I know authors don't owe me anything, but I would really have liked a trigger warning or ten. This book is really, really full of rape scenes. About half the book, maybe more, is dedicated to the details of sexual abuse plus some random other abuse.
I respect that C. J. Cooke is trying something with memory and trauma. I don’t think it works, but she is making an effort and see the outline of what might be—though I also only see it in retrospect from reading her note at the end, so there we are. It’s a big attempt, so credit to her for trying something this complex
However; I have problems. The first part comes from the marketing. I was aware that the description indicated the possibility of rape, or rape threats, but I was hoping for none and definitely not expecting the amount. Also, I was expecting that there would be something else, something interesting involved. The description says that in 1901 Nicky finds herself on the Orman with "the crew – and they’re all owed something only she can give them..." This implies that she has some skill or gift, supernatural or otherwise, that would be of use to them.
This is not true. They want her for sex. And abuse, and abusive sex.
The amount of rape does not improve the novel: the events that follow could have followed without the detail. In fact, leaving out the descriptions would have left room for some meaningful character development.
The other half of the story takes place over a hundred years later. Dom arrived in the Arctic to explore the wreck of the Orman before it is destroyed. She’s something of a ruin-lover and is hoping to gain followers online from her films and photos. Shortly after arriving, she is surprised by the additional arrival of three other explorers who enthusiastically join in her online plans and work to extend it further. But: The land is harsh and dark, and there are a mysterious appearing and disappearing woman, sleepwalking, and bad dreams to confront.
And then, the explanation is given—and it is clever--everything is solved, and it ends.
The book was also marketed as Gothic, and I’m not sure it really is—I don’t have a firm definition, so I’m not going to argue too hard, but it didn’t give the subtle, creepy vibe that I associate with gothics, and it doesn't pick up on any of the complex place-and-family type themes I think belong there.
I have serious problems with overall plot points as well. This is spoiler territory.
Twist one: Nicky learns she is on the ship because her father gave her to the crew in lieu of monetary payment.
I don’t believe it. If the crew was willing to quit over not having money, the offer of a sex slave would not resolve the issue. A sex slave does not feed the family, buy clothes, or pay the rent. One or two of them might have taken the deal out of a desire for revenge, but the rest? Nope. Also, they mention with some degree of frequency that it is bad luck to have a woman on board. So—no money, some sex, bad luck? It doesn’t add up.
Twist two: The present day, haunted poeple are all ghosts! Dom is Nicky! This is clever, but—BUT. Dominique/Dom/Nicky is from 1901. She’s spent the intervening years being a vengeful spirit running on impulse and/or enacting strange camping scenes with her three ghostly companions. Where, when, and how does she learn all about the internet, likes, follows, solar batteries, cameras, drones and all the other paraphernalia necessary for the “urban explorer/camping” scenarios? The scenes are from her POV, and it's not presented as the oddly-glossed scenario created by someone who hasn't lived with these things. Also, Dom as a character makes no sense. Nothing, and I mean nothing, about Nicky indicates that the Dom persona is something she would create/become. The teeny bit of personality we see before she becomes a traumatized victim is that of a home-maker, someone grieving her daughter and missing her husband, not an adventurer in any sense.
Her three other companions are ghosts she has trapped into a recurring loop with her. Why? How? Why those three? One turns out to be the ghost of a sailor who was mildly nice to/at least didn’t rape her, and was not killed by her. The other two are from the Orman’s brief stint as a research vessel, well after Nicky’s death, killed in one of her vengeful phases. They were not anything to her in life. There is nothing to indicate that their personalities (such as they are), professions, or anything else actually links them to Dominique any more than anyone else she’s killed would be linked to her. So—why them?
They are aware of their plight and aware that they have lived through two hundred some iterations of meeting and spending time with her doing—something? Camping, apparently, most of the time. This time around, they manage to convince her that she is the one causing the scenario, she apologizes for killing the two innocent bystanders plus, the story ends and everyone heads off to the afterlife escorted by their best beloveds.
Ok—so they’ve been through this two hundred plus times. What makes this time different? Dom doesn’t get particularly close to any of them, doesn’t really seem to have more than a cautiously friendly feeling toward them. While they do work at being nice, they also display an underlying tension and hostility toward her (they blame her for their inability to die properly). Also, I suppose camping in the Arctic might get dull after a bit, even if the food is good
No dramatic development of character, friendship, or event seems to warrant Dominique’s sudden awareness of the situation, willingness to unite with her Nicky-half (who is the ghost she’s been seeing--and are the Nicky half and the Dom half regularly divided? I don't know. The plot is vague.) and ability to end it all graciously. Things just—end.
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