May Leitz:
Fluids
I read Fluids immediately after Bluejay and I’m sure that skewed my perception. If I’d read it at another time, I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed it as much. It wasn’t terrible but I don’t feel the need to reread it and I probably won’t be reading anything else by Leitz.
Fluids focuses on two characters. Lauren is a nymphomaniac drug addict living in her recently deceased father’s home when she meets Dahlia on Tinder. Dahlia is a trans woman looking for an escape from Moore, Oklahoma. Already obsessed with her, Lauren drives all night to facilitate this escape. The couple stay at a casino, where they spend their time luring men back to their room for drugs, sex, and money. The book was intended to be a “psychedelic fever dream” themed horror novel.
1. Is it believable that Lauren and Dahlia are 29 based on their juvenile attitudes and actions?
2. Does the book capture the “psychedelic fever dream” theme?
3. A niche in the horror fandom appreciates the over-the-top cheesy gore featured in Evil Dead. Was Fluids going for this type of gore?
4. Did you have to skip over any of the gore? I did.
5. Do you feel like Dahlia is also one of Lauren’s victims?
In the end, Dahlia wakes next to Lauren’s corpse, realizing nothing in life could be quite as chaotic and traumatic as a short relationship with Lauren. One of the main arcs in the story is Dahlia’s transformation from an insecure and inexperienced trans woman to a confident and self-assured woman ready to take on all the world could throw at her. It was quite the uplifting message for a book so filled with gore that it made me nauseous.
Overall, the writing was good. The imagery was vivid. It was refreshing to read about an antagonist that showcased all the worst aspects of female nature, rather than the stereotypical narcissistic boyfriend. The worst part about reading a book like this is all the missed potential. It falls short of being a true descent into madness. At times the nonsensical chaos doesn’t seem like a “fever dream” but rather a series of short stories haphazardly stitched together.
Missed Potential:
Sometimes less is more. At a few moments, the gore was a little too fantastical. Just like the best jokes have a grain of truth, the best horror is only a few degrees away from being realistic. Some of the explanations provided could have been left out to fulfill the descent into madness theme. For example, it would have been far more disorienting for the reader if the clean room was left completely unexplained.
Plot Holes:
I know it’s just a few small details but it kind of took away from the book as a whole.
- Dahlia doesn’t have a phone but has a Tinder.
- Moore, Oklahoma is a large liberal suburb, not some small homophobic hick town with a with a single road and alligators.
- Lauren is ecstatic the casino offers free drinks but later pays for drinks.
- Lauren is terrified of contracting Covid but routinely has unprotected sex with strangers.