The Girl in the Road

by Monica Byrne

[empressbrooke]

I received a copy of this book from LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program. Unfortunately, I'm totally at a loss to come up with anything intelligent to say about it. It's complex and layered and I'm not even sure which genre it falls under - sci-fi for sure, with some magical realism thrown into this futuristic world?

It reminds me of [b:The Drowning Girl|11515328|The Drowning Girl|Caitlín R. Kiernan|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1404243835s/11515328.jpg|16451704] in some ways with its narrators whose mental illness make them unreliable storytellers, compelling, and ultimately tragic (it's never stated outright, but both women in this book appear to be experiencing bipolar disorder).

I think this book is going to blow up next awards season and become the next [b:Ancillary Justice|17333324|Ancillary Justice (Imperial Radch, #1)|Ann Leckie|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1397215917s/17333324.jpg|24064628] or aforementioned Drowning Girl. I was totally enthralled with the journeys both of the main characters went on, and every time I thought I'd predicted what was coming, the author threw another curve-ball.