You had me at Persephone and Demeter! Ancient mythology is my jam, so Fruit of the Dead sparked my interest immediately and I requested the ARC to see a new spin on the classic tale.
Lyon’s detail and world building is intricate, which I really love. There are many references to pop culture, and detailed descriptions that don’t feel too over the top. It all works together to paint a beautiful picture, with echoes of the classic story brought around into a modern setting.
I went through a range of feelings as I was reading Fruit of the Dead. To begin with I didn’t like it. Despite the wonderful imagery I found it painfully slow-going, with Cory’s chapters feeling unnecessarily longwinded and leaving me questioning if I could wade through them. Beautiful as it was, plot-wise it was just really slow and I was wondering when/whether anything would kick in. By the time I was about a third of the way in I was considering my first DNF of the year because it felt like a laborious read, but the book really turned a corner and became much more interesting from about the halfway point.
As an 18-year-old Cory is written as being somewhat petulant and angsty, which did get tiring for me in places. I think that speaks more to my lack of patience for pouting teens though, rather than in a way that’s negative towards the book. In contrast Emer’s chapters were faster paced and served to drive the story along from point to point, and I found myself enjoying these parts more. More happened, more was linked together, there was more pace and I found Emer's viewpoint more interesting than Cory's.
Switching viewpoints happened as each chapter changed. Alternating between first person Emer and third person Cory was an interesting take; observation vs internal storytelling can lead to uncertainty over the reliability of the narrative, so it lent Fruit of the Dead a kind of feeling that you perhaps couldn’t fully trust the reality in either scenario.
The one full downside for me was Lyon’s choice to not include speech marks throughout Fruit of the Dead. It took a lot away for me at the start of the book, various points throughout felt jarring without them, and in places where there were four or five people all talking at once it felt particularly confusing. I’m unsure why the decision was made to omit them, but I feel like we may need to start a Save Our Speech Marks movement in the not-too-distant future.
Overall I came to enjoy Fruit of the Dead. I’m glad I persevered and I did like the story. I really enjoyed the way it was written; Lyon’s descriptions and the her weaving of worlds was right up my alley. I don’t think it’s the best redo of a classic story, but it’s definitely not the worst, and if you’re not overly bothered by that classical link then Fruit of the Dead is a great standalone novel in its own right.
Rating: ✨✨✨
Fruit of the Dead is available on March 28th, and I’d like to extend many great thanks to Scribner UK and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book in advance of publication.
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