Short Book Review -- Come Closer by Sara Gran

 

Cover image compliments of Soho 
Press

This book does not have a happy ending...or does it. I guess it depends on one's point of view. The book is written from the main character Amanda's point of view, as she accounts for the days when she was introduced to, then stalked by a literal demon named Naamah.

I did some research, and Naamah does indeed have a brief Biblical history that Gran uses in a unique and satisfying (although horrific) way. I like when I’m compelled to learn things from reading fiction, and this inspired that for me.

Naamah represents a slippery slope of sin. She represents the burden of what it is to be a woman sometimes, but she also represents the karma from what happens when you mistake a beautiful woman as nothing more than a plaything, as the secondary player in the story of humanity.

I don’t know, maybe I'm overhyping that analogy. But it feels right. It feels close. It's definitely something to think about after reading the book. I think Emerald Fennel's script for the movie Promising Young Woman has a similar vibe--without the possession angle--and I loved that movie.