I would like to begin by thanking the staff at NetGalley and Titan Books for providing me with a copy of this book in return for my fair and honest review. Let us hope I don't let you down.
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Mexican Gothic meets The Lie Tree by way of Oscar Wilde and Mary Shelley in this delightfully witty horror debut.
A captivating tale of two Victorian gentlemen hiding their relationship away in a botanical garden who embark on a Frankenstein-style experiment with unexpected consequences.
It is an unusual thing, to live in a botanical garden. But Simon and Gregor are an unusual pair of gentlemen. Hidden away in their glass sanctuary from the disapproving tattle of Victorian London, they are free to follow their own interests without interference. For Simon, this means long hours in the dark basement workshop, working his taxidermical art. Gregor’s business is exotic plants – lucrative, but harmless enough. Until his latest acquisition, a strange fungus which shows signs of intellect beyond any plant he’s seen, inspires him to attempt a true intelligent life from plant matter.
Driven by the glory he’ll earn from the Royal Horticultural Society for such an achievement, Gregor ignores the flaws in his that intelligence cannot be controlled; that plants cannot be reasoned with; and that the only way his plant-beast will flourish is if he uses a recently deceased corpse for the substrate.
The experiment – or Chloe, as she is named – outstrips even Gregor’s expectations, entangling their strange household. But as Gregor’s experiment flourishes, he wilts under the cost of keeping it hidden from jealous eyes. The mycelium grows apace in this sultry greenhouse. But who is cultivating whom?
Told with wit and warmth, this is an extraordinary tale of family, fungus and more than a dash of bloody revenge from an exciting new voice in queer horror.
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I wasn't sure exactly what to expect going into this book. I was pleasantly surprised. We are introduced first to Gregor and Simon. They are a duo who have been living in this greenhouse for presumably a few years now. Long enough that the people are accustomed to their strange behavior. I loved the idea of them knowing each others' proclivities well enough to have set up places where they could explore those talents and curiosities in peace.
Then the weirdness happens. Gregor gets this box from Sumatra. He knows what is supposed to be in the box. It's something he's ordered, but it goes all kinds of strange. I never once thought I'd be down to read about a mycellium that can think for itself. At least, in the most rudimentary of ways. The mycellium (a sort of squishy goo mushroom) was caring for a plant. It would make sure the thing was kept in the ideal conditions for its growth. I loved that. The mushroom knew what to do.
Gregor gets the brilliant idea while watching this mycellium, to build a sort of mobile lattice. That's the best way I can think to describe it. He talks about it with Simon. I didn't like that Gregor weaponized their relationship to force Simon's hand. The way that he twisted his love for his actual boyfriend so that he could get what he wanted made me angry. No one should behave that way. You don't threaten someone that you'll divulge something that will get you both arrested and possibly killed just to get what you want.
Past that grossness, it was an interesting story. I was hooked from page one. I loved how every time something traumatic would happen, Simon would make a physical representation of the emotional response so he wouldn't have to feel it himself. Something he didn't want to think about? A brain in a jar. Something he didn't want to remember seeing? A barber's cup full of preserved eyeballs. It was so bizarrely just....Simon, that I couldn't help enjoying it.
I eventually gave this book a 4.5/5 stars. I took off the last half a star because I didn't care, again, for how Gregor treated Simon like a possession or how just absolutely batshit he went during the whole creation of Chloe, their Botanical Daughter. It was bad. I adored Chloe and Jenny and their relationship as things were discovered between them and things sort of progressed. That's the best I can describe it?
The resolution was worth the read. I liked how they learned and grew throughout and what eventually became of everything as they did so.
I will definitely be keeping my eye out for more books by Noah Medlock!!
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This book will be available from retailers on March 19, 2024.
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