The Seep, by Chana Porter
Note: I received this ARC through one of the ABA White Boxes through my place of employment, Copperfish Books. It hits shelves this January, and it’s available for preorder here:
The Seep is a story about Trina, a middle aged trans woman trying to live through an alien invasion where these parasitic, omniscient, bodiless aliens are attempting to turn Earth - and humanity - into a utopia-- whether the humans like it or not. It wouldn't be so bad, except thatthat Trina's wife of 25 years has decided to use the aliens to be reborn. As a baby. In France. This touches off a severe cycle of suffering and grief, and it's Trina's quest to find a place for herself in this bizarrely changing world which sets the tone for The Seep.
Love is an understatement for this book. I'm admittedly biased: I saw the Soho logo on this ARC and went "yup I'm gonna like this." I literally couldn't finish reading the blurb on the back because I saw "fifty year old trans woman" and "alien invasion" in one sentence and upped it to "this is mine. This is for me. None of you can have it."But make no mistake: this book is wonderful. It's funky, it's off-beat, it's crazy liberal and it questions so many things, and it's absolutely devourable. I know that's not a word, but this is the sort of book you invent new words for.
What I love most about The Seep is that it’s two parts questions to one part answers. It does a great job of clearing up certain gray areas, and it actually gives some answers to the hard questions it asks--but it also leaves area for speculation and thought. The Seep will leave you begging for more, and I can’t wait to see what Chana Porter whips up next.