Finished: 25/5/25
In the first 100-ish pages, Edenville seems like some very cheesy horror novel about a couple getting themselves into something obviously dangerous. But with the introduction of Jopp Yennigen at the top of the serpent's spine of the many-worlds, it became clear that this book wasn't going to be "cheesy." I do really enjoy books that are darker and ethereal like that. -Where you don't really understand what you're reading, but you know that it's important to the story so you just take in as much as you can.
I did enjoy following along with Jopp Yennigen's arch, he was a great villain because of how sympathetic you become to his cause and mindset of "fuck all of this, I'm just going to have as much fun as I can." He's stuck in this endless time loop always being tasked with finishing something that has no end while being hailed as a savior but treated like a slave. I think his view on life and living is enviable at times: how it's all just this game that you get to enjoy. Although, since he's the villain, he takes it a couple steps too far and becomes very careless and crass; but again, he's understandably careless and crass, it's the degree of it that makes him evil.
The writing style in this book was a very interesting change to see. Everyone, especially Quinn, had a really modern way of talking and thinking and there was a emphasis on intonation just by spelling. How people spoke was like how people text these days. A time that this really stood out to me was Quinn's exaggerated "hi" when she met some of Cam's new coworkers, she said, "Hiiii." It's very modern and text message-esque where the tone is overly indicated. There's also a time where Quinn is trapped under Edenville with all the old bug-women. She's scared and genuinely thinks she's going to die a couple times, but she's still snarky and making puns, even in her head or just to herself.
The thing is, these modern stylistic choices didn't even hit me when I was first reading them, it was only when I thought about them afterwards did I realize how different they are from other books. As someone who is younger, around younger people, and online a lot, it's a very accurate portrayal of someone around my age, which Quinn is. I feel like many more books now, or in the near future, are going to go through these similar stylistic changes because of how accurate it is to how younger people talk, write and interact with the world.
Next, about body horror in book form. -This is something I've still been thinking about every now and again even though I finished the book months ago. The description of the body horror in Edenville was so well done that I was cringing at my own imagination, which is crazy! I don't think I've read any other piece of media that's quite like that. I have been having a hard time understanding how that works, or what makes the body horror text so "visible," and I can't come up with a good explanation. Maybe through other books in the future, I'll be able to come up with some tangible?
Something I've brought up in other reports is that horror books seem to lack a "deeper meaning." Edenville is not an exception to this. Like I've said before, books having a "deeper meaning" or an "important message" is not an necessity, and I think trying to force that on a horror book would just make it seem more like an old fable, -which was not the intention of this book. The lasting effect this story has had on me is what I've already touched on: the style, not the contents of what's covered in the story. Personally, I think it's fine if some books lack that "deeper meaning," but my favorite literature will always contain a sort of messaging that I'll be able to think about again and again.
Something I really enjoyed about Edenville was Quinn and Cam's failing relationship, which is an odd thing to like. I see this trope a lot in horror, where the main characters have a very broken relationship or disjointed family, and I think that's the easiest situation where horrible things can play out. If Quinn and Cam really cared for each other, and told each other everything, and really talked about their feelings and wants like couples should, there would be no story. I think this trope is really easy to see in the movie Hereditary directed by Ari Aster (I've watched this movie twice and had to sleep with the lamp on afterwards both times). The entire family doesn't talk to each other or look out for each other, they are all on their own different journeys that only come together at the climax when all the bad things happen at once.
Also in Quinn and Cam's relationship, I liked how they never "fell back in love." That would've been very male gaze-y and unrealistic in my opinion. Quinn, towards the end, is the one who ends things, she's the one who's given enough agency to make that choice with very tangible reasons, her decisions never come out of the blue. I don't think there was a plausible way for their relationship to be fixed and for them to forgive each other. Like the stylistic language change, this seemed very modern and believable.
In the last little bit of my report here, I want to talk about how Edenville leaked into my dreams! In the story, dreams are pretty important, so it was fun to have that experience along with reading the book. There's this character towards the end of the book, Clarice, who doesn't have eyes anymore because they got drilled into to extract the spinal fluid of the many-worlds. -It's a super scary visual, but she becomes pretty important to the story so I had been imagining her a lot. Anyways, I girl I know in real life who looks like what I imagined Clarice to look like; in my dream, I was in my old elementary school's art room with the girl I know in real life. I was talking to her about something and I realized that she didn't have eyes! I wouldn't necessary call it a nightmare, more just a disturbing dream, but it was still scary.
Finally, I hope that Sam Rebelein expands on this universe a little. I don't think Jopp Yennigen's story is done, his death isn't definitive in the end so I have to assume he's still out there somewhere. Anyways, thank you for reading!
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