Reviews - Palmetto | The StoryGraph

146 reviews for:

Palmetto

Ania Ahlborn

3.57 AVERAGE

a_chickletz's review against another edition

2.0

I'm going to be one of the rare ones who have to down-vote this short story. I found the narrative prose to be a little clunky. I also couldn't grasp the ending and what just happened.

Spoiler

What was the sacrifice? The Palmetto infestation for the house of her dreams? What was the baby? Who was the old woman?

I felt that the characters - husband and wife - to have lack of depth. It was an A to B story for me.

sherubi27's review against another edition

3.0

This gave me PTSD. I unfortunately had cockroaches in my house at one point and thankfully they are gone. The way this character felt like she seen them everywhere and no matter how many she killed they were always there felt so real. My skin is literally crawling.

fionakay's review against another edition

3.5

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

darkskybooks's review against another edition

4.0

This book definitely hit home in a somewhat unexpected manner. The main topic is buying a seemingly dream home which turns out to be more than you bargained for. Having recently bought a new house and discovered afterwards some expensive problems to fix I can definitely get on board with this theme! Fortunately my issues are not the same as the ones here. Palmetto takes its name from the Palmetto bug, a type of cockroach. Infestations make good horror topics - both very believable and easy to make people a bit squeamish with. Ania Ahlborn does a fantastic job of building up the rising sense of dread that someone with a genuine fear of bugs might have. The novella format is perfect here giving just the right length to leave a satisfying denouement without overstaying its welcome. Thoroughly enjoyable!

Thunderstorm books have also done a fantastic job with the production of this book. This is part of their Black Voltage line which is signed and numbered, has a standardized size, is leatherbound and features hand marbled endsheets. Very good value for the price!

melish's review against another edition

5.0

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I hate bugs why did I read this? Oh yeah, because I’ll read anything Ania Ahlborn writes, regardless of how many nightmares she gives me.

quirkylitlover's review against another edition

5.0

dark tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

bucher_freund's review against another edition

3.0

dark tense fast-paced

Kim and Eddie are expecting their first baby, and have finally found their dream house in which to raise a family. They quickly discover that their new home is infested with palmetto bugs - which is a nice way of saying huge, ugly, winged cockroaches. No amount of exterminators or other remedies seem to fix the problem. Eddie is relatively unruffled by the occasional bug he sees, but Kim notices them everywhere and becomes obsessed with eradicating the house of the creepy pests. Her hysteria is exacerbated by the birth of their daughter, and she declares war.

This novella was fast-paced, well-written, and so gross! I'm not too much bothered by bugs and spiders and the like - except for cockroaches! They give me the wiggins, and I will full on flip out anytime one gets near me. This story leans into that fear, and I cheered Kim on even as she became increasingly unhinged. I have one major gripe with Palmetto, though. The ending is extremely abrupt and I found it unsatisfying. It was almost as if Ahlborn got to a certain point and decided she was tired of writing this one and just wanted to wrap it up ASAP. Other than that, a recommended read.

Also, minor animal TW, fyi.