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kathleenmcg's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I did not expect to love this book so much. I am interested in Guillermo del Toro's work, but I have never quite recovered from the end of Pan's Labyrinth. So I did not see the movie, and when I came across this book at the library, I thought I could control whether or not the book was upsetting. Actually, the book is great. I was interested to learn that Daniel Kraus, and del Toro were on parallel paths, with the Creature from the Black Lagoon as a star. They met, and worked apart in the US and Mexico, and came to the decision for Kraus to right the book and del Toro the direct the movie. So the basic structure was there, but of course the book is has quite a bit more detail, and is imaginative about things beyond the film medium, at present.
A lonely young mute woman works the graveyard shift at a research facility in Baltimore, MD, in 1962. Her best friend is her gay neighbor, both living over a decrepit theater that has movies going on round the clock. She and a fellow janitor learn that there is something alive in one of the labs, after a man comes out of the lab bleeding from the loss of two fingers. The two janitors are ordered to go in the lab to clean up the bloody mess. So starts a story where she slowly gains the trust of the humanoid "monster" and falls in love. In the meantime, the Cold War is fully engaged, so the "monster" becomes caught in the machinations of the two super powers, the U.S.S.R., and the U.S. At the same time, the man who loses his fingers has a parallel journey, and the intersection of the two storylines is the source of most of the conflict. The story, itself, is lovely, with enough horror and politics that it would never be mistaken for an American romance. Still, with the romantic elements, the reader cannot help but pull for the janitor, and the "monster," to have a happy ending.
A lonely young mute woman works the graveyard shift at a research facility in Baltimore, MD, in 1962. Her best friend is her gay neighbor, both living over a decrepit theater that has movies going on round the clock. She and a fellow janitor learn that there is something alive in one of the labs, after a man comes out of the lab bleeding from the loss of two fingers. The two janitors are ordered to go in the lab to clean up the bloody mess. So starts a story where she slowly gains the trust of the humanoid "monster" and falls in love. In the meantime, the Cold War is fully engaged, so the "monster" becomes caught in the machinations of the two super powers, the U.S.S.R., and the U.S. At the same time, the man who loses his fingers has a parallel journey, and the intersection of the two storylines is the source of most of the conflict. The story, itself, is lovely, with enough horror and politics that it would never be mistaken for an American romance. Still, with the romantic elements, the reader cannot help but pull for the janitor, and the "monster," to have a happy ending.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Gun violence
Moderate: Homophobia
tabithae's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
tatyanavogt's review
3.0
So I think it was a good book.. (also this is a SUPER messy review, sooo.. you've been warned)
I was not interested in the first part, did not care about most of what was happening and wished it wasn't dragged out for so long. I got interested a few chapters in and got invested and then got un-interested again and kinda just wanted the book to be over early.
Some things were just ehh.. like i dont know how to say it without spoilers so I guess I jump into that part of the review pretty quick. It was okay, I wouldn't read it again and there were things that I really didn't like. Almost DNF'd it but I need to actually finish some of the books that I've started if I want to hit my reading goal for this year.. so I pushed through and it was fine.
Spoiler review:
Okay, so I think the book did a good job making me hate the bad guy. But I wish we didn't spend so much time on him and his story and his wife/family seemed not that useful to the actual storyline. Why did she get a big part only for it to fizzle out and then pop back in at the end with her leaving. I liked her and her story: looking for independence, leaving her abusive husband, thats all great but it kinda felt like it was just slapped on to fill things out and didn't really have a solid story purpose.
The creature killing her friends cat and then him not REALLY reacting seemed weird to me. Like one of your fur babies was murdered. I get that he wouldn't blame the creature because its just animal instincts and he see's it like a god but you think he would show some sadness. (I'm bias though as a pet owner who loves animals..)
The fact that his apartment, the hallway and her apartment were then covered in blood along with the way to the theater and NO one noticed after. Even when she flooded the theater with her bath sex and the landlord/owner came up to confront them. Did he just ignore the bloody hand print and blood trail in the hallway or in the artists apartment?
And then crazy man, once he snapped and we get the murder and chaos that follows him out into the real world, did no one call the cops when gun shots were being fired at the black lady's house? I hated that part, him just destroying their belongings (but I think it fit and was successful for the story, I just hated it because its the kinda stuff that would happen to a black family.. and that just is hard. But I dont think it was a bad part of the book).
No, back to my original review, the story got interesting when our mute hero is introduced to the creature. I liked the scientist and how he helped her. I got really into them braking the creature out, and then once they got away with the creature I was kinda over it and wanted the book to be done. If I wasn't listing to the audio book I probably wouldn't have finished it. But then, after the chaos at the docks happened and our mute creature and the actual creature are finally joined together under the water.. I thought that was nice. I was fine with the ending and learning that she too was a creature. Even though that didn't fully make sense but whatever. lol.
But yeah. that was my feelings.. Sorry it was a mess. I am very tired and I forgot everyones names..
I was not interested in the first part, did not care about most of what was happening and wished it wasn't dragged out for so long. I got interested a few chapters in and got invested and then got un-interested again and kinda just wanted the book to be over early.
Some things were just ehh.. like i dont know how to say it without spoilers so I guess I jump into that part of the review pretty quick. It was okay, I wouldn't read it again and there were things that I really didn't like. Almost DNF'd it but I need to actually finish some of the books that I've started if I want to hit my reading goal for this year.. so I pushed through and it was fine.
Spoiler review:
Spoiler
Okay, so I think the book did a good job making me hate the bad guy. But I wish we didn't spend so much time on him and his story and his wife/family seemed not that useful to the actual storyline. Why did she get a big part only for it to fizzle out and then pop back in at the end with her leaving. I liked her and her story: looking for independence, leaving her abusive husband, thats all great but it kinda felt like it was just slapped on to fill things out and didn't really have a solid story purpose.
The creature killing her friends cat and then him not REALLY reacting seemed weird to me. Like one of your fur babies was murdered. I get that he wouldn't blame the creature because its just animal instincts and he see's it like a god but you think he would show some sadness. (I'm bias though as a pet owner who loves animals..)
The fact that his apartment, the hallway and her apartment were then covered in blood along with the way to the theater and NO one noticed after. Even when she flooded the theater with her bath sex and the landlord/owner came up to confront them. Did he just ignore the bloody hand print and blood trail in the hallway or in the artists apartment?
And then crazy man, once he snapped and we get the murder and chaos that follows him out into the real world, did no one call the cops when gun shots were being fired at the black lady's house? I hated that part, him just destroying their belongings (but I think it fit and was successful for the story, I just hated it because its the kinda stuff that would happen to a black family.. and that just is hard. But I dont think it was a bad part of the book).
No, back to my original review, the story got interesting when our mute hero is introduced to the creature. I liked the scientist and how he helped her. I got really into them braking the creature out, and then once they got away with the creature I was kinda over it and wanted the book to be done. If I wasn't listing to the audio book I probably wouldn't have finished it. But then, after the chaos at the docks happened and our mute creature and the actual creature are finally joined together under the water.. I thought that was nice. I was fine with the ending and learning that she too was a creature. Even though that didn't fully make sense but whatever. lol.
But yeah. that was my feelings.. Sorry it was a mess. I am very tired and I forgot everyones names..
haselmaus94's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
royalfox's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
God I wanted to love this but I just couldn't!!! I loved the movie, and I loved the audio book for Pan's Labyrinth, so I thought this would be a no-brainer. But the writing was not very good and the descriptions were odd and I didn't feel connected to any of the characters at all. I kept finding myself zoning out while listening and had to force myself to focus on the story.
It wasn't terrible but it could have been so much better. Ugh. I'm disappointed.
It wasn't terrible but it could have been so much better. Ugh. I'm disappointed.