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writingcaia's review
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Great horror tale, eery and spooky, perfect for Halloween, and yet filled with love and candid realistic characters.
To be honest, if it wasn’t for the abrupt finale (at least it felt like that to me) it would be a star up.
What really pulled me in and what I enjoyed the most were the fleshed out characters, the selfish writer David and his selfless young lover Luca, especially the latter.
Although brief the story really does pace nicely to the conclusion, however I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want it to be longer. I just enjoyed the characters so much I would have loved to read more, especially David’s past and that of Charles, his publisher and friend, the father of his young lover. That twist of fate of falling for your friend’s son, of being a non-believer in the paranormal vs the fake non-believer and the results of that, it was so good and well written, thus I wanted more of it.
At the end, there’s the folklore tale that makes the plot move, and I think I would have preferred it to be meshed with the story and actually part of the plot, instead of separate like “here, this is what happened that’s why the anger and the need for vengeance”.
Still, a very entertaining and interesting horror book.
To be honest, if it wasn’t for the abrupt finale (at least it felt like that to me) it would be a star up.
What really pulled me in and what I enjoyed the most were the fleshed out characters, the selfish writer David and his selfless young lover Luca, especially the latter.
Although brief the story really does pace nicely to the conclusion, however I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want it to be longer. I just enjoyed the characters so much I would have loved to read more, especially David’s past and that of Charles, his publisher and friend, the father of his young lover. That twist of fate of falling for your friend’s son, of being a non-believer in the paranormal vs the fake non-believer and the results of that, it was so good and well written, thus I wanted more of it.
At the end, there’s the folklore tale that makes the plot move, and I think I would have preferred it to be meshed with the story and actually part of the plot, instead of separate like “here, this is what happened that’s why the anger and the need for vengeance”.
Still, a very entertaining and interesting horror book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death
Drowning
More...