Reviews with content warning for Suicidal thoughts - Nothing But Blackened Teeth

I really liked Khaw's prose but I think that the story could've benefited from another hundred pages or so. the ending wasn't what I expected, nor hoped, it would be, and it came far too soon.

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bijou3owl's review against another edition

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dark sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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readingmushrooms's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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vivaciousvaleska's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.25

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samanthalw96's review against another edition

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tense fast-paced

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

2.0

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wrensreadingroom's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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sjxco's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The prose is beautiful, but the story overall didn’t quite unsettle me as much as I thought it would.

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spadedigsbutts's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

A book that was fun to read for the visual language and descriptions, but was much weaker elsewhere.

The main conflict is essentially a dysfunctional friend group's issues being exacerbated by a ghost haunting when they were already at the breaking point. Like in most horror media, the cast is pretty unlikable and are mainly defined by their relations to each other, without much nuance independently. This is a normal convention for this scenario in the horror genre, but I wish characters had more arcs or at least more detailed interpersonal relations than "x slept with x once" as the few details we do get just don't have much payoff in the book.
Most characters feel like they start and end the same, which may partially be the point considering it's a super toxic friend group, but it does leave you up in the air when it just comes to an end without much of a huge conclusion. If you read it hoping for some sort of character resolutions, you won't get it.

If you came for a cool japanese influenced haunted house story where interpersonal relationships come to a tragic head, you unfortunately really don't get that. I wish we'd had more time to develop things in the book as while the writing style is lush and detailed, the actual set elements and characters are flimsy. A good read for a bus ride or waiting at a doctor's office, but not much out. I doubt I'll ever reread it.

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