emptiness of our capitalistic society, the same horror of being a woman. The knot is a stand-in for so many things women experience: depression, anxiety, physical pain, weight issues.
Through it all, Cassie has visions of a softer world than the one she lives in, and these fantasies blur with her mundane day-to-day realities.
The Book of X is grotesque and visceral, haunting and beautiful. It’s a surreal account of trauma and family and grief and coming of age in a woman’s body. There’s a quiet sadness that permeates each page, building to a poignant, fitting denouement. This strange book evoked so many familiar feelings in me. I cannot overstate how much I loved it.
Also worth noting that it has my favorite epigraph of all time: “Are you living in hell? Well, try to make the most of it.” - Carol Rama
The surreality of this novel doesn’t end there. There is other strangeness, too: she lives on the edge of a Meat Quarry, where her father and brother harvest meat to make money for the family. She and her mother spend all day cleaning the house by rubbing lemon halves on the walls. Her mother, intent on helping her “fix” herself as much as possible to attain conventional beauty, forces her to try a new diet which involves sucking on rocks. When she leaves home for the city, her boss at her menial job scolds her for radiating a deep sadness and suggests that they have a training to help her with that.
Although the world in this novel isn’t exactly like ours, it captures the same emptiness of our capitalistic society, the same horror of being a woman. The knot is a stand-in for so many things women experience: depression, anxiety, physical pain, weight issues.
Through it all, Cassie has visions of a softer world than the one she lives in, and these fantasies blur with her mundane day-to-day realities.
The Book of X is grotesque and visceral, haunting and beautiful. It’s a surreal account of trauma and family and grief and coming of age in a woman’s body. There’s a quiet sadness that permeates each page, building to a poignant, fitting denouement. This strange book evoked so many familiar feelings in me. I cannot overstate how much I loved it.
Also worth noting that it has my favorite epigraph of all time: “Are you living in hell? Well, try to make the most of it.” - Carol Rama
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