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Holly M. Kothe is a freelance short story writer and novelist from Cincinnati, Ohio. She holds a BA in English and creative writing from Southern New Hampshire University and works as an editor for The Oddville Press, and J. Ellington Ashton Press.
Reviewed by Bil Howard for Readers' Favorite
Perhaps hell hath no fury like a woman scorned; however, hell’s fury is far inferior to a scorned woman with psychotic tendencies. In the collection of stories that make up Sweet Violent Femmes, Holly Kothe explores the darker side of seduction, lost love, abuse, and revenge in a way that will make a chill run up your spine. The first of the four stories is of a young American girl who encounters a part of the lifestyle of Paris that is little talked about as she finds work in a high-end brothel. Along with this encounter are the dangers that go with it and the need to take matters into her own hands. The second is a flashback of a rather morbid kind as another young woman recalls the deep love affair that has been hers and will be hers throughout eternity if she just gives her lover a little push into it in order to join her. The third is that of a lonely librarian whose broken heart can only be healed by the hot liquid of straight whiskey, the burning sensation of a cigarette on her skin, and the dark burning of a particularly violent issue that she has carried since she hit puberty. Finally, Holly wraps up the set with a plan of vengeance by a university chemistry student who has a desire to set things right with a predatory psychology professor.
The set of four stories in Sweet Violent Femmes is an exploration of the dark side of the female heart when it has been tortured by love and abuse. Holly Kothe does an incredible job of drawing the reader into the psychotic minds of these four young women. The reader is as ready to exact revenge as are the young femmes and, though on the edge of psychotic, the actions seem reasonable and just. Spine tingling, dark, and steeped in psychotic horror, Sweet Violent Femmes will draw you along on a twisted journey into the dark souls of violent femmes fatales.
