Jane Rawson

A little novella like Formaldehyde was never going to get much attention from book reviewers, so I’m really pleased to see a few reviews cropping up here and there over the last few months.

• Ed Wright, who was super-kind about A wrong turn at the Office of Unmade Lists a few years back, said Formaldehyde‘s ‘deliberate implausibility is refreshing’ in a review in the most recent Weekend Australian.
• Declan over at Writerful Books says he was ‘fully drawn into this story with its weird and wacky characters’.
• I managed to unsettle Stephanie at No-award for a second time running; she says ‘Jane’s fiction work often leaves me confused and slightly unsure (if ‘twice now’ can count as ‘often’); Formaldehyde is a part of that pattern.’
• Rachel at Leatherbound Pounds follows up a great review of Unmade Lists by saying Formaldehyde is ‘funny in the darkest, driest way possible. I laughed out loud and I was confused and I was shocked and a little bit sad. It’s surprising, quietly political and has a freshness that I enjoyed so much.’ You can read the review here.
• And Alan at Readings reviewed all three Viva la Novella winners, saying Formaldehyde was ‘a delicious blend of science fiction and magical realism, of severed limbs and Russian novels … a baffling, joyous and addictive read’. Thanks, Alan!