Ling Ling Huang Strikes Again in New Literary Horror: Immaculate Conception

Information:

• Goodreads: 4.00 out of 2,912 Ratings
• Genre: Literary Horror
• Age Range: Adult
• Series: No
• My Rating: 4 Stars

Summary:

Could your friendship last if you had access to their memories? Enka and Mathilde have an interesting dynamic. They’re each artists, so of course their relationship is borderline obsessive, intense, and occasionally pretentious. Enka adores Mathilde. Her art is one of a kind. Enka is also jealous of Mathilde. She’s never seemed to be able to create something so wonderfully original, controversial, or intense. When Enka’s husband offers a piece of new technology where Enka can see and experience Mathilde’s trauma in an attempt to absorb some of it and lessen the blow, Enka jumps on it. But, she might also have other benefits as well.

Review:

I really, really enjoyed this. This first half of the book is fairly slow, but the last half packs such a punch that it kind of makes up for it. I loved so much of this. The character analysis is intriguing and also heart breaking at some points. This is truly an exploration of two women throughout their friendship as they grow their relationship, explore art, attempt to compete with ever advancing technology, and so much more. There is so much incredible commentary throughout the book, which I adore. Speaking on characters, Enka is interesting. She is not a good person. She’s greedy, jealous, impulsive, pretentious, and sometimes just really dumb. Her very first thought when she wakes up from having this technology implanted in her brain is whether or not she can see what Mathilde thought of her when they first met. I think a lot of people can relate to wondering what you look like in someone else’s perspective, particularly when it’s someone you know and love. However, how many of us would jump at the opportunity if the person didn’t really want us to know? It feels like such an invasion of privacy born from something so many can relate to. Meanwhile, Mathilde loves Enka. She makes sure Enka knows how much she appreciates her. Tries to share her excitement and happiness. Allows herself to lean on Enka when she needs too. Is this acknowledgement enough? No. Of course not. There’s even a moment when Enka finds Mathilde. I’m not going into detail for spoilers, but she finds her and people were worried. However, when the media finds them, Enka appears to almost be jealous that the media isn’t focused on the billionaire’s wife walking out dirty and hurt. They’re more focused on what Mathilde is doing – rightfully so. In that moment, Mathilde deserves the attention (though not the kind she’s getting, no one needs that in a crisis) but Enka wants it – wants it without experience what Mathilde had to in order to get it. The writing can be really pretentious and oddly clinical. There were moments when I felt pulled out of the story because of the writing itself. For example, there’s a moment when Enka is, as usual, doing something awful. Again, no details due to spoilers. But, the reader isn’t really allowed to sit with it or experience it, they’re more so told. Which does make the moment feel… almost less than. Which could also be argued is exactly what Huang is getting at, as Enka cares less unless she is able to actually see and experience it herself as well. Something happens with Mathilde’s child. They are both mothers at this point. Yet, Enka doesn’t seem to be able to fully express empathy until she sees and experiences the trauma herself in Mathilde’s mind. The horror within the novel is great. There’s some body horror, though not nearly as much as Huang’s other work. The horror of the concept, someone else having access to your mind and doing whatever their little heart’s desire, is what got me. Aside from occationally having an issue with the writing, the ending also felt off to me. I know some people will love it, but I could’ve ended the book a chapter earlier and been fine. This ending felt a little too neat for me. It almost came across as when you’re watching a movie and there’s a tiny little thing in the end that ensures there’s space for a sequel. Not my favorite, but not horrible either.