mouse reviewed Spectred Isle by KJ Charles
Ivy
Growing up, English ivy was an acutely troublesome invasive species -- in the region generally and in my family's yard specifically. My neighbors had, foolishly, planted it, and it would grow up trees and deprive them of their nutrients, and send vines into crevices of buildings, damaging them. At a formative age, I learned about this: how ivy sends these little creeping tendrils into all the small holes it finds. And I would sit in the back yard, imagining the ivy crawling up my body, planting little roots in my pores and feeding on me until I was a desiccated husk.
The point being, I had a hard time with the fact that ivy showing up was a good thing in this story, because to me the appearance of an inexplicable ivy leaf could not be a more ominous sign. So if you have my extremely specific aversion to the …
Growing up, English ivy was an acutely troublesome invasive species -- in the region generally and in my family's yard specifically. My neighbors had, foolishly, planted it, and it would grow up trees and deprive them of their nutrients, and send vines into crevices of buildings, damaging them. At a formative age, I learned about this: how ivy sends these little creeping tendrils into all the small holes it finds. And I would sit in the back yard, imagining the ivy crawling up my body, planting little roots in my pores and feeding on me until I was a desiccated husk.
The point being, I had a hard time with the fact that ivy showing up was a good thing in this story, because to me the appearance of an inexplicable ivy leaf could not be a more ominous sign. So if you have my extremely specific aversion to the plant, be aware I guess?