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3.19 AVERAGE
3.19 AVERAGE
Like Wolf in White Van, this book is all about feel. The prose is beautiful, and the feeling of being in small town Iowa is strong. There was enough mystery and plot to compel me quickly forward, but it was secondary to the emotions evoked.
If you're looking for a white knuckle thriller, this isn't it... If you're looking to exercise your empathy muscles and feel despair, apathy, and grief, pick this up.
If you're looking for a white knuckle thriller, this isn't it... If you're looking to exercise your empathy muscles and feel despair, apathy, and grief, pick this up.
i Did Not Get This and i also think the blurb made me expect more horror than there actually is in this book. it's more of a meandering meditation on change, grief, etc. and i felt that we lost a bit of what we started with and it changed into a very different novel.
dark
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I really liked part 1 of the book. But then in the next parts the story would jump POV and timelines and it just gets a bit jumbled and I felt lost. I lost the thread of characters and who was who and I didn’t feel like the storytelling was a strong a plot mover as the part one aspect. I read other reviews trying to figure out what I was missing and so many other people praised this book because it lost them and I don’t get that either. The writing is smart. It’s good prose and well-written, but once I lost that thread of the story I was out entirely. And as I started to get it pieced together in the final chapters, I was no longer interested in the story at all. I’m sorry. Too smart for me is not a great selling point for me to say it’s Ana amazing book. I’m not sure this was psychological horror so much as a psychological reflection on life and loss.
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Great premise, but I found the story's chronology and POV really confusing.
I don't even know what this book was really about. I could read it again and probably figure it out. Do I want to? no.
This book was included in Powell’s Indiespensable #61, and the description was so intriguing that I sat down and started reading it then and there.
The book primarily follows Jeremy Heldt, high school grad and video store employee in Nevada, Iowa in the mid 1990s. Life is fairly normal for Jeremy, he lives with his father, the two carrying on quietly after the death of his mother several years ago in a car crash.
The peace and quiet is slowly broken apart when a customer comes into the store, saying that her rental “has another movie on it.” When a second customer comes in complaning of te same thing, Jeremy investigates. Playing the movie through, a black and white film, barely a minute long, has been inserted into the middle of the movie. Though there’s nothing concrete in the short film, it is vaguely unsettling. When other films begin appearing in other movies at the store, the creep factor goes up exponentially. Moreover, there are familiar landmarks in the background of these strange, vaguely threatening films . . .
I really enjoyed this book. Darnielle has a writing style that manages to be descriptive and stark at the same time. In addition, the book is told from the point of view of a smugly omniscient narrator who seems to delight in keeping bits an pieces back from the reader. We are instead forced to circle around the mystery behind the tapes like a vulture, seeing only the smallest parts at a time. The whole thing reminds me of House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. With that book, it was hard to pin down what exactly was so creepy, but it kept you up at night.
Fans of psychological suspense will like this book. It’s a finely creepy sophomore work from an up-and-coming author.
The book primarily follows Jeremy Heldt, high school grad and video store employee in Nevada, Iowa in the mid 1990s. Life is fairly normal for Jeremy, he lives with his father, the two carrying on quietly after the death of his mother several years ago in a car crash.
The peace and quiet is slowly broken apart when a customer comes into the store, saying that her rental “has another movie on it.” When a second customer comes in complaning of te same thing, Jeremy investigates. Playing the movie through, a black and white film, barely a minute long, has been inserted into the middle of the movie. Though there’s nothing concrete in the short film, it is vaguely unsettling. When other films begin appearing in other movies at the store, the creep factor goes up exponentially. Moreover, there are familiar landmarks in the background of these strange, vaguely threatening films . . .
I really enjoyed this book. Darnielle has a writing style that manages to be descriptive and stark at the same time. In addition, the book is told from the point of view of a smugly omniscient narrator who seems to delight in keeping bits an pieces back from the reader. We are instead forced to circle around the mystery behind the tapes like a vulture, seeing only the smallest parts at a time. The whole thing reminds me of House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. With that book, it was hard to pin down what exactly was so creepy, but it kept you up at night.
Fans of psychological suspense will like this book. It’s a finely creepy sophomore work from an up-and-coming author.
Was this book confusing or did I just black out because I couldn't get into it?
Not a typical narrative, but beautifully written (and read by the author) and told in a manner that left me satisfied. It was not the creepy October tale I was hoping for, but this strangely did not disappoint me.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Gaslighting
Moderate: Confinement, Violence, Blood
Minor: Torture, Toxic relationship, Trafficking
It's a horror/thriller story but in a David Lynch style - i.e., don't expect easy/straightforward answers.