The Beauty

This novella is weird and twisted, but I loved it. It’s been a while since I had a dose of freakish literature, and this gender-questioning tale covered in mushrooms made me realise how much I’d missed it.

The story is set among a survivalist commune with a deliberately flat structure, without leaders; and the main character is their storyteller. When this novella opens, the Group, as they call themselves, have been forced to redouble their efforts at survival and society-creation because a fungus-like disease has killed off all the women. Soon, though, yellow mushrooms grow on the women’s graves, and unnatural things start to emerge, which the storyteller starts calling The Beauty. And at that point, the separation between show more natural and unnatural is up for a complete renewal.

One of the best features, though, is the writing: lush, lyrical, and it fitted the “time for a new world” aesthetic perfectly.

This won’t be for everyone, but do give this one a try if you can handle Weird Fiction. show less

I don’t think this is quite as successful a novella as The Arrival of Missives – partly because the writing is not as good, but also because it seems even more consciously New Weird. Fungi! The narrator is the storyteller of a group of men living in a remote valley in the south-west after a fungal infection killed off all the women (it’s not said but it’s implied it’s global). The Group had been formed before that, a back-to-the-land survivalist sort of commune. But then the women all begin to die from a strange yellow fungus. The Group stumbles on for a while without women. Then the storyteller, Nathan, is taken to see growths of the strange yellow fungus in the nearby wood, whic resemble those growing on the graves of the show more women in the Group’s cemetery – clearly indicating women are buried there. He is captured by a strange creature which looks like a woman but is made of yellow fungus. It traps him underground, but keeps him alive. He is initially revulsed, but comes to love the creature, which he names Bee. The rest of the Group soon have one each. These are the Beauty. They’re implied to be reincarnations of the lost women, but are unable to communicate except by projecting moods and feelings. Nathan has frequent sex with Bee – this despite there being a maternal element to their relationship (the other members of the Group treat their Beauty as they did their wives and girlfriends). But then one of the group, Thomas, begins to develop a tumour… except it isn’t a tumour, it’s a baby, part-human part-Beauty. And so the roles are swapped, and a new world is ushered in. The novella finishes with Nathan and Bee leaving the Group to find out what is happening in the outside world. There are some types of New Weird I can take – such as The Arrival of Missives, for example – and some I can’t. The Beauty falls squarely in the latter. Whiteley’s writing, while good, has definitely improved by the later novella – which is just as well as I doubt I would have read further had I come across The Beauty in 2014. show less

The Beauty is one of those stories that disturbs by what it says, and by what it could be saying. Peace, Pipe is a beautiful (in that way dark things can be) piece of speculative fiction about communication, about humanity, about the absurdity of looking for meaning when it's we who make our own meaning.

Ewwwww. Started this because a) I've loved everything I've read by Aliya so far and b) someone on Twitter said it was a bit like Round The Twist (the Aussie kids TV show). Well I get the comparison, but this is not kids, or even YA, stuff. I will not get some of the images from this out of my head. Ever. There's some really interesting stuff going on here with gender and violence that others have unpacked much better than I could (search for some reviews, there are lots). Creepy as fuck, thought provoking and very good.

Dark and Surreal

Wow, this is a weird one. Dark, surreal, filled with more questions than answers, but fascinating from beginning to end. The only complaint I could possibly muster is that I wanted more, but what is here in the pages is perfect; complex, twisted, and unique, very articulate and exceptionally emotionally resonant. Highly recommended.

*An ARC was received for free via NetGalley for an unbiased review*

The Beauty was described as a novel depicting the bleak future of humanity after a catastrophic event wipes out all women and men are dependent on storytellers to keep their memories (and hope) alive. Yes, The Beauty is about that, but it’s also… more that detracts a great deal from what the reader expects going into the novel. Though this is how it begins, the plot quickly progresses into a sci-fi/horror story about strange creatures slowly invading the men’s lives.

It was then that I took a look at the notes section and realised that it was classified as New Weird. Now, this is the first time I’ve ever heard of that genre, as previously I would have simply show more classified a novella like this one as horror/sci-fi. New Weird works much better and is a perfect fit for The Beauty.

The writing itself is amazing and worth five stars alone. Whiteley’s word choice and structure is superb. Her word craft is exquisite and not something I expected to find when I started reading. In fact, there are so many wonderful, quotable parts to the book that I eventually had to force myself to stop highlighting passages because I would’ve highlighted everything. If you just want to read an amazingly written story, regardless of genre, then you cannot go wrong with The Beauty.

If you’re wondering, after reading the previous paragraph, why I reviewed the story at three stars instead of something higher, it’s simply because of the strangeness of the plot. If you’re a fan of Weird, then this has a good chance of becoming a four or five star novella. If you aren’t, then an almost four star review might be as high as you’ll get.

Readers learn early on that it was a type of fungal disease that killed off all of the women — in the world the men of the story speculate. A yellow fungus grew out of women, emanating from the womb it would seem until it consumed them whole. Now, six years later, the same fungus is seen growing on the graves of the women whose lives they took. Nathan, the narrator and group storyteller responsible for cultivating their history and the memories of women alive, is concerned and voices them to the de facto leader of the group, William, who dismisses his concerns. He then takes group cook Thomas to determine whether they are edible and they determine that they are likely poisonous. Finally, Nathan brings a sample back to Doctor Ben so he can study them in case they have medicinal benefits, or at least to discover if it is soon coming for the men. Once evening falls and it is time for the group to begin their storytelling, Nathan realises that a few people are missing. He goes off in search of them and instead finds himself in trouble when he comes face to face with a creature made completely of the yellow fungus.

The rest, well, you’ll have to read it for yourselves as I really don’t want to spoil the story for anyone interested. It is good, it is thought provoking, but above all it is weird, and we could all use a bit of weird in our lives sometimes.

Review first published on ByLuluWithLove show less

*An ARC was received for free via NetGalley for an unbiased review*

The Beauty was described as a novel depicting the bleak future of humanity after a catastrophic event wipes out all women and men are dependent on storytellers to keep their memories (and hope) alive. Yes, The Beauty is about that, but it’s also… more that detracts a great deal from what the reader expects going into the novel. Though this is how it begins, the plot quickly progresses into a sci-fi/horror story about strange creatures slowly invading the men’s lives.

It was then that I took a look at the notes section and realised that it was classified as New Weird. Now, this is the first time I’ve ever heard of that genre, as previously I would have simply show more classified a novella like this one as horror/sci-fi. New Weird works much better and is a perfect fit for The Beauty.

The writing itself is amazing and worth five stars alone. Whiteley’s word choice and structure is superb. Her word craft is exquisite and not something I expected to find when I started reading. In fact, there are so many wonderful, quotable parts to the book that I eventually had to force myself to stop highlighting passages because I would’ve highlighted everything. If you just want to read an amazingly written story, regardless of genre, then you cannot go wrong with The Beauty.

If you’re wondering, after reading the previous paragraph, why I reviewed the story at three stars instead of something higher, it’s simply because of the strangeness of the plot. If you’re a fan of Weird, then this has a good chance of becoming a four or five star novella. If you aren’t, then an almost four star review might be as high as you’ll get.

Readers learn early on that it was a type of fungal disease that killed off all of the women — in the world the men of the story speculate. A yellow fungus grew out of women, emanating from the womb it would seem until it consumed them whole. Now, six years later, the same fungus is seen growing on the graves of the women whose lives they took. Nathan, the narrator and group storyteller responsible for cultivating their history and the memories of women alive, is concerned and voices them to the de facto leader of the group, William, who dismisses his concerns. He then takes group cook Thomas to determine whether they are edible and they determine that they are likely poisonous. Finally, Nathan brings a sample back to Doctor Ben so he can study them in case they have medicinal benefits, or at least to discover if it is soon coming for the men. Once evening falls and it is time for the group to begin their storytelling, Nathan realises that a few people are missing. He goes off in search of them and instead finds himself in trouble when he comes face to face with a creature made completely of the yellow fungus.

The rest, well, you’ll have to read it for yourselves as I really don’t want to spoil the story for anyone interested. It is good, it is thought provoking, but above all it is weird, and we could all use a bit of weird in our lives sometimes.

Review first published on ByLuluWithLove show less