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2.72 AVERAGE
2.72 AVERAGE
A hodgepodge of synonym-hunting, redundance-fixated, meandering words that disguised themselves as a novella. Some strong passages are an elegy to a better book. Sadly, this reads like someone's nightmare journal written in furious, but confused, haste and without any sense of character, pacing and simple body movement. Characters physically interact too much/too little to the point that their movements are inscrutable or ridiculous.
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
I enjoyed the book but due to my ignorance on Japanese folklore I found I had to look up a lot of what the author was describing in her book. I think this made the book less scary, but I still enjoyed it.
how did this make it past an editor? the plot got completely lost between the Purplest prose and the clunky repetition of the word “fuck.” this is a fairly straightforward haunted house story, but the run-on sentences and rambling metaphors make it almost unintelligible. especially when juxtaposed with jarringly generic and modern dialogue from the starring cast of one-dimensional archetypes.
a major disappointment, for sure.
a major disappointment, for sure.
Great premise and inviting storytelling. Just wanted it to be more, to tell the story with more space and build up. Liked the characters and the setting and would love to have more of each.
dark
medium-paced
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Nothing really happened, the idea was very good but it was over way too soon
This is a very short novel (probably more of a novella). I loved the language, so I'm giving it 4 stars. The plotting and characterization, however, leave something to be desired. I don't understand why these people are all spending time together — they clearly aren't actually friends. But if you ignore that, this is quite enjoyable. The language is both sumptuous and gruesome. The author plays quite a bit with the idea of horror movie/story tropes — both the characters' knowledge of them and how to subvert them, without being illogical. A short, enjoyable read for fans of literary horror.
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Nothing But Blackened Teeth is a horror novella that follows a group of "friends" who end up renting a very old Japanese mansion to celebrate the wedding of several of their party and predictably, said mansion is haunted and things don't go according to plan.
I'll be honest, I was going to unhaul this without reading it based on the extremely low average rating but I had to read a lowest rated book on my TBR for a reading challenge and I still had this, so I figured I'd give it a shot. After reading it, I get the low rating but this really isn't in contention for worst book of the year to me. If anything, I'll probably have mostly forgotten about it by the end of the year. It doesn't do anything egregious for my tastes but neither is it doing anything particularly interesting.
None of the characters in this group of friends are particularly likeable. They don't even seem to like each other very much, but that is sort of the theme it feels like Khaw is going for, people who are still technically connected because of history but have otherwise become strangers to each other. I can also see where Khaw's writing would be very hit or miss for folks because the word choice leans obscure and more literary and the writing itself leans heavily on vibes and metaphors. I didn't mind either of those things but I can see where it would annoy some.
The haunted horror elements are vaguely creepy but not particularly scary.Honestly, the horror is really more in what the friends do to each other with very little prompting from the demons. And there's a bit of tongue in cheek humor about horror generally that I don't mind but also makes it feel fairly predictable? I needed it to either go harder into the self-aware, making fun of horror note or abandon that entirely for me to enjoy it more.
Overall, this was just fine and forgettable for me. It had the bones to be something creepy if it had been fleshed out more but as is, I have no regrets removing it from my shelves. If you don't mind a more predictable plot and unlikeable characters, you might enjoy it but I'd get it from the library first.
I'll be honest, I was going to unhaul this without reading it based on the extremely low average rating but I had to read a lowest rated book on my TBR for a reading challenge and I still had this, so I figured I'd give it a shot. After reading it, I get the low rating but this really isn't in contention for worst book of the year to me. If anything, I'll probably have mostly forgotten about it by the end of the year. It doesn't do anything egregious for my tastes but neither is it doing anything particularly interesting.
None of the characters in this group of friends are particularly likeable. They don't even seem to like each other very much, but that is sort of the theme it feels like Khaw is going for, people who are still technically connected because of history but have otherwise become strangers to each other. I can also see where Khaw's writing would be very hit or miss for folks because the word choice leans obscure and more literary and the writing itself leans heavily on vibes and metaphors. I didn't mind either of those things but I can see where it would annoy some.
The haunted horror elements are vaguely creepy but not particularly scary.
Overall, this was just fine and forgettable for me. It had the bones to be something creepy if it had been fleshed out more but as is, I have no regrets removing it from my shelves. If you don't mind a more predictable plot and unlikeable characters, you might enjoy it but I'd get it from the library first.
I wanted to like this book. The premise was cool, and the prose set a nice spooky atmosphere. But it felt like nothing really happened. The climax happened and I, just, didn't really care? The book spent the first 100 pages making me believe these people were all assholes and so by the last 20 pages I wasn't emotionally attached to them. If they lived or died, I was just kind of apathetic.
The main ghost lady didn't do it for me either. She felt like she belonged on an episode of Mob Psycho, a gory backstory yet not all that threatening. I think that this book could have benefited from more pages of actual spookiness, and not people fighting over relationship drama.
The main ghost lady didn't do it for me either. She felt like she belonged on an episode of Mob Psycho, a gory backstory yet not all that threatening. I think that this book could have benefited from more pages of actual spookiness, and not people fighting over relationship drama.