The Rust Maidens is a novel by Gwendolyn Kiste.
Finished on: 6.8.2023

Plot:
Phoebe hasn’t been in her hometown for many years, and with good reason. But recent events have prompted her return after all, and with coming back to Denton Street in Cleveland, her memories also start to catch up with her. When she was a teenager, the girls around her started changing, leaving strange footprints behind, seemingly turning into metal and causing quite an uproar. Phoebe has to face her own role in what happened back then. If she can even figure out what it exactly it was that happened.

I think I got The Rust Maidens as part of a bundle a few years ago, not knowing much about it or what to expect at all. But I did like the title and finally delved in. And what a beautiful surprise it was – a eerie, out-of-this-world feeling that caught me off-guard enveloped me and made me fall in love with the book.

I’m not sure I actually know what happened in the book in the end. I have ideas but there remains a tantalizing aspect just out of my grasp that was absolutely part of the book’s charm. I think if I had understood every single detail of what happened, it would have been a jarring break with the book’s atmosphere. There was enough resolution to not be frustrating, and not so much that the mystery was entirely lost – a delicate balance to strike that Kiste manages admirably.

The entire set-up of the story lends itself to symbolism and interpretation. But it also works well enough at face value, with Phoebe being a slightly abrasive but entirely engaging protagonist. And can I just say that I loved that we got a middle-aged protagonist, even if part of the story plays out in the past when she is a teenager.

I don’t actually want to say too much about the book because I enjoyed going in unknowing so much. But if you like body horror, mysteries and/or a magical atmosphere, you should definitely give this a go.

Summarizing: haunting.