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Reviewed by Gabriel Santos for Readers' Favorite
In Angela Grey’s A Catalog of Small Cruelties, Violet is an architect who wakes up from a coma to find out that her children are gone. Or rather, that they never existed at all. Though her memories of them feel real, the entire world insists that she’s wrong. Under watch by friends and family, she feels like a prisoner trapped in a strange reality. When Piper, Violet’s sister and a social worker, talks about a case of child neglect, something deep within urges Violet to take action. She starts investigating the situation and compiling a “catalog of small cruelties” detailing acts that remain unseen until it’s too late, centered on harmed children. As people connected to her investigation start disappearing and dying, Violet questions everything and everyone.
This novel left me with complex feelings. It’s a roller coaster of plot twists and paranoia with well-thought-out setups and foreshadowing. But it’s not an easy read. The novel gives you a front seat to Violet’s mind and the confusing, chaotic mess inside. You feel every bit of the detachment, bleakness, monotony, and other complicated emotions Violet has. It’s an unpleasant but fascinating mindscape that took me quite a while to digest across my reading sessions. Angela Grey’s writing kept me coming back thanks to the subtle dry humor and the sharp, unsettling aphorisms and turns of phrase that hit me out of nowhere. Beneath the narrative and dialogue, there was some indescribable tension and dread, never letting me feel comfortable even in the lighter moments. Overall, A Catalog of Small Cruelties is a treat for fans of psychological mystery novels.
