Reviews

L'ospite e altri racconti by Amparo Dávila

justinkhchen's review against another edition

2.0

2.5 stars

Turned out to be a little too subtle for what I was expecting, The Houseguest is a collection of well-intended, but ultimately derivative psychological horror stories.

It is at least thematically consistent, exploring the unexpected manifestation of our psyche, particularly in the category of anxiety, guilt, trauma, and paranoia. The collection is simply not memorable; while it definitely evokes the quiet dread similar to Poe and Shirley Jackson, nothing about them really stand out beyond being an above average imitation (perhaps it is a case of lost in translation?).

Would recommend exclusively for readers who enjoy moody, minimalist psychological horror.

arielapakan's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

soggyoatmilk's review against another edition

The voice of these stories falls flat for me, maybe because it’s a book in translation… I’m not interested in finishing this book. Boring, half-written, vague. There were minimal passages (sentences, actually) that stood out to me as “good”. 

lottie1803's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

tom_caldarera's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

ezrasupremacy's review against another edition

4.0

3.75 ⭐️ rounded up

asgoncalves's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

ssibold's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

cyrenasea's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.25

headinthebooks's review against another edition

3.0

Some was scary.. some was boring af, so normal