The Possessions by Sara Flannery Murphy
Published by: Harper
Genre: Mystery Thriller Fiction
Release date: February 7th 2017
In this electrifying literary debut, a young woman who channels the dead for a living crosses a dangerous line when she falls in love with one of her clients, whose wife died under mysterious circumstances
In an unnamed city, Eurydice works for the Elysian Society, a private service that allows grieving clients to reconnect with lost loved ones. She and her fellow workers, known as “bodies“, wear the discarded belongings of the dead and swallow pills called lotuses to summon their spirits—numbing their own minds and losing themselves in the process. Edie has been a body at the Elysian Society for five years, an unusual record. Her success is the result of careful detachment: she seeks refuge in the lotuses’ anesthetic effects and distances herself from making personal connections with her clients.
But when Edie channels Sylvia, the dead wife of recent widower Patrick Braddock, she becomes obsessed with the glamorous couple. Despite the murky circumstances surrounding Sylvia’s drowning, Edie breaks her own rules and pursues Patrick, moving deeper into his life and summoning Sylvia outside the Elysian Society’s walls.
After years of hiding beneath the lotuses’ dulling effect, Edie discovers that the lines between her own desires and those of Sylvia have begun to blur, and takes increasing risks to keep Patrick within her grasp. Suddenly, she finds her quiet life unraveling as she grapples not only with Sylvia’s growing influence and the questions surrounding her death, but with her own long-buried secrets.
A tale of desire and obsession, deceit and dark secrets that defies easy categorization, The Possessions is a seductive, absorbing page-turner that builds to a shattering, unforgettable conclusion.
MY REVIEW:
The Possessions is deliciously creepy and though-provoking debut. It is a story of young woman who for a living, through special drug, opens her body to dead people, so bereaved persons can stay in touch and talk to their loved ones. The premise screams unique, doesn’t it?
It is very hard to categorize this novel because it mixes plenty of genres together and this mixture makes for an intriguing and memorable read. The Possessions is party mystery thriller, partly paranormal story with a touch of horror and party contemporary women’s fiction with a hint of romance. For a long time I had no idea where was this story taking me and even though pacing was slow, I really enjoyed this book.
However, there were two things that prevented me from enjoying this book even more. Firstly, while I was intrigued by the storyline, I never cared for characters and I never felt any emotional connection with this story. I can’t go very deep into whys because I don’t want to spoil anything. But let’s say that even though Euridice was one of the most fascinating characters I have read about in a long time, she was also one of the weirdest. Secondly, whole story felt a bit anticlimactic to me. I expected some truly shocking reveal, I-never-see-that-coming twist or a mouth-droping ending that would fit this novel. But there was nothing like that and it left me disappointed.
That said, I need to mention one more thing.Writing was exceptional and had this special intimate quality and easy flow to it. It was a real pleasure to read and I definitely plan to read whatever Sara Flannery Murphy writes next!
I LOVE IT WHEN AUTHORS MIX GENRES! DO YOU?
SOME OF MY FAVORITES BOOKS THAT ARE HARD TO CATEGORIZE
ARE 11/22/63 BY STEPHEN KING AND OUTLANDER BY DIANA GABALDON.
ANY OTHER RECOMMENDATION OF BOOKS WITH MIXED GENRES?
