Week eighty-three of Lite Reads comes to a close as we finish our selection Mothers, Lock Up Your Daughters Because They Are Terrifying by Alice Sola Kim, chosen especially for Asian Heritage Month / Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, which began yesterday. There were questions as food for thought on social media as people had the chance to read it and think about it. Before I announce the next Lite Reads selection (May 4), I will be sharing my own thoughts here. Spoilers ahead for those who have not read the story yet. Content warning for mention of incest between adopted siblings.
Mothers, Lock Up Your Daughters Because They Are Terrifying by Alice Sola Kim is a short horror story about three teenage girls born to South Korean mothers and adopted by white USAmerican families. After Ronnie, Mini, and Caroline meet at an event for Korean adoptees, they become fast friends despite their differences, connecting over their similarities. Told through first-person plural, the three girls cast a spell to allow them to meet their birth mothers, and begin communicating with Mom, a mysterious figure who speaks through them and is unclear about whose mother she is. Mom switches between the girls, giving each of them motherly attention, especially Mini and Caroline. Mom’s motherly attention often veers into the negative, pushing them hard in their lives and even insulting them. When Mom visits Ronnie, she realises that Ronnie has developed a relationship with her adopted brother and completely turns on her, along with both other girls. They attempt to flee her, even contemplating reversing the spell, but she gives them visions of their own gory deaths. Ronnie confesses that with her difficult home life, she is the one truly in need of a mother and asks Mom to stay with her and only her for guidance, and that she leave the other two to their lives in safety. The girls no longer see each other, but when they meet again at another Korean adoptee gathering, it is revealed that Ronnie and Mom are inseparably bound, and the We of the narration refers to the two of them together.
I thought this was an interesting look at adopted families because of how it showed each of the girls as having unique family dynamics, where so many stories veer towards narrow looks at what adopted families look like. The portrayals aren’t always positive, with Ronnie’s relationship with her brother being the most notable example, but even portrayals of Caroline’s family being strict and demanding about the tasks in her life, we get a picture of adopted families that show the ways they are just like biological families: complicated and flawed. I think the way it shows Korean girls who were adopted by white families is interesting as well because the author doesn’t shy away from portraying this aspect as being complicated, with parents not fully understanding what their children are experiencing and the girls as being detached from their culture in a way they struggle with.
The way Mothers, Lock Up Your Daughters Because They Are Terrifying uses a first-person plural point of view is deeply fascinating to me. It’s jarring to see a narrator to use we/us when you can’t really identify who that refers to at first. Initially, it seems as though the story is being told by a fourth girl, but then it becomes clear there are only three. Then it seems as though the “we” refers to the group, which isn’t something you see too often (at least not something I’ve seen too often), so I thought that was interesting, and it set a really tense tone for what was happening. I was genuinely surprised when the final reveal on this front came with, “We are Ronnie and someone standing behind her, with hands on her shoulders, a voice in her ear, and sometimes we are someone standing inside her, with feet in her shoes, moving her around.” This was a perfect climax to this tension and it had me on the edge of my seat. The unusual point-of-view choice ended up being one of the best ways the story built tension and revealed its conclusion.
The friendship aspect of this story was also really interesting, and honestly pretty relatable. Seeing three completely different teenage girls bond over not only their one similarity, but also over their differences and the ways their personalities and interests contrasted and complemented one another’s, was something I found really refreshing. I feel like not enough stories starring teenage girls reflect the way so many friendships actually work, and this one did. I think we also got to see the ways some friendships can pick up where they left off (like Mini and Caroline seeing each other at the gathering at the end) as though no time had passed, but there are other friendships (like Caroline and Mini’s with Ronnie) where too much has changed for anything to ever feel right again. Of course, this is driven by a rather terrifying spirit mother and horrific circumstances, but it’s also easy to connect it to real-life friendships that don’t have a supernatural spin.
Overall, Mothers, Lock Up Your Daughters Because They Are Terrifying by Alice Sola Kim was a fascinating and thrilling read. Everything from the tone to the point-of-view to the story itself was something that was easy for me to immerse myself into. I hope something does come of the filming rights being purchased because this would be amazing to see in a movie or TV show.
I hope everyone who participated by reading the story and following along on social media enjoyed reading this short story. If you have more thoughts to add, please feel free to comment on this post, or anywhere on The Feminist Bibliothecary’s social media. Week eighty-four begins shortly, May 4, with a brand new short story selection!
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