Brutes

by Dizz Tate

The Virgin Suicides meets The Florida Project in this wildly original debut—a coming-of-age story about the crucible of girlhood, from a writer of rare and startling talent

We would not be born out of sweetness, we were born out of rage, we felt it in our bones.

In Falls Landing, Florida—a place built of theme parks, swampy lakes, and scorched bougainvillea flowers—something sinister lurks in the deep. A gang of thirteen-year-old girls obsessively orbit around the local preacher's daughter, Sammy. She is mesmerizing, older, and in love with Eddie. But suddenly, Sammy goes missing. Where is she? Watching from a distance, they edge ever closer to discovering a dark secret about their fame-hungry town and the cruel cost of a ticket out. What they see will continue to haunt them for the rest of their lives.

Through a darkly beautiful and brutally compelling lens, Dizz Tate captures the violence, horrors, and manic joys of girlhood. Brutes is a novel about the seemingly unbreakable bonds in the "we" of young friendship, and the moment it is broken forever.

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Literary Fiction, Mystery, Horror, Coming Of Age, Summer

304 pages, Hardcover

First published February 7, 2023

About the author

Dizz Tate is a writer currently living in London, after growing up in Florida. She was long-listed for Young Poet Laureate for London in 2014. She has been previously published in The Wrong Quarterly, Squawk Back, and with Arachne Press, with work forthcoming in Femmeuary. She has written a short play as part of the London Design Festival, and took part in the Young Writers Workshop at the Lyric Theatre in Hammersmith in 2014. In 2015, she was long-listed for the Bare Fiction Prize and Bristol Short Story Prize.

Reviews

[makayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

me not knowing what’s going on the entire time was a vibe

[Barry Pierce · Rating 3 out of 5]

these girls ain't right.

[leah · Rating 3 out of 5]

don’t really have a clue what happened here, but kind of in a fun way? this novel is like if the virgin suicides, we were liars, and bunny had a weird, surreal little baby.

[aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

when your circle small but y'all crazy

[Heather · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book reminds me of when people would write prose on Tumblr that was designed to convey a sense of romanticised, dark intellect, but was in fact, nonsensical drivel. The novel is so overwritten with ham fisted literary techniques that it is actually difficult to follow. Page after page of word salad, overwrought with convoluted imagery, it loses all sense of its narrative, only vaguely seeming to remember its own storyline towards the end. I found myself rushing through the pages simply so that it would be over faster. I am both baffled and affronted to have seen so many reviews and bookshop recommendations that compare this to The Virgin Suicides. Jeffrey Eugenides should sue all of you.

[lucy 🌀 · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was so ethel cain core and I had no idea what was going on

[frieder · Rating 4 out of 5]

being cruel and mysterious while also never having a clue what’s actually going on - the perfect portrayal of girlhood

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I felt like I was reading this book for one million years and yet I could not tell you anything about it except that it’s set in Florida and a girl is missing.

[jocelyn • coolgalreading]

the epitome of no plot just vibes lol - what even happens????

[earth angel · Rating 2 out of 5]

i hate when great covers are wasted on bad books 😔

[pola · Rating 2 out of 5]

i have no idea what happened here but not in a intriguing bunny mona awad way

[persephone ☾ · Rating 4 out of 5]

you all know I have a weakness for « no plot just vibes » books dealing with girlhood and its terrible manifestations 😔

[Alwynne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dizz Tate’s debut novel is an intense, lyrical reinvention of a plot that’s a staple of American crime fiction, the missing girl in a small town. Tate moves between past and present: in the past a cabal of 13-year-olds operate as one, telling their stories as a chorus; while in the present they are separate, world-weary, individual. The group are united in their apparent obsession with the disappearance of Sammy, the local preacher’s daughter, something that continues to haunt them as adults.

Tate is partly inspired by a favourite book The Virgin Suicides but she shifts perspectives so the girls in her novel take control of narrating, while the choice of collective voice is taken from a technique used by Mariana Enriquez. Tate’s chosen setting, Lands Fall, Florida, seems as significant as character here. It’s a blighted place, filled with the stench of the nearby fertiliser factory, it's a site of falsity, outward displays of glitz or glamour masking poverty and decay. It also links Tate’s vision of teenage angst, longing and rebellion with something more fundamental in contemporary American society, here seen as a country that holds out a promise of a bright future that few are likely to possess, and one in which those with power are free to exploit the weak and innocent.

Tate’s main themes which centre on issues around gender, misogyny and child abuse reminded me of recent work by writers like Emma Cline and Sarah Manguso’s Very Cold People, Tate’s overall approach is less conventional, and there are some marvellous observational passages and imagery, but at the same time I felt she was covering well-trodden ground. So although this is a very promising first novel, and there was a lot I admired, it never had quite the impact I was hoping for.

Thanks to Netgalley and publisher Faber for an ARC

Rating: 3/3.5

[sophie · Rating 2 out of 5]

next time i try to read contemporary lit, someone stop me

[verynicebook · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brutes felt like a hazy fever dream of a novel, though I found the formatting and writing to be a little confusing. It is written in first person, shifting from a 'we' perspective in the past chapters to an 'I' perspective in other chapters set in the future. Brutes was a bit of a blur for me; it felt like a dream, fragmented and scattered, with no idea what was going on or how we got there. I believe this would work better as a film, where you can see what is happening rather than having to imagine what the author intended. It was unique! What I did enjoy was the imagery and the descriptions of things. This book definitely is one for the senses and fits into the category of Books You Can Smell. Sweet and fruity ring pops, 5-cent candies, vanilla body spray, tropical sunscreen, chlorine, cherry lollipops, freshly cut grass, the hot and sugary, deep fried smells of the carnival. You can hear the grass blowing in the breeze, kids laughing in the streets and canon balling into pools, mom’s laughing while lounging and day-drinking Margaritas, and the sizzle from the barbecue. It gave me subtle Pen15 vibes at times (but not funny), and I can see the Florida Project connection as well. I see it compared to The Virgin Suicides which I have yet to read.

I believe I will need to re-read this book to fully comprehend what was going on. Did I like it? I think so? I liked the coming-of-age story, the nostalgia and mysterious that came with the story, however, the style fell a little flat for me at times. Despite the fact that I had no idea what was going on the entire time, it was an enjoyable read. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing an ARC!

[kyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

truly have no idea if i hated this or loved it and i think thats the point of this book

[Hannah Greendale (Hello, Bookworm) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gritty and unsettling. I was drawn to the collective narrator's caustic proclivity for darkness and ached alongside them for the glittering, out-of-reach otherworld that's dangled before them. That's a testament to Dizz Tate's writing style which is, to borrow her own imagery, cherry pie shimmering with roaches—beguiling and repulsive in equal measure (often reminded me of Bunny by Mona Awad).

This is definitely a book I'll reread, as I'd like to revisit the parallel symbolism of the lake, the bowl of water, and the womb. For a better understanding of what events the book is presumably inspired by click here [TW: child abuse, sexual assault, rape].

[Leah Eckardt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Came for the plot, found no plot, stayed for the vibes

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

don’t ask me what this is about.

[daniella ❀ · Rating 3 out of 5]

honestly so weird... but also so good if that makes sense? i literally have no idea what just happened but it's so girlhood coded and that's what matters the most! insane girlies >>>>

[Ellie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thank god I’ve finally got through this.

I’m sure it must be me, not the book.

While others have found the writing “poetic”, I just found it an incoherent mess with very little in the way of plot. The first person plural narration an was interesting technique, but the chapters on each of the group in later life served no purpose. There’s possibly a decent short story in here, but as a novel it really didn’t work for me.

[Sarah ♡ (let’s interact!) · Rating 5 out of 5]

”Weird” fiction is fast becoming one of my favourites! Often these books are polarising, you will either love or hate them, which is evident by the mixed reviews!
The themes of these stories are often deliciously dark - and Brutes was a fine example of this.
If you liked Bunny and We Were Liars then this is a book for you! I’ve seen it compared to The Virgin Suicides which I still need to read!
Considering this is Dizz Tate’s debut novel, they have certainly made their unique voice known. The narrative starts of being told by the group of girls as a collective, rather than just one character. Then changes as the girls grow up and grow more distant from one another.

”We would not be born out of sweetness, we were born out of rage, we felt it in our bones.”

Brutes is a girlhood, coming-of-age story, about a group of thirteen year old girls who are mesmerised by their local pastor’s daughter, Sammy. Sammy is older than them and appeared to be partnered up with a blonde named Eddie.
Suddenly, the town of Falls Landing, Florida is shook by the sudden disappearance of Sammy. What has happened to her? As the girls get closer to the truth it becomes apparent their hometown has some hidden dark secrets that they could end up unearthing. What is the cost of a ticket out of Falls Landing? Who will pay the price?

An unpopular opinion here but; 5 stars and have added to my favourites shelf! 💖

[Stephanie McGwinn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Feral little girl to unhinged woman pipeline

[Alex.andthebooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Myślę, że omówienie jej na klubie książki wiele dodało mojemu doświadczeniu z historią. Przyznam, że byłam do niej uprzedzona i być może dlatego pozytywnie się zaskoczyłam. To zdecydowanie nie jest lektura dla wszystkich - bardzo symboliczna i bardzo liryczna.

[Peter Boyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmmm, I'm not sure what to make of this one. There is the guts of a good story here, but it's all so vague that I found it hard to wrap my head around it.

Brutes is mostly written in first-person plural, narrated by a group of 13-year-old girls living in Falls Landing, Florida. At the beginning of the story, one of them has gone missing - Sammy the preacher's daughter, also the coolest teenager in school. The grown-ups search for her frantically, while the girls watch - they claim to know what has happened to her but they're not telling. We also get a sense of what's important to them - fame and fortune at all cost, they dream of a better life in LA. The story is also interspersed with snapshot chapters of the girls as adults, and in each case, things are not turning out the way they had hoped.

Tate does a good job of generating tension - there is a nightmarish quality to the Florida setting. Even early on, you get the feeling that things won't end well. She's also quite adept at getting inside the head of a teenage girl, capturing the trivial things that seem life-changing at that age. But's all so murky and unknowable. There's a dreamlike aspect to the way the girls tell the story, and I wanted something more tangible. I felt like we never truly got the full picture and it was tiring to work out. For a debut, Brutes certainly shows promise, but it's a little too frustrating for me to truly recommend.

[casey · Rating 3 out of 5]

i went into this expecting something haunting/melancholic and that's definitely what you get here, best way i can describe it is it gave me a feeling similar to when i listen to genius next door by regina spektor lmfao. i think the hazy-ness is intentional and stylistically i liked that choice for the most part but i think at some points with all the shifts between past/present and singular/collective povs, the story became a bit muddled. you catch yourself a few times thinking "wait how did we end up here?" That's part of the charm of it but i think i was just expecting there to be a point where the fog settled.

[Victoria Castillo · Rating 1 out of 5]

imagine the virgin suicides but it’s just nothing like it and it’s worst book you’ve ever read. it’s merely vague gibberish. the writing is pretentious and barely cohesive. the plot is virtually nonexistent. the timejumps are gratuitous. the journey was not worthwhile.
“sometimes the world deserves a burning” it reads, and that much is true I guess?

[Kelly (and the Book Boar) · Rating 3 out of 5]

"You girls sure are creepy."

The Virgin Suicides meets Bunny. If that sounds like your idea of a good time you should check this one out - otherwise steer clear. A new take on the missing girl story told via a combo of the Greek chorus as children and individual narratives as adults. This is a time where the purple writing really worked for me …..

Imagine for a second there is inside you something like a soul. This soul is like a bowl of still water. It sits, a clean and precious thing, balanced in your chest. The water is cool. Holy. It is entirely itself. It is like water before water was a word. Now, imagine a syringe. The vial is brown and, as you look at it, you realize it is full of human shit, the tiniest, foulest amount. And imagine this needle being pressed, slowly, into the skin of your sternum, injected, as you watch helplessly, into this bowl of balanced water. How quickly it spreads and stinks and fouls this cleanest thing at your center. And in seconds the bowl is ruined. And you look at the bowl and feel terrible you were unable to protect it, this precious and fragile and perfect thing. And you recognize the life’s work it will take to wash and repair the bowl, and it is not fair, because it is not you who dirtied it. So you tip the bowl over and it breaks. You pretend it does not exist.

But then there are times when a feeling crawls across you. The feeling is all the sadder and truer because you cannot name it. You can live a happy enough life with a broken bowl inside you. But you will always be wanting, a feeling as keen and common to you now as thirst.

I’m going with 3.5 Stars because it seems that’s my go-to in 2023 when I come across something fresh but can’t say I looooooved it. Personal growth that I’m only talking about how much I hate this cover and not deducting points for it ; )

EDIT: Because the blurb calls this "The Virgin Suicides meets The Florida Project" (which I had not watched prior to today). That's accurate as far as the "Greek chorus" portion which is what is only witnessed through the childrens' eyes. The Florida Project is quite possibly one of the best films I've ever seen and a real punch in the throat if you are capable of watching truly depressing shit in your free time.

[Ines · Rating 1 out of 5]

i wish i had something positive to say about this book because i found the premise so intriguing that i bought a hardcover copy. however, this just turned out to be a plotless, poorly sewn-together mess of incomprehensible metaphors and descriptions of girls walking to places and seeing a thing or two.

[Felina ☽ · Rating 5 out of 5]

perfect book for daughters of cain (tw:sa,csa)