Book Review: "Lilith" by Nikki Marmery

You guys know me and how much I love reading Greek Mythology Retellings. How about reading Biblical Mythology Retellings? I never knew they were a real thing until about now. 'Lilith' is a book about that very character and though I didn't read the preview, I was excited about what to expect when it came to the writing style, the characters included and the way in which emotion, truth and religious perspective were introduced and carried through the book. I am left however, with a few mixed feelings. Some of the ideas in the book I was left evaluating became less positive when I reflected back on the book. This was mainly because of the overall experience - these were things that when I was within the reading of the book, I didn't notice all too much until the very end.

This book begins with the Biblical story which involves Adam and Lilith and how Lilith initially gets the worst reputation physically imaginable. Now, this is something that a lot of people are familiar with. Then, we get several stories from various parts of the suppressed sections of the Biblical Narrative and I think this is where it started to become a bit shaky for me. Why? Well when Eve came into the book it was all well and good, but then it became a bit too 'good' all the time. Everything was always 'good' and so, the phraseology of the book got so repetitive that it actually started to read like Genesis.

The clear advantage of this book is that it covers a topic that has not really been well explored in the realm of literature mythology retellings. But that is not the only one, the other one is the fact that it fleshes out its characters quite well. As you move through the text you do get an image of characters that you feel you know to a fair degree. However again, it is the way the book is written itself that brings down these walls a little bit and does not allow for an actual connection. The sterility of the book is a huge thing that encompasses and devours the advantages and this is why I cannot fathom as to why the writer would imitate the source text in this way. No other mythology retelling I have ever read does this, even the ones I did not like very much.

Another advantage that is killed off by the writing style is the story as you move through the book. The plot becomes subdued by the fact that the writer is more focused on imitating the writing style of the Biblical Narrative. For the Biblical Narrative itself to be written this way is alright and more than often, even engaging because it contains key philosophies that it wishes to impart on us. But, the fact that a book which seeks purely to entertain is written this way is kind of appalling really because there are no philosophies that it is wanting to impart on to us. There are no greater historical wisdoms. This book is purely there to give entertainment and that is something it cannot do whilst shackled to the repetitive writing style it has.

This also leaves the door open for a lot of contradictions that many readers have noticed in the text. One includes that Lilith states that naming things for a man is like birthing for a woman. However, in one of the next parts she says that there is no power in naming - but according to the last thing, doesn't that then mean there is no power in birthing either? It's a contradiction that was either intentional for the writing style or was left in and badly edited. When I read it the first time and noticed it, I tried to put it aside and give the writer the benefit of the doubt. But then the contradictions started popping up more and more and it was something I could not ignore anymore, it is a key issue with the text on par with the repetitive nature of the words.

All in all, though I initially found the premise of this book interesting enough to read without preview, I am also glad that I read it because now it has taught me that imitating the writing of a Biblical Narrative without any key philosophies related to the narrative itself is probably not the best idea.