Released February 21, 2023 from Tor Nightfire
I had no idea what I was getting into with Lucy A. Snyder’s Sister, Maiden, Monster. Sometimes choosing a book based on the insanely cool cover is a great decision.
This short novel is so weird and horrifying. It follows three very different women during a pandemic that’s mutating humans and leaving them craving brains and blood — but this isn’t just a plague story, or a vampire/zombie story. It gets much stranger, and much more interesting.
Erin, Savannah, and Mareva are fascinating protagonists (and antagonists, depending on who you’re reading from) and I loved being in their heads, even when it got very, very dark.
And the body horror is nuts — at least for me, it’s not normally my genre, so I found myself feeling like I was going to pass out a few times. Mareva’s story is my new personal nightmare.
I’m a bit burned out on pandemic horror but I am so glad I read this one. Snyder takes her virus in a completely new direction, mutating it into cosmic and feminist horror with some serious weirdness. She also has very clear social and political things to say, which I loved.
I have the feeling 2023 is going to be a great year for horror, and Sister, Maiden, Monster will wind up on my year-end “Best of” list.
🌟🌟🌟🌟1/2
Thank you to Netgalley and Tor Nightfire for my review copy of this book.
Leanne Olson 
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