The Murders of Molly Southbourne

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i enjoyed molly as a character and exploring her life. i wasn't super attached to this story because while i do love character driven stories and i liked molly, the pacing just felt off to me but the ending was so good, i just had to bump up the rating. 

3.5 stars. Interesting concept if a little repetitive due to the nature of Molly's situation, but it is so short that it doesn't drag on and become annoying. I am interested in reading the sequel, but I hope it takes the story and the concept in a slightly different direction.

I thought that I would feel uncomfortable or squeamish because of all the blood references (usually a no-go for me), but I had no issues here.

This review is also featured on Behind the Pages: The Murders of Molly Southbourne

If you bleed, blot, burn and bleach.

This is the mantra Molly lives with day after day. If she doesn't follow it, she must kill herself. Every time Molly bleeds, there is a risk a new molly will be created. The mollys start off innocent, wanting simple things like comfort and companionship, but it is only a matter of time until they turn against her and anyone that gets in their way.

This macabre story will take hold of you and refuse to let go. Molly is a girl forced to grow up in isolation on her parent's farm. Before being allowed into the real world, she must learn how to deal with her condition. If she bleeds, Molly must quickly destroy the blood. But when she can't, Molly learns how to disassemble a body for easy disposal and clean up.  After all, you can't leave dead mollys lying around for someone to find.

But killing copies of yourself takes its toll on Molly. Emotions do not come easy to her. When she is finally ready to leave the farm, she will have to learn how to function like a normal human. Dealing with the residue fears that arise from her trauma and the difficulties of forming a relationship.

This is not a book to pass on. I highly recommend it. Tade Thompson is extremely talented to have created such a story in fewer than 100 pages.

Pros: interesting premise, compelling protagonist

Cons:

Every time Molly Southbourne bleeds, she creates doppelgangers that try to kill her.

The novella takes this fascinating premise and explains how Molly grew up, how her parents taught her to kill her doppelgangers, and how she survives into adulthood. It's a weird and horrifying story that's hard to look away from.

Molly goes through a series of emotional ups and downs as she grows, finally becoming mostly emotionless as an adult as the reality of constantly fighting herself takes its toll. The stages she goes through, of rebellion and trauma, fit her circumstances and make her compelling even if it's hard to see yourself in her place.

The book is the perfect length to tell her story. There's enough detail to give it weight and the ending is punchy. I'm curious where the sequel takes the story.

Well I blasted through this novella today while waiting on errand things. First, I was hooked in by the opening chapter: Molly wakes up to find herself locked up in the basement and she can't remember much, but she finds her captor is herself, Molly. Then we go on a little journey that starts with a young Molly and her parents on their farm.... I really don't want to say too much because I think even the early reveal was a nice surprise.

I don't know how to sell this, I just thought it was such an engrossing journey and interesting story and premise, I recommend this for horror readers especially if they want something short. Basically, this is horror, but I wouldn't say it was scary just more horrific with LOTS of blood and disturbing things - but for me enough distanced to not want to vomit.

This is my third Thompson and he's demonstrated to me (even if I didn't love Rosewater like I loved this one or Far from the Light of Heaven) that he is an underread sci-fi author, definitely going to try to consume more sooner than later.