My Goodreads review: Astoria

Astoria by S.P. Miskowski

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Full disclosure: I received an ARC of this novella from the author.

This latest entry in Miskowski's Skillute Cycle reinforces my faith that there really is dark fiction with women as subjects, not objects. When Ethel (mother of the monster-child Connie Sara in Knock Knock) finally flees her life in Skillute after the child's funeral, the reader is given an utterly believable glimpse into her middle-aged desperation.

Walking wounded after her own mother's failure to love her -- or, indeed, treat her as human -- and her husband's inability to see what Connie Sara actually was, Ethel embarks on an increasingly surreal road trip into terror. Though she's seeking escape, each choice she makes only reinforces the reader's suspicions that things will not end well. Through her attention to small details, interior life, & a devastatingly effective plain prose style, Miskowski grants us the viewpoint of one of life's victims. The supernatural aspects of this novella never overwhelm an equally dark view of small town life gone wrong -- at least for this one square peg of a woman.

Despite the author's skillful interweaving of details from her earlier novel, this novella might be much less satisfying for readers who have not read Knock Knock. Both are well worth reading, but should probably be read in order.



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