No, I guess not.” I stared at the table, feeling a little stunned. And deeply touched. None of my previous boyfriends had ever done anything like this. Not even my family had thrown me a big party like this for my birthdays, not since I’d turned ten. Part of me was thrilled, but another part awkwardly wondered if all this was really for me or if I’d suddenly crossed over into the life of some other, more fortunate woman. “Wow, you went all out.”

A remarkable story set after the planet has a disastrous virus tear across the globe, transforming its victims in nightmarish ways. As the world collapses, dark forces pull a small group of women together. Thoughts: This was an incredibly weird and demented collection of three interconnected novellas that I ended up really enjoying. Snyder always comes up with some crazy stuff and doesn't shy away from the gory details. I really enjoyed her Jessie Shimmer series and continue to enjoy her writing here as well. Lucy Snyder has successfully written a novel riddled with body horror, erotica, and repulsion. Snyder has stitched together the darkest most disturbing thoughts a person might have, religious doomsday prophecies as well as left over anxieties related to covid-19. Within this novel, Snyder doesn’t just ask the question “what if…?” when it comes to the end of the world… she answers it, in the most horrific possible way. Rather like Covid- 19 and its origins – species-hopping virus, or laboratory accident, there are no real answers about why this has happened, which adds to the feelings of disquiet and unease, combined with wild internet theories and religious fervour, but Synder makes good use of existing science to come up with something that almost sounds plausible in how this virus works. Lucy Snyder is a five-time Bram Stoker award winning writer, whose new novel Sister, Maiden, Monster is a no holds barred look at how women are affected by a pandemic that is bigger, worse and more eldritch than anything the world has ever imagined. You’d be forgiven for thinking this was a zombie novel at the start, when Erin is told she has to live off brains, not be in crowds, and not have any close relationships with anyone. But this is not a zombie novel. It would be simpler if it were, but Snyder veers wildly into otherworldly territories, wild even as compared to an all out limbs flying, blood spraying, everyone dying zombie apocalypse.This is also potentially one of the goriest books I’ve read lately, and I do tend to read a lot of cosmic/body horror, so beware of that! However, I really enjoyed these elements as they played out with the plot, and overall, just generally appreciated how striking and visceral the storytelling here was and how skillfully the author utilized uncanny genre elements to create a story I’m unlikely to forget any time soon. The author’s absolute talent in conveying desire, hunger, and lust in a horror setting, especially with queer characters in a way that isn’t often showcased with specifically lesbian or bi women, was amazing and perhaps one of my favorite elements. With Sister, Maiden, Monster, we see that there’s not only beauty in the abyss, but equal doses terror and wonder. ” My only other qualm with this book [ SPOILERS AHEAD] was that it fell prey to the "woman is a vessel for giving birth as a body horror element" trope, which I generally cannot stand. The context here was slightly different because it was written by a woman and is clearly a feminist work in many other ways, and the character does actually partially subvert this fate in the end, but I still hate to see it. A] horror story of cosmic proportions, a smart deconstruction of pandemic mayhem, and a timely narrative that delves deep into what happens when we collectively face something new, dangerous, and scary, Sister, Maiden, Monster is a mosaic novel that shows a five-time Bram Stoker Award-winning author at the top of her game....Synder is a keen observer, a sharp chronicler, and a great storyteller, and all of that is evident in this book.” — Locus Holy cannoli, I don't know what I was expecting when I opened this book, but I was in for a WILD ride. SISTER, MAIDEN, MONSTER is a post-pandemic, apocalyptic, eldritch horror festival of a book. Think COVID but way... way... WAY... worse. The body horror and slow, creeping sense of your own physical self slowly turning against you is mesmerizing in the best and worst ways possible.

I blamed my exhaustion on stress and anxiety. Last week, the world had gotten the worst Valentine’s Day present ever: a new pandemic called PVG. Polymorphic viral gastroencephalitis. It had popped up in London, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Toronto, Honolulu, Los Angeles, Seattle, New York City, and Mexico City at roughly the same time, which made finding Patient Zero (if he or she existed) a challenge. Nobody knew yet where it had come from, exactly how it spread, or what it was likely to do in the long run. All anyone knew for sure was that it was landing people in the hospital with scary symptoms.Sensuous, sinister, and sinewy; a blood-and-brains splattered shotgun-blast romp through the apocalypse that will simultaneously excite and disgust readers with equal pleasure.” — Philip Fracassi, author of Boys in the Valley Award-winning horror writer Lucy A. Snyder unleashes "Sister, Maiden, Monster" onto readers with great aplomb. Folks who prefer their fiction without any plagues or pandemics may want to steer clear of this novel, and even though I myself am in the camp that prefers not to read about pandemics, Snyder's writing and storytelling are magnificent, so I made an exception. The novel begins with a pandemic--not Covid-19, but something called PVG, or Polymorphic viral gastroencephalities. It has spread all over the world at roughly the same time in major cities, and the medical powers-that-be aren't sure about a Patient Zero, if one exists. PVG has also emerged after the previous 'coronavirus years,' so the landscape imagined here includes a world in which something worse comes after our current pandemic. The protagonist, Erin, and her boyfriend Gregory, are celebrating their anniversary a bit early. She becomes extremely ill not long after, and things take a turn for the worse.

Timely, sharp, sexy, and gory…this might just be Snyder’s best, and that’s saying a lot.” — Gabino Iglesias, author of The Devil Takes You Home

Snyder’s story follows three infected women; each is given a unique voice and perspective thanks to the vocal talents of Arielle DeLisle, Katherine Littrell, and Lindsey Dorcus."― Library Journal Upon starting Sister Maiden Monster I knew very little about the plot and loved how everything started so normally before the brutal escalation. Erin was looking forward to getting married and instead ends up in hospital after contracting the virus and is then given a new set of rules for living which forbids her from mixing with others, having sex, or going out in crowds (just for a start). The scene when she wakes up strapped to a bed, but has no idea why, was outstanding. Finding herself now attracted to women and seeking out others who have the virus she has a transformation and has perhaps the biggest section of the book, which also cleverly drops into the narratives of the other two women. This is viciously twisted and gory, and at times you will think, "Did I really just read that?" It is also incredibly creative and intriguing since Snyder delves into depths of depravity that most authors wouldn't be comfortable delving in to. I love it for its uniqueness and just how much fun it ends up being to read. I continued: “It looks like most of the other companies on the West Side have already shifted to work from home.”

We can call it cosmic horror and write off some things as a spiritual fervour or eldritch ekstasis, which may make some of the say, particularly gnarly pleasure Savannah has from committing gruesome crimes a tiny bit more palatable, but the brutal truth is (and there is a lot of brutality here), Snyder isn’t going for palatable. Sister, Maiden, Monster is meant to evoke just the most visceral, violent, physical kind of existential dread that reminds you again and again that the world really is ending, we have no control over any of it, and unless some ancient gods in a benevolent mood happen upon some of us, it’s going to be game over for humanity in the most nightmarish of ways. This unflinching puzzlebox of a book leads an unrelenting narrative to its devastating conclusion in beautiful, near-seamless form. Every corner is illuminated, and the things the light reveals are more disturbing than they seemed when still unseen. Absolutely recommend for readers of the grim, the gloriously horrific, and the cosmic.” A Type Two means that if you were given daily supplements of vitamins and survived the initial severe onset of the virus, you could survive on fresh human blood, so you would become a vampire. Or you could drink fresh animal blood, or pasteurized. However, Type Threes are those who need to eat, as the author describes, "a nice fresh bowl of raw brains." Erin is a Type Three. Because of this, she is also far more prone to violent psychotic episodes if she doesn't regularly get raw brain material to eat. If you survive PVG, you could end up suffering from a ‘deficiency,’ leading to you needing ‘supplements.’ You could also remain infectious, even if your symptoms of the disease have faded. If you are unfortunate enough to require ‘supplements,’ you might be required to consume human blood… or worse still, brains. A deadly pandemic. Lovecraftian gods. Graphic sex and violent gore. Sister, Maiden, Monster is an apocalyptic tale of cosmic horror unfolding in the middle of an outbreak of PVG, or polymorphic viral gastroencephalitis. Told in three parts, it follows the lives of a trio of women who each take on the title roles in their own unique way.

Advance Reviews

A hideously gory, kink-fueled, feminist cosmic horror apocalypse novel that should be on the top of everyone’s reading list.” — Christopher Golden, New York Times bestselling author of Ararat and Road of Bones A virus tears across the globe, transforming its victims in nightmarish ways. As the world collapses, dark forces drive a small group of women together.