Breed by Chase Novak[/caption]Special Note: Against my general policy of not doing reviews on books I didn’t finish, I wanted to post something on Chase Novak’s Breed. I’m not going to rate it, but I wanted to provide a prospective from someone who is both a horror fan and is dealing with infertility.
I first heard about Breed on NPR and, as someone who is part of the “Infertility Club” and loves crazy effed up horror novels, I jumped with joy, waving my expectations high (and trying to suppress worry it would make me scared out of my mind to do any fertility treatments).
I was expecting something more like the IVF version of Rosemary’s Baby. I mean, fertility treatments are invasive and terrifying to begin with, but think about the added terror of going through all of that only to have this miracle – the baby you’ve been wanting for so long – be a monster?
And that’s how I would have written this book.
Novak had a different vision.
(Note: My summary is based on the part of the book I read).
Alex and Leslie Twisden live a cushy life in Manhattan’s Upper East Side. They have a beautiful home, a happy marriage, and enough money to throw at doctors when they can’t become pregnant (or “produce an heir,” as Alex says too much for my liking). Tired of all the treatments, Leslie wants to adopt. Alex seems resistant to the idea (my guess is it has something to do with the whole “heir” thing).
The Twisden’s run into another couple they’d met through their infertility group and the wife is pregnant. The Twisden’s ask how the couple finally succeeded, but the husband refuses to tell unless Alex gets him a job at his firm.
Who does that? I mean, really?
Alex accepts.
Really?
Much to Leslie’s displeasure, they head to Slovenia with $20,000 (cash) to pursue this mystery cure. The clinic is creepy (could you expect anything else?) and the doctor does little to describe how his treatment works. So, with that said, “Whose ready for a mystery injection!?” Leslie wants to leave and forget the whole thing. Not saying I disagreed with her, but I find it odd that, after everything she’d likely undergone, the shot was the breaking point. But Alex is kind of a first-class D-bag and not only won’t let her go home, but leaves the room at the doctor’s request so they can subdue Leslie to give her the shot.
Really?
Instead of filing for divorce, the couple return home and, of course, Leslie is pregnant... and cue the abnormal hair growth, insatiable appetite for raw dead animals and otherwise insane behavior. Not just with Leslie, Alex too.
After five months, Leslie gives birth to two live babies and one malformed mass of tissue that “didn’t make it” (why do I get the feeling that’s a lie?).
Flash forward 10 years. The twins Adam and Alice seem perfectly healthy and normal – aside from having to be locked in their rooms at night so their parents don’t eat them. They plan their escape.
Now, I’m certain the rest of the story is completely effed up and interesting, but I stopped at that point.
Why? Because I was expecting something different. Because I felt just a little bit hurt that these people desperate for children were turned into monsters. I felt like there was just this underlying message that people who rely on science to have children are unnatural or freaks or shouldn’t have children. Trust me, most days I already feel like a freak. I didn’t need a reminder.
I realize I’m part of a small subsection of readers who picked up this book in the midst of their own fertility struggles. I realize most readers won’t even get where I’m coming from and, really, I envy them because I’m sure this would’ve been a really interesting book. But for someone like me, looking for characters who are like me or that I can relate to, it was disappointing.
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