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3.26 AVERAGE
3.26 AVERAGE
I gave it my best try and read a third before throwing in the towel. This book was just so incredibly not for me. I like weird and dark little stories but this tale about a woman afflicted by a condition where she falls into a death-like state and the dastardly bastard of a man she trusted, who naturally is doing her all kinds of wrong, isn't working for me in any way. The characters are not engaging me and the plot is not interesting to me so I'm calling it quits and starting something else.
I sure hope future Nocturnal Reader's Box picks are more horrorish than this or I'll have to be calling it quits with them too.
I sure hope future Nocturnal Reader's Box picks are more horrorish than this or I'll have to be calling it quits with them too.
This was so good! This story lives adjacent to the Dark Tower, and even though Roland is chasing down the Man in Black at the same time Smoke pursues Moxie, these characters exist in their own sphere of adventure.
This is my third book by Josh Malerman, and already he’s become a can’t-miss author. Unbury Carol is very unique and original. You can lump it in with the horror sub(sub?)genre of weird western, but it still manages to stand on its’ own two legs.
Malerman does an excellent job of taking a concept that I thought might make for a good short story and making it work as an engrossing 362 page novel. I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention the world built in this story. It has a lot of similarities to the old west, but contains a sense of isolation on the trail that makes the reader understand that this is not part of our world. One nice touch here is the way the suits in a deck of cards are different. A small difference, but it managed to set the stage.
Smoke is a fantastic villain and spends a lot of time doing the literary equivalent of chewing the scenery. I couldn’t help but picture him as Daniel Day Lewis harking back to There Will Be Blood. He is menacing and cruel, and is unquestionably a large part of why this story works on the scale it does.
The one issue I had was with the chapter set up towards the end. Malerman has described the chapters in this book as vignettes. Each one works as a complete scene and gives us glimpses of what is happening with certain characters or in certain locations. When the action comes to a head, Malerman opts for an extended chapter containing only a paragraph or two at a time before it jumps to somewhere else. This was clearly done to build tension, but the way the book moved for 95% of its run time worked so well, it was a shame to leave it.
All in all, a minor issue and I would recommend this to anyone looking for their next Malerman. If you’re looking to start this author, I believe Bird Box is the best point to jump in, but Unbury Carol gives us a great story with characters we enjoy spending time with, a villain whose next POV chapter we can’t wait to get to, and a setting in the Trail, that holds it all together.
Malerman does an excellent job of taking a concept that I thought might make for a good short story and making it work as an engrossing 362 page novel. I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention the world built in this story. It has a lot of similarities to the old west, but contains a sense of isolation on the trail that makes the reader understand that this is not part of our world. One nice touch here is the way the suits in a deck of cards are different. A small difference, but it managed to set the stage.
Smoke is a fantastic villain and spends a lot of time doing the literary equivalent of chewing the scenery. I couldn’t help but picture him as Daniel Day Lewis harking back to There Will Be Blood. He is menacing and cruel, and is unquestionably a large part of why this story works on the scale it does.
The one issue I had was with the chapter set up towards the end. Malerman has described the chapters in this book as vignettes. Each one works as a complete scene and gives us glimpses of what is happening with certain characters or in certain locations. When the action comes to a head, Malerman opts for an extended chapter containing only a paragraph or two at a time before it jumps to somewhere else. This was clearly done to build tension, but the way the book moved for 95% of its run time worked so well, it was a shame to leave it.
All in all, a minor issue and I would recommend this to anyone looking for their next Malerman. If you’re looking to start this author, I believe Bird Box is the best point to jump in, but Unbury Carol gives us a great story with characters we enjoy spending time with, a villain whose next POV chapter we can’t wait to get to, and a setting in the Trail, that holds it all together.
This is a mystery/horror/chase story set in the old west. Carol has a condition that causes her to die (but not die), her husband wants to bury her, and her old boyfriend wants to save her. Pretty creepy.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“There’s a difference between bad and evil. Bad is when you ignore the one you love. But evil is when you know exactly what that person wants, what means the most to them, and you figure out how to take it away.”
Unbury Carol wasn’t my favorite book, but it wasn’t a bad book either. It was an interesting take on being trapped in a coma and one of those old western movies. Like a weird hybrid.
Unbury Carol wasn’t my favorite book, but it wasn’t a bad book either. It was an interesting take on being trapped in a coma and one of those old western movies. Like a weird hybrid.
It is hard for me to discern why I did not like this book that much. I do not regret reading it, but it lacked a certain something. The story was fine, the characters were fine... I don't know. It was just fine. Bird Box was so excellent that I expected more from Malerman. I would recommend this to Marlerman fans, but outside of that, perhaps not.
I may be judging this one a bit harshly since I loved, loved, loved Bird Box. There’s nothing wrong with this new novel. It’s just no Bird Box, and the lack of creepiness and anxiety-induced squirminess saddens me deeply.
I didn’t really have the concentration to finish this book - Malerman’s sentences were too over the top and details too suffocating. I wanted MORE of Carol (she is the title character) and the mysteries surrounding her death sleep but instead most of the story, in typical Sleeping Beauty fashion, takes place through the vast amount of characters outside of Carol’s “death” place. If the book eventually gets to that part, my brain hurt too much from every other part of the story to carry on - I gave up around page 150.
Felt very antiquated language wise, lots of commas per confusing, philosophical sentence - which always throws me off - and had a very Western feel to it in the overall feel, scenery, and character dialogue. Which is not a bad thing; but it did only enhance the already exhausted drama.
It was the writing that really turned me off - the plot and characters were fascinating enough, and I wish it had had simpler writing that really drew you on as a reader. Maybe I would have stuck with it and enjoyed reading it more.
Felt very antiquated language wise, lots of commas per confusing, philosophical sentence - which always throws me off - and had a very Western feel to it in the overall feel, scenery, and character dialogue. Which is not a bad thing; but it did only enhance the already exhausted drama.
It was the writing that really turned me off - the plot and characters were fascinating enough, and I wish it had had simpler writing that really drew you on as a reader. Maybe I would have stuck with it and enjoyed reading it more.
I’m so bad at not finishing books I’m not enjoying, especially when I’ve made it 50% through it; but I simply have no desire to even find out how this story ends.