Will I love The Rust Maidens?

Set in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1980, The Rust Maidens is about a sudden change that overcomes several teenage girls in the community. Out of nowhere a metamorphosis begins to take place, the teens’ bodies transform into rusted metal and broken glass—reflecting the decaying factories and communities around them. As word of the transformations spread, the event takes on the power of an urban legend, but the girls have their own secret plans, which they share only with themselves.  

What is beautiful and striking about this book is that the body horror at its center becomes a means for these girls… show more.

It’s 1980. Cleveland, Ohio is falling into decay, and some of the young women living in Phoebe Shaw’s neighborhood become known as the Rust Maidens as their bodies slowly degrade into rusted metal and jagged glass. I’ve read body horror before, but never like this. Kiste has a beautiful and lyrical prose style, and I particularly love her compassion toward her characters. While she doesn’t shy away from the more horrific aspects of her story, she never forgets the humanity of the Rust Maidens as they transform. She also captures the pain of the friends and family the Maidens leave… show more.