REVIEW:

Here’s a running list of comparisons that crossed my mind while immersed in the world of Catherynne M. Valente’s novella, Comfort Me With Apples:

The Stepford Wives

Animal Farm

Margaret Atwood

Lauren Groff

The bible

Greek mythology

Dante’s Inferno

Clearly, this is quite a bonkers read. In the span of 112 pages (or 2 hours 20 minutes on audio), readers are kept on their toes while trying to place what is happening, why it’s happening, and where it’s happening. I think(????) I figured out the answers to those questions by book’s end, but man, it sure was a strange trip to get there. Ultimately it comes together in the most brilliant fashion, in such a way that will keep me pondering the feminist statement I believe Valente is trying to make.

Comfort Me With Apples definitely will not be the right read for everyone - but if you’re up for a lovely cup of apple-flavored WTF, you’ll drink this one up like I did.

My thanks to Dreamscape Media and the author for the advance listening copy via NetGalley. Karis Campbell’s moody-yet-spirited audiobook narration is pitch perfect, and I’d highly recommend the format for those who are open to it. Comfort Me With Apples is slated for release on October 26th.

PUBLISHER SYNOPSIS:

Sophia was made for him, her perfect husband. She can feel it in her bones. He is perfect; their home together in Arcadia Gardens is perfect; everything is perfect.

It's just that he's away so much — so often. He works so hard. She misses him, and he misses her. He says he does, so it must be true. He is the perfect husband, and everything is perfect.

But sometimes Sophia wonders about things — strange things, dark things — the look on her husband's face when he comes back from a long business trip, the questions he will not answer, the locked basement she is never allowed to enter. And whenever she asks the neighbors, they can't quite meet her gaze....

But everything is perfect — isn't it?