This powerful book overflows with suspense so thoroughly that I spent most of the read looking away for a while until I had the courage to go on. It’s a richly detailed world filled with believable characters and tragedies.
Yes, tragedies. The book is called “Gothic” for a reason. The characters, particularly the main character, endure brutal pain almost nonstop from the beginning of the book. Almost everything works out hard for the MC.
Our story begins with the MC living in a world divided between two warring drug lords. She cooks product for one and is hated by the other. Her drug-addicted and abusive ex comes looking for a fix, she has to call an enforcer from her “side” in the war to help, and this kicks off a series of horrors that pursue her until the very end.
Drug gangs, mutants, and a stark divide between rich and poor place this firmly into the camp of dystopia.
I enjoyed the light touch on the romance element. It’s there, but definitely not overwrought.
I wouldn’t normally choose this book. The violence inflicted on and by the MC is too graphically described for me. However, to paraphrase the immortal J. Evans Pritchard, the subject of the book is serious, and the objective has been artfully rendered. For readers who do like grimdark, this book is for you.