Book Review: The Murders of Molly Southbourne by Tade Thompson

Pros: interesting premise, compelling protagonist

Cons:

Every time Molly Southbourne bleeds, she creates doppelgangers that try to kill her.

The novella takes this fascinating premise and explains how Molly grew up, how her parents taught her to kill her doppelgangers, and how she survives into adulthood. It’s a weird and horrifying story that’s hard to look away from.

Molly goes through a series of emotional ups and downs as she grows, finally becoming mostly emotionless as an adult as the reality of constantly fighting herself takes its toll. The stages she goes through, of rebellion and trauma, fit her circumstances and make her compelling even if it’s hard to see yourself in her place.

The book is the perfect length to tell her story. There’s enough detail to give it weight and the ending is punchy. I’m curious where the sequel takes the story.