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3.26 AVERAGE
3.26 AVERAGE
Mi experiencia con Malerman se remonta a The Bird Box y un cuento que aparece en Gutted, so quería conocerlo más.
No sé qué pensar, Unbury Carol es interesante pero no terminó de funcionar para mí.
Los primeros capítulos me gustaron mucho. Aunque nada es concreto, da un toque creepy claustrofóbico misterioso que me gustó bastante, pero después empiezan a pasar muchas cosas extrañas y se agregan muchas tangentes a la historia que desembocan en una combinación un tanto caótica que no cuaja completamente. Aún así, el final fue bastante satisfactorio, so valió la pena no abandonarlo.
No sé qué pensar, Unbury Carol es interesante pero no terminó de funcionar para mí.
Los primeros capítulos me gustaron mucho. Aunque nada es concreto, da un toque creepy claustrofóbico misterioso que me gustó bastante, pero después empiezan a pasar muchas cosas extrañas y se agregan muchas tangentes a la historia que desembocan en una combinación un tanto caótica que no cuaja completamente. Aún así, el final fue bastante satisfactorio, so valió la pena no abandonarlo.
This is a great take on the classic buried alive story. The characters are entertaining and the old cowboy western setting makes for a great backdrop for this horror story. The author also wrote Bird Box, which is now a movie on Netflix. I will definitely read more of his books!
Josh Malerman gets better with each book he writes. I look forward to discussing this book with our book club.
I've never read Josh Malerman before but I forsee a few of his books making their way onto my TBR list. A cross between a supernatural western and sleeping beauty. This book was really well done. There was mythology, "magic" and some really creepy characters. Carol has a condition where under stress she lapses into a coma where she appears dead. Her mother has always feared that she would one day be buried alive and makes sure that Carol always tells someone else about her condition. After her best friend dies the only other person in the town who knows about Carol is her husband, fearing that this isn't good enough Carol decides to confide in her maid but before she can she lapses into a coma. Her husband decides this is his chance to get rid of his wife and keep her fortune for himself. What he doesn't know is that Carol did mention to her maid that her boyfriend from the past, the outlaw James Moxie also knows of Carols condition. When Carol "dies" her maid sends off a telegram to the outlaw and thus begins a race to save Carol.
There were so many really interesting elements to this book from the characters to the mystery of the "trail". The mystery kept you on the edge of your seat right up to the bitter end. I really enjoyed this book.
There were so many really interesting elements to this book from the characters to the mystery of the "trail". The mystery kept you on the edge of your seat right up to the bitter end. I really enjoyed this book.
Carol Evers is a well-liked woman who is married to a not-so-well-liked man in the Wild West town of Harrows. Carol suffers from a unique medical (or magical) condition. She occasionally falls into a deep coma--one from which she cannot be awakened—for days at a time. During this time her heart barely beats, she scarcely breathes, but she can hear everything that happens around her. Her only friend and confidant, John Bowie, passes away at the beginning of this book, inciting the events that follow. Her husband, Dwight, is the only person alive who is aware of her condition. And he wants her buried.
This book starts off with a fire, but it sizzles a little in the middle. There’s a lot of filler for a story that takes place over a few days. That said, the book is very atmospheric, and I appreciate Malerman’s attention to detail. He does a phenomenal job of painting the picture of Harrows, the surrounding towns, and the Trail, and he thoroughly describes the secondary and tertiary characters. However, I found the female characters to be either lacking or not featured enough in the story. Lafayette is feared and powerful, yet we don’t see her much. Carol herself is well-loved—but we never get to see her demonstrate her lovability. Even Farrah, the housekeeper, is painted as weak and ineffective. At one point Malerman briefly mentions a badass female outlaw, and I hoped beyond hope that she would show up, but alas, she did not. Still, Carol herself is strong, and it was interesting to watch her character evolve over the course of the novel.
To me, the conflict in the story was a little silly. Carol was well loved. Why wouldn’t she have told more people about her condition? She was hurt by someone she told her secret to twenty years ago, but that was her significant other. Surely she should have told the local doctor, or at least the town’s funeral director. Though I understand that the plot hinges on the fact that no one in town knows, this is still a plot hole that niggled at me while reading.
The following comment is a mild spoiler about the ending
Someone asked me if Unbury Carol is your typical Western, and I realized I had never read a book set in the Wild West before! I told her that this is a good gateway book to introduce you to the genre. It’s moody and dark and a little twisted, and if you’re willing to suspend your disbelief, this is definitely a good book to read in the heat of the summer.
3.5 stars
*I received a free ARC of this book from the publisher and chose to review it. This in no way affects my review*
This book starts off with a fire, but it sizzles a little in the middle. There’s a lot of filler for a story that takes place over a few days. That said, the book is very atmospheric, and I appreciate Malerman’s attention to detail. He does a phenomenal job of painting the picture of Harrows, the surrounding towns, and the Trail, and he thoroughly describes the secondary and tertiary characters. However, I found the female characters to be either lacking or not featured enough in the story. Lafayette is feared and powerful, yet we don’t see her much. Carol herself is well-loved—but we never get to see her demonstrate her lovability. Even Farrah, the housekeeper, is painted as weak and ineffective. At one point Malerman briefly mentions a badass female outlaw, and I hoped beyond hope that she would show up, but alas, she did not. Still, Carol herself is strong, and it was interesting to watch her character evolve over the course of the novel.
To me, the conflict in the story was a little silly. Carol was well loved. Why wouldn’t she have told more people about her condition? She was hurt by someone she told her secret to twenty years ago, but that was her significant other. Surely she should have told the local doctor, or at least the town’s funeral director. Though I understand that the plot hinges on the fact that no one in town knows, this is still a plot hole that niggled at me while reading.
The following comment is a mild spoiler about the ending
Spoiler
The ending is satisfyingly clever, if a little anticlimactic. When everyone in the story is a little mad, I would have expected a lot more madness in the final pages.Someone asked me if Unbury Carol is your typical Western, and I realized I had never read a book set in the Wild West before! I told her that this is a good gateway book to introduce you to the genre. It’s moody and dark and a little twisted, and if you’re willing to suspend your disbelief, this is definitely a good book to read in the heat of the summer.
3.5 stars
*I received a free ARC of this book from the publisher and chose to review it. This in no way affects my review*
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
"Fear was no stranger to Howltown, no traveler from the Trail, but the fear she felt now was shattering."
Unbury Carol is a melange of genres: it's a fairytale-like western with hints of supernatural and horror. This book is a rollercoaster. I didn't really know what to expect going into it because of the premise, but I was really excited about it because Bird Box is one of my favorite books I've read in recent years. In this book, there's a different kind of terror and incredibly creative. I'm continually impressed by Malerman's wild ideas and how he executes them. I mean, this is a sort of retelling of Sleeping Beauty but waaaaaay more intense.
Parts of it dragged out and I think some elements could have been better developed, but overall I liked it. I thought the main characters, Carol, Moxie, and Dwight, were super interesting, as I've come to expect from Malerman's books. This book was way out of my comfort zone but I enjoyed it. I didn't love it nearly as much as I love Bird Box, but I thought this book was inventive and fun. I think if you're okay with reading weird books, you may like this! I wish I loved it more but alas. I'll continue reading Malerman's books because I adore his brain and writing. 3/5 stars!
Unbury Carol is a melange of genres: it's a fairytale-like western with hints of supernatural and horror. This book is a rollercoaster. I didn't really know what to expect going into it because of the premise, but I was really excited about it because Bird Box is one of my favorite books I've read in recent years. In this book, there's a different kind of terror and incredibly creative. I'm continually impressed by Malerman's wild ideas and how he executes them. I mean, this is a sort of retelling of Sleeping Beauty but waaaaaay more intense.
Parts of it dragged out and I think some elements could have been better developed, but overall I liked it. I thought the main characters, Carol, Moxie, and Dwight, were super interesting, as I've come to expect from Malerman's books. This book was way out of my comfort zone but I enjoyed it. I didn't love it nearly as much as I love Bird Box, but I thought this book was inventive and fun. I think if you're okay with reading weird books, you may like this! I wish I loved it more but alas. I'll continue reading Malerman's books because I adore his brain and writing. 3/5 stars!
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I almost gave up on this book, but slogged on to the end anyway. The pace of this book was slow and the build up extremely slow. The characters were uninteresting and not too different from each other; they all used the same way of speaking, which was this awkward and stiff pseudo-western lingo. The “who cares?” portion of this story doesn’t come until about 2/3 of the way through the book when the main source of Carol’s condition is revealed, and even then it’s hard to care because this (and other elements) were not sufficiently explained and the main storyline isn’t resolved by the end of the book.
I was doubly as disappointed by this book because I LOVED Bird Box. I mean, in the top 10 books I’ve ever read - a masterpiece of psychological horror. This book is so boring and bland I am having a hard time believing these books were written by the same author.
Sadly, Unbury Carol is a swing and a miss.
I was doubly as disappointed by this book because I LOVED Bird Box. I mean, in the top 10 books I’ve ever read - a masterpiece of psychological horror. This book is so boring and bland I am having a hard time believing these books were written by the same author.
Sadly, Unbury Carol is a swing and a miss.