White Bodies by Jane Robins

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I don’t have a sister, and I certainly don’t have a twin, but I would like to think that if I did, I wouldn’t develop an obsession with licking her toothbrush, eating her hair (cut up into small pieces and mixed into a nice glass of milk of course – because eating full length strands isn’t as easy as one would think), swallowing her baby teeth and occasionally ingesting her urine. So am I making a reverse bucket list or describing heartwarming scenes from White Bodies? Both, I guess. But mainly the latter.

This book. Hm. How to describe it? I think I already have given you, the potential reader, more than enough in the paragraph above, but I’m feeling generous today so I will press on. If you can believe it, those lovely tidbits were the high points of this novel for me, despite making me physically shudder. I will admit that even I, the girl who can watch surgery performed while eating popcorn, cringed reading about eating someone else’s baby teeth. Apparently, that is where I draw the line. Who knew? Basically what I am saying is that while this aspect of the book was disgustingly perfect (and super intriguing), it might not be for everyone.

All of the characters in this book are either weirdos or psychos, if I didn’t make that clear already. I don’t mind that, I tend to prefer unsavory characters, but these folks could have used more backstory as to WHY they became the deviants they were. They also could have used a better ending to wrap up their demented story. I get it – the theme of just how far you’re willing to go for family (especially family that you are butt crazy obsessed to the point of eating their belongings) was the key takeaway, but I felt the ending was a cheap cop out. A lot of the subplots felt that way (Wilf’s whole storyline). I think this author was torn between fleshing out a truly disturbing and unsettling narrative of obsession and mental illness and keeping her novel within the realm of the ever popular domestic crime thriller genre. I would have preferred a full blown hair drinking, toothbrush sucking shit show – but that’s just me.



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