Book Review: One Hand to Hold, One Hand to Carve by M. Shaw
Title: One Hand to Hold, One Hand to Carve
Author: M. Shaw
Release date: April 1, 2022
Night Train. All Hail the House Gods. At the End of the Day I Burst Into Flames. Armageddon House. Helpmeet. The Mud Ballad.
Over the last number of years, there’s been a handful of books that were unlike anything I’ve ever read before and absolutely had me held rapt.
We can safely add One Hand to Hold, One Hand to Carve to that list.
This novella came onto my radar initially when I saw my friend Sonora Taylor rave about it. I wasn’t sure what to expect, just look at that synopsis, but I knew going in that I’d be in for an unexpected journey and that’s exactly what happened.
What I liked: The story follows a body that wakes up on the table in the morgue, cut in half. Each side wakes up as their own individual half; Left and Right.
From there, M. Shaw delivers perhaps the most heart-wrenching yet unconventional coming-of-age story you’ll ever read. Two halves, making a whole, trying to find their way in the world and to remember who they were before. Each side has a dream of what their life should look like, or what they should work towards. The Left half takes over the cooking, cleaning and finances of their day to day lives, while the Right half gets a job and does the driving. From the outside looking in, this seems pretty mundane, but when gathered into this story, it works to not only challenge the reader, but for us to also empathize with each half. They both want to be whole, both want to remain connected to the other, while each wanting to be their own person. I suspect this is a constant issue with identical twins growing up.
The story unfolds really nicely, seeing a growing tension build between both sides, especially as some regrowth begins, which ultimately pushes them harder mentally about being their own person.
The ending is really great, a very powerful way of tying it all together and showcasing not only some of what society has become, but also the difficulties those stuck in their ways have at attempting any sort of positive change.
What I didn’t like: I actually wasn’t too fond of the epilogue. The tone and narrative style felt completely different from what the entire novella had been up to that point and it almost worked to subtract some of what had been built up for the ending. It may work for you, but for me, I would’ve almost preferred it wasn’t there at all.
Why you should buy this: If you’ve read any of those books I listed at the beginning and were blown away, then this should be an auto-buy and an auto-to the top of the TBR book. This is unsettling body horror that will make you squirm but also question what it is to be connected to someone and what it means about where we ultimately fit into the world.
Phenomenal.
5/5
