Book Review: Comfort Me with Apples by Catherynne M. Valente

Title: Comfort Me with Apples

Author: Catherynne M. Valente

Release Date: November 9, 2021

Publisher: Tordotcom

Genre: Sci Fi/Fantasy

Format: Ebook/Hardcover/Audio
Pages: 103
Source: Netgalley

Purchasing:

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?

What an incredibly interesting book! I absolutely loved Sophia and the fact that she continued to notice things that were meant to be kept hidden. Who was her husband? And why were there so many rules in Arcadia Gardens? And why, even in her own house, did she continue to find things that didn't make sense, and honestly scared her?

I can't say much more without giving this one away, and even though it didn't end how I wished, the story leading up to the ending and the characters were some that I really enjoyed. 

Meet the Author:

Catherynne M. Valente is an American fiction writer, poet, and literary critic. For her speculative fiction novels she has won the annual James Tiptree, Andre Norton, and Mythopoeic Fantasy Award - winning anthologies Salon Fantastique and Paper Cities, along with numerous "Year's Best" volumes. Her critical work has appeared in the International Journal of the Humanities as well in numerous essay collections.