Review of L. Crow Morgane's Something in the Woods

Something in the Woods by L. Crow Morgane

Title: Something in the Woods

Author: L. Crow Morgane

Number of Pages: 82

Publisher: self-published

Publication Date: 17 April 2023

Genre: Memoir, Nonfiction

Age Recommendation: 16 and up

My Rating: ★★★★★

    Hello, fellow book lovers! This book was recently published and I was clicking through Amazon and found this treasure of a novel. It's Something in the Woods by L. Crow Morgane. Let's get started.

Blurb

    Something in the Woods is a collection of short stories and personal essays about the experience of growing up queer, trans, and mentally ill in the South. It details some of the mental processes and not-so-talked-about aspects of having an identity contradictory to everything you're taught to be "normal" as a child, and how being told that you aren't normal can affect a person. Something in the Woods includes lyric essays and bizarre concepts for short stories that hit on these strange aspects.

My Opinion (no spoilers)

    This book is simply spectacular. I adored every page written, every chapter, essay, or short story provided. It’s an extremely short read (I read it in a couple hours) but it’s also very eye-opening and a refreshing glance at how society treats queer people. I would most definitely recommend this if you want a new glance at gender and sexuality, or if you’re simply exploring the topic!

My Opinion (spoilers!)

           Warning: Major spoilers abound! Please proceed at your own risk!

    So let's begin. This book was short! However, every single page was bursting with beautiful short stories and spectacular, jaw-dropping lyrical essays. I personally really enjoyed the recurring themes of acceptance. It helped connect all of the chapters together, making me feel as if I’d just watched one of those movies that are told through multiple different perspectives. There was one chapter referring to feeling disconnected from one’s human form, and I thought it was a lovely connection between feeling disconnected from gender and humanity in general, as it added something new to the table I haven’t seen before. There was another chapter where the author discusses facts about crows, and it was very informative! Overall, I would definitely read this book once again.

Character Development

As there are some short stories with characters, I will be discussing character development. The many different characters were all equally balanced and each story featured a queer character (a non-binary person, etc). I think that each of the stories showed a different prospect of the author’s story, and the characters were well-crafted for each story, expertly delivering the main point of each story.

Plot

Again, as there are stories in this novel, I am going to be discussing the plot. I really enjoyed the many different concepts each story touched on— being hidden away and feeling unnatural in their world. I think the way that the plot was given to the reader with exposition made the text sound more informational but fit with the rest of the author’s style.

Information Given

There were a plethora of fascinating facts about crows, which matched the author’s name. The author also provided sources to match the facts and give credit where credit is due. I think that including the true facts about crows was nice because it gave a sense of otherness to the reader, helping the reader step into the writer’s shoes and understand what the writer is going through a little better.

Description/Explanation/Worldbuilding

    The author's writing style is poetic, expositional, and flowery, almost like a wave. Therefore, the description matched that. A lot of description and context was provided, especially for the short stories, which helps the reader understand the story better. I also really appreciated the way the author often included their own opinion and showed their thoughts rather than telling me what was going through their brain.

Conclusion

Overall, this is an absolutely wonderful read. I bought this book thinking I would read it and forget about it, but over the week I’ve spent writing this post, I’ve referenced it numerous times to my friends who read similar content! It’s simply spectacular and definitely underrated— which is why I’m glad I found it! I recommend this book to anyone who's looking to explore the idea of gender identity, be it for self-discovery or just information on a rather interesting topic. It's amazing!