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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
This ended up being a confused experience for me because I am not well versed at all with Lovecraftian lore and nowhere in the description did it say this was based within that mythos. I had the idea that the story might have a monstrous flair and take influence from Lovecraft but I didn’t realize it would be using creatures and mythology directly from the source material. This left me floundering somewhat near the end of the novel and having to google names to figure out what a Yith is and who Shub-Niggurath was.
Aside from this, the novella felt rushed, the action and descriptions of shifting creatures under the skin was underdeveloped and left me feeling blah. The magic was not explained or explored in enough depth and I had no idea what the rules of the world were.
I liked John Persons and his anti-hero anachronistic language and attitude, but even he wasn’t developed enough, as there was practically no back story or history of his character besides the barest of hints and tidbits.
If you know about the world of Lovecraft you’ll probably like this book much more than I did, but I still think they should have advertised it as being solidly placed in that world to avoid the confusion I experienced at the end.
Aside from this, the novella felt rushed, the action and descriptions of shifting creatures under the skin was underdeveloped and left me feeling blah. The magic was not explained or explored in enough depth and I had no idea what the rules of the world were.
I liked John Persons and his anti-hero anachronistic language and attitude, but even he wasn’t developed enough, as there was practically no back story or history of his character besides the barest of hints and tidbits.
If you know about the world of Lovecraft you’ll probably like this book much more than I did, but I still think they should have advertised it as being solidly placed in that world to avoid the confusion I experienced at the end.
I loved The Salt Grows Heavy, but this one fell very flat for me. Philip Marlowe meets Constantine and cosmic horror, and make it a bit gory: that's this novella. My dislike may stem from the fact that I don't care for the classic crime noir with its P.I. narrators full of swagger, hurling around metaphors. Yawn.
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
My main issue is that it feels too short, seems like it’s more of a beginning of a book than a finished story. I love the prose and the man character’s voice, thinking like a stereotypical detective in a noir film while being something monstrous.
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
If you've ever wanted to read about an alien P.I. who speaks like it's the 1920s trying to help a kid get rid of his abusive step-father, and you like WEIRD, with lots of eyes and tentacles, you're gonna love this. I had a blast.
honestly idk what just happened but it was well-written and entertaining so 4/5 stars from me
Ugh I hated this.
Noir detectives, fake-out chapter ("Oh, that didn't actually happen. You just read it for no reason."), broad/skirt/other super weird ways of referring to women.
Ugh I just hated this so much.
Noir detectives, fake-out chapter ("Oh, that didn't actually happen. You just read it for no reason."), broad/skirt/other super weird ways of referring to women.
Ugh I just hated this so much.
"I want you to kill my stepdad."
I kick my feet off my desk and lean forward, rucking my brow. "Say that again, kid?"
Usually, it's dames trussed up in whalebone and lace that come slinking through my door. Or, as is more often the case these days, femmes fatales in Jimmy Choos and Armani knockoffs. The pipsqueak in my office is new, and I'm not sure I like his brand of new. He's young, maybe a rawboned eleven, but he has the stare of someone three times his age and something twice as dangerous.
When the literal opening lines of the book have me grinning in excitement like they did, I knew I didn't stand a chance at putting this book down. What follows is a short but concise story in the form of a deluge of hard-boiled/noir tropes and classic Lovecraftian references. This really was just a satisfying marriage of two distinct genres that came from a place of appreciation instead of parody. If I could only use two words to sum this book up, they'd be "efficient" and "fun".
"Efficient," because there really isn't a wasted scene or sentence really. It's just pedal-to-the-floor right from the start, but not in a way that's exhausting. A tight cast that doesn't overstay it's welcome, a setup, a twist, a betrayal, and a resolution all in just about a hundred pages is damned impressive if you ask me.
And "fun" because it was just that. Content notwithstanding of course; there are mentions of child abuse, murder, and "Jesus Christ that's messed up"-body horror, but they're not the point of the scenes they're present in. No, I mean fun in the sense that we get to watch our not-entirely-human-but-don't-worry-about-it protagonist use his skills to learn what he can before even deciding to take the job, and those information-gathering scenes have an amusing supernatural twist to them. If even just your rising action setup scenes are enjoyable, you're doing something right.
Also I'm just a sucker for these kinds of lines:
The street is getting dark, the pavement tiger-striped by halogen. It wears the fog like a dame's best scarf, slightly jaunty, with an edge of challenge.
Night comes. Real night. Not just the chronological byproduct of Earth pirouetting around the sun, but a blackness that shoves the lizard brain nose first into the dirt and hisses for caution.
*chef's kiss* If a 500 page, life-changing novel is a full course meal, then this book was a bag of chips. And sometimes you just want a bag of chips.
I kick my feet off my desk and lean forward, rucking my brow. "Say that again, kid?"
Usually, it's dames trussed up in whalebone and lace that come slinking through my door. Or, as is more often the case these days, femmes fatales in Jimmy Choos and Armani knockoffs. The pipsqueak in my office is new, and I'm not sure I like his brand of new. He's young, maybe a rawboned eleven, but he has the stare of someone three times his age and something twice as dangerous.
When the literal opening lines of the book have me grinning in excitement like they did, I knew I didn't stand a chance at putting this book down. What follows is a short but concise story in the form of a deluge of hard-boiled/noir tropes and classic Lovecraftian references. This really was just a satisfying marriage of two distinct genres that came from a place of appreciation instead of parody. If I could only use two words to sum this book up, they'd be "efficient" and "fun".
"Efficient," because there really isn't a wasted scene or sentence really. It's just pedal-to-the-floor right from the start, but not in a way that's exhausting. A tight cast that doesn't overstay it's welcome, a setup, a twist, a betrayal, and a resolution all in just about a hundred pages is damned impressive if you ask me.
And "fun" because it was just that. Content notwithstanding of course; there are mentions of child abuse, murder, and "Jesus Christ that's messed up"-body horror, but they're not the point of the scenes they're present in. No, I mean fun in the sense that we get to watch our not-entirely-human-but-don't-worry-about-it protagonist use his skills to learn what he can before even deciding to take the job, and those information-gathering scenes have an amusing supernatural twist to them. If even just your rising action setup scenes are enjoyable, you're doing something right.
Also I'm just a sucker for these kinds of lines:
The street is getting dark, the pavement tiger-striped by halogen. It wears the fog like a dame's best scarf, slightly jaunty, with an edge of challenge.
Night comes. Real night. Not just the chronological byproduct of Earth pirouetting around the sun, but a blackness that shoves the lizard brain nose first into the dirt and hisses for caution.
*chef's kiss* If a 500 page, life-changing novel is a full course meal, then this book was a bag of chips. And sometimes you just want a bag of chips.
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No