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dblue236's review against another edition
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Time traveling serial killer vs. vaguely creepy girl who was almost his victim. I just... no. I couldn't get into it. Hated the premise almost as much as I hated the characters. DNF at around 20%.
wombat_88's review against another edition
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
juliannasiegrist's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
wow I have SO many thoughts about this. first off, I absolutely love the way that lauren beukes made every single character come to life, and I will definitely be reading more of her work. the idea and story behind this book are so intriguing, and I think for me it just didn't feel like it was completely pulled off. I wanted more answers about the house, the objects, why harper was drawn there in the first place, etc. and I feel like the ending was not satisfying in that regard. this was profoundly disturbing to read which was definitely the point, but the brutal and graphic descriptions of the murders were a lot for me to read.
the_sunken_library's review against another edition
3.0
I have mixed feelings about this. i wanted to love it - a time-travelling murderer? Sounds intriguing! It was easy to read, compelling, rounded characters, everything was tied together - no loose strings etc. However, I didn't love it.
I find it tiresome and distressing when author's attempt to invoke sympathy through the torture and murder of an innocent family pet. Yes, we all know its a proven fact people (in general) find animals being hurt/ killed in movies, books and plays more distressing than the death of an actual person but still. I have had enough. It puts me right off a book. Specially a horror/crime one as I now know from the get go that any pet thats introduced is going to be slaughtered. Usually trying to protect their masters.
I also found a large part of the story quite predictable and the main protagonist, Kirby, rather unlikable. Overall it was an OK "holiday read" - you don't have to think too much and it doesn't do anything to push you out of your comfort zone, assuming you have read other horror/crime novels before.
I find it tiresome and distressing when author's attempt to invoke sympathy through the torture and murder of an innocent family pet. Yes, we all know its a proven fact people (in general) find animals being hurt/ killed in movies, books and plays more distressing than the death of an actual person but still. I have had enough. It puts me right off a book. Specially a horror/crime one as I now know from the get go that any pet thats introduced is going to be slaughtered. Usually trying to protect their masters.
I also found a large part of the story quite predictable and the main protagonist, Kirby, rather unlikable. Overall it was an OK "holiday read" - you don't have to think too much and it doesn't do anything to push you out of your comfort zone, assuming you have read other horror/crime novels before.
mmajer's review against another edition
4.0
It's been quite some time since I read an entire book in one day, so I clearly really enjoyed this one! I bought this back in 2013 and all it took was a tv show adaptation coming out this month to light a first under my butt. I remember starting this all of those years ago, but I must not have been in the mood and then it drifted down the never ending TBR pile. So glad I picked it back up because that was a fun ride! It wasn't quite a 5 star because I thought some of the scenes and characters could have been fleshed out a bit more. Overall a very entertaining and creative read.
timinbc's review against another edition
2.0
Meh. I only finished it because I was hoping there would be explanations - and I was disappointed.
I won't classify this as science fiction at all; borderline fantasy, because the House is essentially a Magic Mirror.
If you expect your murder stories to include repeated, loving descriptions of knives and intestines, you can check that off. If you expect the Hollywood movie older-guy-younger-girl-gradually-drawn-together, yep, it's here.
Plus one: thorough research on several areas covered. Maybe a little too thorough, because as so often happens there's a bit of shame-to-waste-this-I'll-put-it-in.
So, back to the House, which may have been telling Harper to do things (assuming Harper still has a shred of sanity). I mentioned that it's essentially a Magic Mirror. Now, put those together and let's say that the House is inhabited by a trapped evil wizard. NOW you've got a five-star story.
The afterword suggests that Beukes simply wanted to write a time-travel story. She put some work into it, but it might have been better to read more previous stories to see what other, expert writers have done with it. As others have noted, this novel could have been written without the time travel.
I never quite got why Harper felt the need the distribute the various, er, let's call them mementos, wherever he went. There were some temporal anomalies, never explained.
I wanted to know why the House existed, and how. The explanation can be the silliest handwaving, but gosh darn it, an author has to try. Just tell me it's a spillover from a dimension where magic works, or something. In the afterword, Beukes mentions wormholes, but that's well-explored ground (as is magic) and authors have to respect what's already out there. It's the only one? It links vastly-separated parts of an infinite universe ... and it's used to let one deranged psycho wander around stabbing people? Nah. Wormholes are for moving galactic battle fleets, and reaching distant civilizations.
I can allow the ending. We knew from about page 10 that there'd be a showdown, and there'd be a "you can't go in there alone!" and someone would nevertheless go in there alone, and so on.
In the end, there's a decent enough story here except that it's totally missing How and Why.
I can only guess that those who liked just wanted to get on to the next gory stabbing, and see if Kirby gets it on with Dan.
I won't classify this as science fiction at all; borderline fantasy, because the House is essentially a Magic Mirror.
If you expect your murder stories to include repeated, loving descriptions of knives and intestines, you can check that off. If you expect the Hollywood movie older-guy-younger-girl-gradually-drawn-together, yep, it's here.
Plus one: thorough research on several areas covered. Maybe a little too thorough, because as so often happens there's a bit of shame-to-waste-this-I'll-put-it-in.
So, back to the House, which may have been telling Harper to do things (assuming Harper still has a shred of sanity). I mentioned that it's essentially a Magic Mirror. Now, put those together and let's say that the House is inhabited by a trapped evil wizard. NOW you've got a five-star story.
The afterword suggests that Beukes simply wanted to write a time-travel story. She put some work into it, but it might have been better to read more previous stories to see what other, expert writers have done with it. As others have noted, this novel could have been written without the time travel.
I never quite got why Harper felt the need the distribute the various, er, let's call them mementos, wherever he went. There were some temporal anomalies, never explained.
I wanted to know why the House existed, and how. The explanation can be the silliest handwaving, but gosh darn it, an author has to try. Just tell me it's a spillover from a dimension where magic works, or something. In the afterword, Beukes mentions wormholes, but that's well-explored ground (as is magic) and authors have to respect what's already out there. It's the only one? It links vastly-separated parts of an infinite universe ... and it's used to let one deranged psycho wander around stabbing people? Nah. Wormholes are for moving galactic battle fleets, and reaching distant civilizations.
I can allow the ending. We knew from about page 10 that there'd be a showdown, and there'd be a "you can't go in there alone!" and someone would nevertheless go in there alone, and so on.
In the end, there's a decent enough story here except that it's totally missing How and Why.
I can only guess that those who liked just wanted to get on to the next gory stabbing, and see if Kirby gets it on with Dan.
slawlereads's review against another edition
3.5
Super interesting concept for a serial killer. I haven’t read many thrillers and this was dark and captivating.
dmichb's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Oh boy. This book had potential but the writing itself wasn’t great. The notes from the author at the back of the book did help contextual some things/answer some lingering questions but overall I still think that it could have been wrapped up waaaay better.
The bigger issue, however, is that there were some choices that felt pretty racist and otherwise problematic. Once I realized where the author is from it all clicked. Ick.
Bad writing and a waste of time! Read something else!!!!
The bigger issue, however, is that there were some choices that felt pretty racist and otherwise problematic. Once I realized where the author is from it all clicked. Ick.
Bad writing and a waste of time! Read something else!!!!
nadeje77's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0