I wished my body didn’t feel like a grave, with some secrets slowly excavated but many more still buried out of sight.

— Wrath Becomes Her, Aden Polydoros

I was the daughter of two dozen different scribes and a murdered girl. I was the daughter of the Vokė River.

wrath becomes her by aden polydoros

Rating: 5/5

Book Blurb: "Haunting, exhilarating, and a howl of vengeance." —Andrew Joseph White, New York Times bestselling author of Hell Followed With UsFrankenstein meets Inglourious Basterds in this stunning Jewish historical horror novel from the award-winning author of The City Beautiful

Vera was made for vengeance.

Lithuania, 1943. A father drowns in the all-consuming grief of a daughter killed by the Nazis. He can’t bring Chaya back from the dead, but he can use kishuf — an ancient and profane magic — to create a golem in her image. A Nazi killer, to avenge her death.

When Vera awakens, she can feel her violent purpose thrumming within her. But she can also feel glimpses of a human life lived, of stolen kisses amidst the tragedy, and of a grisly death. And when she meets Akiva, she recognizes the boy with soft lips that gave warm kisses. But these memories aren’t hers, and Vera doesn’t know if she gets—or deserves—to have a life beyond what she was made for.

Vera’s strength feels limitless—until she learns that there are others who would channel kishuf for means far less noble than avenging a daughter’s death. As she confronts the very basest of humanity, Vera will need more than what her creator gave her: Not just a reason to fight, but a reason to live. 

Review:

Frankenstein meets Inglorious Basterds in this Jewish historical horror story about a grieving father who's daughter is killed by Nazis, and thus he creates a Gollum using ancient magic.... and human body parts in the image of his daughter to have the golem become a Nazi killer and avenge his daughter's death. Vera wakes up in a world she doesn't know but the only thing anchoring her is the violent purpose thrumming in her. She is made of clay, human parts, and magic... and her only purpose is to get revenge for Ezra, the father of Chaya... Ezra made Vera from Chaya's dead body after she was murdered and he wants Vera to avenge Chaya... yet Vera is beginning to get bits and pieces of Chaya's own memories and feelings, making her question who she is and what part of her is truly her? Vera is a gollum yet she is beginning to feel things, to have her own thoughts, and yet she'll have to navigate revenge, war, and the memories of a girl who is gone. This is a fantastic mixture of Frankenstein with historical horror and Inglorious Basterds. I was absolutely captivated by this book. Vera's struggles with finding her own autonomy and her own place in this world was so well done and the question of what makes a monster really a monster and the struggle of understanding humanity was so well drawn out. This is a fantastic read and I would highly recommend it!

*Thanks Netgalley and Inkyard Press for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Wrath Becomes Her review

4/5 stars Recommended if you like: historical fantasy, Jewish folklore, revenge plotlines

This book held so much potential and while it was enjoyable it also fell kind of flat for me. The main problems I had were that the plot kind of felt like it drifted along from beginning to end without really a main 'push' at any point and that it still felt like we didn't really know Vera by the end of the book. When a character grapples with their identity and who they are and what it means to be human (or not), you want to really be able to sink your teeth into that and walk away feeling confident that the character knows who they are. Unfortunately, in this book I think Vera was still kind of wishy-washy at the end of the book. Finding purpose is not the same as finding self.

Related to that is the fact I feel we don't really get to know any of the other characters very well either. Chaya's father isn't really in it for too long, Akiva is in most of the book but there's a distance between both him and Vera and him and the reader, and then other characters that pop in and out and don't really have much of a chance to develop. I do feel like I got a good grip on Miriam though, which is kind of odd since she really wasn't in most of the book.

Vera starts right off the bat as an interesting character. She is a golem made with forbidden magic in the image of her creator's dead daughter, Chaya. He built her with emotions so that she could feel the rage and grief Jews were experiencing at the hands of Nazis and be able to exact meaningful revenge. I thought her exploring what it means to be golem vs. human was interesting and I really enjoyed how she had a connection with the scribes of the past, Chaya and Ezra, and the river she came from. I definitively would've liked to explore more of her inner world and see more of her coming into herself. I actually thought Vera was plenty emotional, but I definitely would've liked to see more of it, more of everything re: Vera, actually. I think Polydoros had some really interesting themes and questions going and I liked seeing Vera figure stuff out about herself and the world, but I think that needed to be a bigger focus of the book, and maybe the book even needed to be longer, so that Vera felt more like a well-rounded and developed character by the end.

Akiva was Chaya's lover and is still reeling from the pain of her loss, as well as all the other losses he's suffered since the Nazis invaded Lithuania. He definitely had rage in abundance. I did at times feel like I felt Akiva's emotions more than I felt Vera's and it was somewhat of an odd juxtaposition between someone who said they were rageful and someone who actually is. While on the one hand I can understand that Akiva's trajectory and everything he does in the book is inevitable considering his past....I also kind of felt weird about how he ends the book.

The plot, as mentioned, is a bit drifty up until the very end, which made it feel kind of disconnected from the rest of the book. It's obvious from the beginning that that's where the book is going, there's no other option except for Vera to facedown some Nazis in a big showdown, but at the same time, so little of what happens feels active that it almost felt like a different book. I would've liked to see more partisan action leading up to the ending, and honestly probably more action at the end too. There's a good action scene or two in there, but considering the themes of vengeance and rage, I would've liked to see more.

In all, I think this is an enjoyable book that grapples with questions of human vs. non-human monstrosity as well as what revenge can look like when everything's been taken from you. I did like the characters but felt like there was some emotional distance between them and me that I would've preferred not be there.

The emotions in this book. This is a unique take on the vengeance of a father who lost his daughter in WWII. He creates a Golem, Vera, who, while containing some of the daughters' real memories and feelings, is still a tool used to kill the Nazis responsible for her death.

This shook me! The emotions, the fear and anger that absolutely defines this era, this war. I adored the lyrical and beautiful writing that made the pain of this story so real. I think this is such an interesting take on a topic that will always, and should, stay in our minds as being a part of history we must never repeat.

Out October 10, 2023!

Thank you, Netgalley and Publisher, for this Arc!

Wrath Becomes Her

Wrath Becomes Her by Aden Polydoros

this book really whetted and renewed my appetite for stories about golems. what rich possibility and history and lore they present!! and Polydoros digs into some of that, in ways i found satisfying for this particular narrative and in ways that made me want more on the topic generally.

we've got Vera, waking up and learning what it's like, and what it means, to be human and to be not-human; we've got her "father," who created her in the image of his dead daughter Chaya; we've got Akiva, who Vera remembers fondly through Chaya's memories. and we've got so many Nazis to fight, because it's Lithuania in 1943, plus an exciting surprise enemy toward the end of the book that i won't spoil. there's a lot going on, and a lot of it is frightening and awful--rightfully so, in a book happening during the Holocaust.

but my favorite parts were the quieter moments: Vera trying to sort out her own personhood from Chaya's memories, Vera and Akiva's strange and intense relationship, the people and situations they encounter along their journey that bring into question what humanity is, and what makes a monster, and what difference individual choices and efforts can make. all of this was handled with gravity, but lightly--never too bogged down, just prompting some questions and suggesting some answers in a way that felt particularly resonant coming from a trans author (and somehow also quietly spoke just to me about being non-religious, only half Jewish, and having a facial scar)

and that ending!!!!!!! just as heartwrenching and complicated as the whole book was, but condensed into a juicy nugget of pain and hope.

the deets

how i read it: an e-galley from NetGalley, yet again. i'm adding this one to my "to buy" list, i want to have it on the shelf!

try this if you: are into Jewish folklore, dig Holocaust stories in which at least a bit of vengeance is gotten, like sad and messy endings, or go wild for stories that question and examine selfhood and human nature. (also if you were an FMA fan and were, like me, into the Conqueror of Shamballa movie in spite of its problems? this book is only vaguely connected subject-matter-wise but gives me the same vibe somehow)

maybe skip this if you: need to avoid Holocaust stories. i mean i guess that's obvious, and this one is not super duper graphic, but you know.

some lines i really liked:

I emerged from the grove with the man's blood sticky and still warm on my hands, feeling strangely distanced, as though a vital sense was missing from me. It was the feeling of being set out to dry on old vellum, unable to move, no eyes or mouth or ears yet. And yet aware. And alive.

---

There were people everywhere, some resting on mattresses set up in the halls or just piles of blankets and pillows. They seemed less like people than like a scribe's recollection of people he--I--had once known. Ghosts becoming.

---

Stranger still that I should feel at home here, even though I had never walked these cobblestone streets in my own life. But in many ways, it was like touching the calligraphy on my wrists. Vilna was a part of me. It was sunken deep below my surface.

pub date: October 10, 2023!

Title: Wrath Becomes Her | Author: Aden Polydoros | Publisher: Inkyard Press (2023)

- Wrath Becomes Her

Review of Wrath Becomes Her—Gothic Golems

“I am retribution!” is the battle cry of Vera the golem in Aden Polydoros’s brilliant new young adult novel Wrath Becomes Her, which comes out tomorrow, October 10. I’ve been impressed with Polydoros’s ability to seamlessly blend Jewish culture and folklore with the Gothic ever since reading his debut, The City Beautiful, a couple of years ago. But he takes this to a whole new level in Wrath…

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Purposeful Persistence

#BOOKREVIEW - Purposeful Persistence - #WrathBecomesHer #blog

Crafted to exact vengeance and with a driving purpose to avenge the death of a daughter, a golem carries more than rage and will need to find a way to cope with an unexpected a range of emotional considerations in Wrath Becomes Her by Aden Polydoros. As a golem, Vera has been created through clay, kishuf, and parts of the dead daughter, Chaya, that Vera’s creator mourns, infusing her with a…

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just finished the poppy war trilogy what the FUCK WAS THATTTT

In terms of Wenclair nicknames, I believe in ‘Enid using Willa’ supremacy and φεγγάρι μου (‘my moon’ in Greek) is especially beloved to me, but I also love little shit Enid who calls Wednesday any day of the week EXCEPT Wednesday (“Hey, Monday!” “What do you think about this Sabbath?” “Oh thank god you’re here Friday”) and it annoys her favorite murder goth to NO END but slowly said murder goth becomes endeared by her roomate’s antics as feelings start to tumble and bloom away. Besides ‘my moon’, I can also see her calling Wednesday ‘silly raven’ in Greek.

Meanwhile, Wednesday has this wholeass evolution from shit like “mutt” to way softer nicknames because Gomezifcation™️ is a powerful thing. She starts to pine and internally call Enid her Alectrona (a greek goddness of the Sun, known for sunrise or ‘waking from slumber’, a perfect combo of how Enid brings light to Wednesday as well as her inner wolf finally waking up), but slowly she starts using it out loud along with “mi sol” (‘my sun’, Spanish), “mon petit chiot” (‘my little pup’, French), and “la mia vita” (‘my life’, Italian). Enid melts everytime without fail and stutters in Greek and honestly? Who could blame her when Wednesday has that passionately lovestruck shine in her eyes as adoration drips from devout lips.

Fishcake, Meatball, and Beefbun might not have been the most expected names a Hellknight would name their cats... much less them having a softspot for such chaotic creatures in the first place...!

[Comm from Reparatus !]

why are you doing all of this ? - also from lilith, for the revengeful wrath verse. c: hello!

⁽ @gctchell ⁾ ― ： meme. from here .

E . ― IT WAS ALMOST LAUGHABLE HOW A SIMPLE QUESTION COULD INVOKE SUCH FESTERING EMBERS. as if she didn't know, as if she wasn't a direct cause towards her own undoing. eve could barely settle her expression from morphing to portray those inner feelings. no. she was better than that. BLACKENED eyes stared down at the once proud figure- the ( first woman ) hellish queen that stepped the line of being pitiful &. pathetic. " you're ignorance knows no bounds, lilith. "

her voice betrays her expression. a disgust leaking from the tone as chains rattled and looped- tendrils of blacken threads tightened their VICIOUS hold. it kept the powerful monarch from resistance. it kept eve in control. just they way she liked it. the way it should ALWAYS be, of all people within this wretched world ... she deserved it the most. had she not suffered for CENTURIES- ? watching the consequences that clung to her sins. the constant belittle within the time of history. everything heaving on her shoulders- had she not earned this right alone to finally get what she d e s e r v e s? it was long overdue ... and simply enough ... lilith was simply a key in this all. eve would bend- fingers hooking underneath the sharp chin of the elder woman, eyes blazing as they locked together, " but that's not you're fault ... my true HATRED doesn't lie with you ... but unfortunately for you- you married a man that ruined me. " a otherworldly being who's words brought temptation into a peaceful garden where it was never meant to be. for consequences to weigh so heavily. for years she had blamed herself, but why continue such actions when truly- how could she N O T blame the one responsible for introducing her to such possibilities? he had to know the consequences, what would happen to her- to her f a m i l y.

did lilith have to suffer the sight of her children fighting?? did lilith have to witness the fruits of her labour fall to ruin and rot?? DID LILITH HAVE TO WATCH HER ELDEST CHILD MURDER THEIR SIBLING- eve takes a breath, eyes closed for a moment before she straightened herself. she managed to bring the looming smile back to her lips, her eyes flickering with satisfaction. she was close to her goal now, lilith was with her- lucifer was suffering. soon heaven shall follow with that ruin- the path of right and wrong would become so blurred one could barely tell what the line was. and eve shall once again obtain that peaceful place in the light. " i'm doing what i need to. simple as that. "

it was a swift turn on her heel- the once dim gem upon her neck gleamed a faint g l o w. her skin turning a pale purple- her hair curling and draping further to her feet. a blonde hue taking over the colors of auburn. eve turns towards lilith, the woman's own visage staring back at her with her eased smile,

" it's my turn to find my happiness. "

Holding on to hope that these 3 days will be chill please please

agonizing over if ademarta should choose the mythic path of lich or aeon this fine evening! ah! 🥀😵‍💫