Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.26 AVERAGE
3.26 AVERAGE
Unbury Carol though wasn’t quite so creepy. A sort of twisted Sleeping Beauty western that I had too-high expectations for, after reading Bird Box.
It was an interesting tale about a woman who falls into such deep comas it’s like she’s dead – and her husband who wants to be rid of her. What I wasn’t really convinced of was his failure to kill her – I mean, if he really wanted her gone, why didn’t he just make sure?
I quite enjoyed the cast of strange outlaws and evil beings. And unlike the title of the book, the burying part of it comes quite late.
It’s hard to say really where this book would be shelved – western? Horror? Weird western? Books that read like a Tarantino film? 3.5 ⭐️
It was an interesting tale about a woman who falls into such deep comas it’s like she’s dead – and her husband who wants to be rid of her. What I wasn’t really convinced of was his failure to kill her – I mean, if he really wanted her gone, why didn’t he just make sure?
I quite enjoyed the cast of strange outlaws and evil beings. And unlike the title of the book, the burying part of it comes quite late.
It’s hard to say really where this book would be shelved – western? Horror? Weird western? Books that read like a Tarantino film? 3.5 ⭐️
dark
slow-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Wow, I loved this book! I knew Josh Malerman was a writer to watch following his Bird Box debut, which I thought was interesting, but did not push its concept far enough, and also had a far too conventional ending.
No lollygagging with Unbury Carol: the High Concept here is balls-to-the-wall crazy, and Malerman twists it and pushes it in directions that leave the reader reeling with shock … and what a surprising, yet beautifully fitting, ending.
Though the two novels seem worlds apart in subject matter, style, and execution, there is a similarity in how Malerman interrogates his world-building, and his predilection for deeply-flawed characters pushed far out of their comfort zones, to the point of existential disintegration.
And then there are the villains (actually, everyone seems to have some shade of villainy in this book). At first glance, Smoke seems like such a preposterous character. James Moxie partakes of the supernatural, while Rot is just plain infernal. But Malerman is so adept at telling details that humanise these monsters.
Malerman loves to mix genre elements into a heady stew. With Bird Box it was horror and apocalyptic SF; with Unbury Carol, it is the Wild West and fairy tales (in particular Sleeping Beauty), and a good dash of Grand Guignol, baroque, Lovecraftian excess for seasoning.
I think a lot of readers will be taken aback by Unbury Carol’s deliberate weirdness. It is as if Malerman went out of his way to write as much of a polar opposite of a novel to Bird Box as he could.
But for me that is always the mark of a great writer: experimenting, and not being afraid to antagonise your readers, for they will eventually see the light. Or, as in this case, the cloying dark inside Carol’s buried coffin.
No lollygagging with Unbury Carol: the High Concept here is balls-to-the-wall crazy, and Malerman twists it and pushes it in directions that leave the reader reeling with shock … and what a surprising, yet beautifully fitting, ending.
Though the two novels seem worlds apart in subject matter, style, and execution, there is a similarity in how Malerman interrogates his world-building, and his predilection for deeply-flawed characters pushed far out of their comfort zones, to the point of existential disintegration.
And then there are the villains (actually, everyone seems to have some shade of villainy in this book). At first glance, Smoke seems like such a preposterous character. James Moxie partakes of the supernatural, while Rot is just plain infernal. But Malerman is so adept at telling details that humanise these monsters.
Malerman loves to mix genre elements into a heady stew. With Bird Box it was horror and apocalyptic SF; with Unbury Carol, it is the Wild West and fairy tales (in particular Sleeping Beauty), and a good dash of Grand Guignol, baroque, Lovecraftian excess for seasoning.
I think a lot of readers will be taken aback by Unbury Carol’s deliberate weirdness. It is as if Malerman went out of his way to write as much of a polar opposite of a novel to Bird Box as he could.
But for me that is always the mark of a great writer: experimenting, and not being afraid to antagonise your readers, for they will eventually see the light. Or, as in this case, the cloying dark inside Carol’s buried coffin.
DNF at 68%
This book was just incredibly boring and convoluted. Too many unimportant side characters and I didn’t feel that the story was really going anywhere.
This book was just incredibly boring and convoluted. Too many unimportant side characters and I didn’t feel that the story was really going anywhere.
A modern take on a classic western tale with a supernatural twist. Carol is a strong and compassionate woman, beloved by her small rural township of Harrows, the northern most township on the legendary Trail. But she has a secret condition; Carol is prone to death and often lapses into a coma-like state and for all appearances looks to be dead. During her latest bout of coma, she is betrayed by her husband, the only other person who knows her condition for what it is, and he works to bury her alive. Word makes it to an outlaw who shares a history with Carol and as he rides to save her from her premature burial, he is followed closely by sinister figure shrouded in death.
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Hell’s heaven, I loved this book! I didn’t know I needed a slightly magical, claustrophobic, Old-West-with-a-twist story until I read this. I would love more stories set on The Trail.
dragged harder that anything I've ever read
dnf, I love malerman writing. But this book is not for me I don't care about anyone. Carol can stay in the ground for all I care.