Review: The Survival of Molly Southbourne (Molly Southbourne #2) by Tade Thompson

Rating: ★★★★☆

Synopsis

Who was Molly Southbourne? What did she leave behind?

A burnt-out basement. A name stained in blood. Bodies that remember murder, one of them left alive. A set of rules that no longer apply.

Molly Southbourne is alive. If she wants to survive, she’ll need to run, hide, and be ready to fight. There are people who remember her, who know what she is and what she’s done. Some want her alive, some want her dead, and all hold a piece to the puzzles in her head. Can Molly escape them, or will she confront the bloody history that made her?

Review

Thanks to the publisher and author for an advanced reading copy of The Survival of Molly Southbourne (Molly Southbourne #2) in exchange for an honest review. Receiving this ARC did not influence my thoughts or opinions on the novella.

If you see a girl who looks like you, run and fight. 
Don’t bleed. 
If you bleed, blot, burn, and bleach. 
If you find a hole, find your parents.

My introduction to Tade Thompson was his ground-breaking and award-winning science fiction novel, Rosewater. Ever since then, anything he writes rockets up my TBR. Well, I came across The Murders of Molly Southbourne at the beginning of this year when it had a price drop on the ‘Zon and gave it a try, knowing I was in for something wholly original. I was a little blown away by the story, and of course the character of Molly; but it was unlike anything I had ever expected. Needless to say, I was stoked to find out Thompson had a sequel coming out.

Survival takes place on the heels of Murders with seamless transition and never thinks twice about taking its foot off the accelerator. While we had Molly’s POV throughout the entirety of Book 1, we are now behind the eyes of one of her duplicates (or so we think) and endure her successive trials and tribulations throughout the beginning stages of “her” life.

I wasn’t really sure how Thompson could continue on the Molly saga, let alone write something completely different yet comfortably similar to its predecessor and keep the suspense going into what I hope/assume is a final novella in the series? SO MANY QUESTIONS UNANSWERED, TADE!

We are introduced to new characters, invited into the homes of familiar ones, and still left in the dark about the ones behind the scenes of all the goings on. This story is a bit of mind-f**kery, much like the first, but I feel a little more adept at dealing with the weirdness and was able to dig into the surroundings rather than the interesting ability that Molly possesses. While this version of Molly seems to lack the ability to create duplicates, another lies in wait that just may hold the answer. On top of that, we are all too aware that things await you in the shadows, and Molly will soon find out that she does too.

All in all, if you haven’t read The Murders of Molly Southbourne (Molly Southbourne #1) and enjoy Tade’s writing, original stories, anything Tor.com publishes, etc, pick it up and give it a go. It is essential before reading Survival.