Book Review | We Can Never Leave This Place

Mara is an imaginative teenage girl trying to process the death of her father while living in a war-torn country. However, after a giant spider shows up at her doorstep and offers her family protection in exchange for food and board, Mara begins to grow suspicious of their new guest.

In a novella I can best describe as Pan's Labyrinth meets Kafka's Metamorphosis, We Can Never Leave This Place by Eric LaRocca weaves a nightmarish and haunting tale about the unreliability of memory and how we process trauma and loss. It’s an allegory steeped in magical realism that constantly blurs the lines between what is real and what is imagined.

If you set aside its fantastical nature though, this novella, at its core, is an intimate family portrait of a dysfunctional family. Mara has a frayed relationship with her mother, and with the two of them locked up in a house together, their years of pent-up resentment can only reach a boiling point. I think its ultimately this flawed humanness that grounds the story and makes it so compelling.

Overall, We Can Never Leave This Place is a claustrophobic and harrowing read, and undoubtedly, this is my favorite of LaRocca’s works so far and I can’t wait to see what next he has in store.

Lastly, special thanks to the author for kindly providing me with a review copy.

Book Details:

Publication Date : June 24, 2022

Publisher : Trepidatio Publishing

ISBN : 1685100236

Pages : 106

Comments

Manga Review | Blue Period: Why We Create Art

Why do we create art? Is it so we can better understand the world, so we can connect with others, so we can feel alive, or so we can bring the wildest figments of our imagination to life? Well, depending on who you ask, the answer will vary, and Blue Period by Tsubasa Yamaguchi seeks to give various Art Club students answers to that question. The story follows Yatora, a high school student, but despite his perfect grades and having tons of friends, he still can’t shake the terrible emptiness he feels inside, until one day he walks by his school’s art room and a beautiful painting catches his eye and finally ignites a passion in him. He decides that he wants to pursue art and aims to be admitted into one of the most competitive art schools in Japan, and that road is a tough one. Now, it’s very rare for a story to resonate with me on a molecular level, but everyone once in a blue moon, a story comes along that’s so relatable, that it hits too close to home. With gut-wrenchi...

Manga Review and Translator Interview | Apple Children of Aeon Volume 1

Abandoned as a baby, Yukinojo can't help but feel adrift in life, so when an heiress to an Aomori apple farm proposes to him, he takes up her offer. However, after he feeds his newlywed wife an apple from a mysterious tree, she becomes irrevocably changed, and the two of them are left trying to deal with the aftermath. Apple Children of Aeon , Vol. 1 by Ai Tanaka is a surreal and contemplative slice-of-life manga that’s steeped in Shintoism and magical realism. I’ve got to say, this manga has such a wonderful sense of place, transporting readers to the idyllic Aomori countryside. I think it’s precisely because the setting and characters feel so grounded that the subtle fantastical elements woven into the story feel all the more believable. On top of that, the art style feels like you’re opening up an old illustrated folktale. It’s simple yet charming and atmospheric. Honestly, the artwork and covers are so gorgeous that I wish that Kodansha will eventually ...

My Most Anticipated Manga Releases of 2022

Another year, another batch of new manga releases. Here are the ones (as well as some older manga returning to print) that I'm most excited for in 2022! Wandance by Coffee The story centers around Kaboku, a studious high schooler who feels trapped by his parent’s expectations. However, one night, he sees a fellow schoolmate dancing and becomes captivated. He asks to join her hip hop team. He has a lot of work ahead and he’s not sure what the future holds. All he knows is that through dance, he finally feels free. It looks like Coffee’s artwork wonderfully captures the kinetic energy and the beauty of self-expression within dance, so I’m really looking forward to this one. Double Manga, Vol. 1 by Ayako Noda Takara is a natural genius at acting, but he’s a bit scatterbrained and needs his acting double, Yuujin, to help him focus and memorize lines. However, when he’s scouted for a television role, jealousy threatens t...

My Most Anticpated Manga Reads of 2021

2020 is coming to close, but a whole new year of manga releases is upon us! Get ready to gear up because here's a list of which titles I'm most excited for. My Dearest Self with Malice Aforethought by Shoto Ito This manga is a cerebral psychological thriller about a shy, awkward college student. However, he has gaps in his memory where it's like he's a completely different person. He wakes up with a girlfriend he can't recall getting, he apparently punched another student, and ... he might even be committing murder. If you enjoy cerebral psychological thrillers like Memento or enjoy the concept of the "dark passenger" from Dexter , this one just might be right up your alley too. Shino Can't Say Her Name by Shuzo Oshimi Shino can't say her name or words that start with vowels. This makes it difficult for her to communicate with others. However, her freshman year of high school, she finally befriends a tone-deaf girl who loves music, and tog...

whimsydearest

Search This Blog