If you’re in search of the perfect Sapphic read for spooky season, look no further. Someone You Can Build A Nest In by John Wiswell (he/him) is equal parts gruesome, heartwarming, and hilarious. It’s been on my TBR for the past year, and my only regret after reading it is that I didn’t pick it up sooner.
Someone You Can Build A Nest In is about Shesheshen, a shapeshifter living in the bowels of rundown manor outside of Overlook. When necessary, Shesheshen uses everything from human and animal to remains to metal chains and bear traps to transform from an amorphous blob to a semblance of a human within minutes. That typically fools unsuspecting humans long enough for Shesheshen to make them her next meal.
At the outset of the novel, Shesheshen has a near-death experience. To her surprise, she awakens to find that not only is she alive, but she is being taken care of by a human woman named Homily. Shesheshen is suspicious of Homily’s motivations, but soon finds that her warmth is genuine and her intentions are pure. As Shesheshen and Homily start to spend more time together, Shesheshen begins to feel a longing she has never experienced before. Although Shesheshen believes Homily would make the perfect co-parent/nest for her eggs, that would be a death sentence for Homily, as their young would devour her from the inside out. While Shesheshen is pondering this moral dilemma, another presents itself: Homily is hunting a shapeshifting monster who has supposedly cursed her family. As far as Shesheshen knows, she’s the only one of her kind and she didn’t curse anyone. In order for her and Homily’s newfound love to have a fighting chance, she must get to the bottom of the supposed curse while disguising her true identity and navigating Homily’s dysfunctional family dynamics.
I can’t say enough how much I enjoyed this book. To begin, I love the refreshingly unique concept. Wiswell’s development of all the characters, but particularly Shesheshen, was masterful. Simply put, he made it easy for me empathize with a murderous, shapeshifting monster. Shesheshen’s frank observations about the peculiarities of humans made me laugh out loud so many times. Wiswell expertly balanced those moments of levity with some of Shesheshen’s more tender reflections as she grew to appreciate and value Homily, and ultimately to see her as a life partner.
I also really appreciated the pacing of the story. The novel was broken down into eight parts, all of which flowed seamlessly and kept me engaged. While there were several twists and turns that I didn’t see coming, there were some aspects of the story that I predicted. However, they didn’t take away from my enjoyment. As I neared the end of the book, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Wiswell didn’t end the story abruptly after the main conflict of the novel was resolved. Instead, he used the eighth and final part of the book to reveal what happened with each of the characters thereafter. As a reader who was really invested in the novel, it felt like a gift.
I love this book so much that I will probably recommend it to anyone who will listen, with the exception of those who truly cannot stomach depictions of eating people (pun intended) or gratuitous gore.
Wiswell is a disabled author who lives in New York. He has won a Nebula and Locus Award, and been a finalist for the Hugo, World Fantasy, and British Fantasy Awards. He published his second novel, Wearing the Lion, this past summer. You can find him on Instagram @john_wiswell or at http://johnwiswell.blogspot.com/.
Trigger warnings for murder, mental and physical abuse, violence, eating humans, gore, and homophobia.
Raquel R. Rivera (she/her/ella) is a Latina lawyer and lady lover from New Jersey. She is in a lifelong love affair with books and earned countless free personal pan pizzas from the Pizza Hut BOOK IT! program as a kid to prove it.
