The Bog Wife by Kay Chronister
The Bog Wife
by Kay Chronister
Fantasy | Horror | Gothic
336 Pages
Released October 2024
Rating: ★★
Goodreads
Content Warnings
I hate to admit it, but this was probably one of my most disappointing books of the year. I think this is in large part due to the way this book was described/marketed. I was expecting a gothic fantasy. Instead, I found this book to be more of a sluggish family-drama. Allow me to explain.
This book follows five siblings, growing up in a decrepit house in the middle of a bog. Their mother missing and isolated since childhood, the siblings were taught the traditions of their unusual family. The strangest of which is this: when the patriarch of the family dies, they must be returned to the swamp. In return, the swamp provides a “Bog Wife”, ensuring the continuation of their family and reaffirming their pact with the bog. But when their father dies, the tradition goes sideways and they are left dealing with the fallout.
This is one of those stories that leaves me speechless and not in a good way. For starters, this book is hardly about the bog wife (which was the part I was most excited about). Instead, it revolves more around the dynamics of this five siblings when the tradition they were so fervently taught by their father doesn’t go as planned. I found the characters extremely dull and unmemorable, not to mention very similar. I had a hard time distinguishing between all of them, particularly the sisters. Ultimately, I did not feel interested in a single one of their stories.
The plot wasn’t any better. It meanders clumsily for much of the story and poorly conveys the passing of time. Even though the book takes place over several months, it felt more like it took place over a couple days due to the sluggish pace. This also causes the book to feel much longer than it’s 336 pages. I thought, going into this book, that it would be some sort of magical gothic horror story, when in reality it was more about deception, toxic patriarchy and family trauma. Which is fine and important to talk about but definitely not the way this book is marketed.
And, yes, while there are some odd sort of fantasy/magical realism elements to this story, by the time they came around I was so disenchanted by the book that I didn’t much care anymore.
Overall, I definitely see an audience for this story as long as you know what you’re getting into. If you like family-dynamic stories, especially in an unusual setting, you will probably like this. But if you were hoping, as I was, for a swampy gothic fantasy, you may be left disappointed as well.