Feral by Gemma Amor is a heavy tale of discomfort and transformation told in a beautiful and brutal way that only Gemma can do.
Let’s dive in!
My Thoughts on Feral by Gemma Amor –
Whether just a quick comment made in passing or something more targeted, many women can recall the exact moment in which their mindset about their bodies changed forever.
In this tale, we meet a woman who has been overcompensating with her appearance to try to overcome trauma from childhood when her body was commented on for the first time in a negative way. Struggling with a bit of body dysmorphia and annoyed about how much time it takes to keep up with personal grooming that society seems appropriate, she hits her breaking point. But as she moves away from her personal grooming habits, something else emerges from inside her.
This tale. My gosh. My chest felt tight while reading many of the passages about the character’s childhood and, later, her resentment toward her body. I couldn’t help but relate and be furious while reading the passages about how much upkeep it takes to be considered beautiful by society’s standards. It’s exhausting just thinking about it all, never mind trying to live up to it!
It was also wildly unsettling to see how quickly this character started to change. At first, I wanted to cheer for her! But then I found myself judging her for the decisions she was making. But that didn’t last long! Soon enough, I was a bit afraid of her as things kept traveling down a dark path.
My Favorite Passages from Feral –
I’m not wearing anything except someone else’s insides.
‘It’s not that I don’t like those things,’ I rebutted with some indignation, ‘I just don’t like trying to enjoy them alongside everything else I have to do. It’s too much. Spinning all these plates all the time. I could be a Pulitzer prize winning novelist if I didn’t have to shave my legs every day, think about that.’
At first, ignoring my reflection as diligently as I would ignore a stranger I didn’t trust felt rude, but I soon got used to the idea that I didn’t need a reflected version of me.
I wondered what it would be like to feel snow land on my skin, or rise with birdsong. I dreamed of sunsets bleeding into a vast, uninterrupted horizon, and whispering grasses, towering cloudscapes, fresh bones crunching between my teeth.
The Margot sitting in the bar that night felt only trepidation. A premonition of things to come.
Instinct, I suppose I should have called it.
I should have paid it more attention.
I only wanted to go back to where it happened, to answer the call of my rising blood, which surged around inside my body like angry breakers battering up against the sides of my heart, which had become as hard and obdurate as a cliff facing out into the ocean.
My Final Thoughts on Feral –
I went into this one totally dark. I only knew it was new from Gemma Amor and I couldn’t wait to read it. This is such a wonderful blend of love, frustration, gut-punch horror, and bloody revenge.
Thanks for reading!
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