Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

No One Goes Alone by Erik Larson

1 review

peytonktracy's review

dark informative mysterious tense slow-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

3.5

Overall, I'm really pleased with Erik Larson's first stab at fiction! It was really fun to hear the fictionalized narrative heavily peppered with his familiar historic writing style from his other books. His speculations all fell in line with what actual historical figures of the time would theorize, which made it a fun thought experiment told in the style of an Agatha Christie novel. It wasn't the strongest narrative, and safely rooted in the history of the time, I never felt truly spooked, but still reveled in the eerie atmosphere. The characters never got as much dimension as I wanted to see, and in particular the narrator drove me a little nutty for at times being dense, cocky, and arrogant. I also really, really enjoyed the fact that this was an audio original as the primary recommended way of consuming this narrative, and the author's note at the end that cited some of his inspirations, such as his belief that all the best ghost stories are for being told out loud at night and by the fire.  (As a note though, I think print copies are worth making so this story can be shared with non-hearing audiences.) I also appreciated his recommendations for further reading, both of a historic nature and of a fictional nature. Skip this one if you want some big spooks, but if you like Erik Larson's other books, you'll absolutely enjoy this! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Body horror

Minor: Body horror, War, Child death, and Torture

This book has a lot of nods to history in it, so there's lot of brief passing mentions of horrific moments throughout history, but the focus is on hauntings and the metaphysical experimentations in the spiritualist movement in the early 20th century. So I guess that's it's own content warning - it is spooky!