Oh gorgeous, gorgeous lesbian who reads, do you have any book suggestions for Armand's specific flavor of trauma and/or trauma response? I r3late way tOo much to him and I need MORE
Absolutely I do. And by virtue of being related to Armand's trauma responses obviously note that all of these books involve some kind of theme of sexual violence.
Honeysuckle by Bar Fridman-Tell: At eight years old, Rory wants a playmate, and so his sister crafts him a girl from flowers and magic. But Daye can only last one season unless she is rebuilt over and over again, and as he grows older Rory becomes obsessed with breaking the cycle of bloom and decay in order to keep her forever, while Daye begins to question how much control she has over her own life.
This is one of my favourite books of all time and I will keep on pushing it until the day that I die it just so perfectly encapsulates the two sides of Armand for me. He is both Rory and Daye in equal measures.
A Haunting in the Arctic by C.J. Cooke: In 1901, Nicki is attacked and awakens on board a whaling ship, taken hostage to be used as the crews "Selkie Wife". In 2023, the wreckage of that ship is due to be destroyed, and Dominique plans to document its final days. But there is something lingering on board that craves revenge.
I can't say too much about this one without giving some things away but yeah. Yeah. (I also just highly recommend literally any of C.J. Cooke's books, they all tackle incredibly dark themes with a particular focus on violence against women and they are all absolutely brilliant, she is one of my all time favourite authors.)
Juniper & Thorn by Ava Reid: Marlinchen and her two sisters are kept locked away from the world by their controlling, xenophobic father, but at night they sneak away for a glimpse of the world beyond. When Marlinchen meets the ballet dancer Sevas, her trysts grow more frequent and fervent, as do the rumours of a blood thirsty monster prowling the streets.
This is another one where Armand is present in both Marlinchen and Sevas. The Armand selfcest agenda never ends.
This one is more of a wildcard but I'd also recommend You Did Nothing Wrong by CG Drews, which is a story about Elodie and her young autistic son Jude trying to make a life for themselves with Elodie's new husband Bren in a crumbling house he insists on rennovating.
It's a little more out there especially because Elodie's trauma response manifests in some horrific abuse of her child, but I thought she was an incredible character and definitely felt a lot of Armand in her.
