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4.07 AVERAGE
4.07 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Maybe a 3.5. This book started out so good. It was creepy, the character development was great, and I loved the flavor of magic/supernatural it was giving. I listened to it on audiobook, and unfortunately it was probably 5 or 6 hours too long (out of 22 hour long book). It got to a certain point in the narrative and ground practically to a halt. By the time it picked back up again, I was almost done with the book, and I wasn't nearly as invested anymore. If it had been closer to 16 hours long, it would've been much more gripping, and I would've given it a 4 or even a 5.
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I loved this book! I became a fan of Tananarive Due from her spot in Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror, and this book showed up on numerous top ten lists for modern literary horror. This was a fun exploration of what one might describe as non-colonizer horror themes, touching on both Afro-Caribbean and Pacific Northwest Native American folk traditions to epitomize a force that combats a family through time, space, and generations. Due did an excellent job creating a rich community of characters that you feel like you really got to know and like by the end of the book. I was happy to read this one the week before Halloween, but it'd be a fine read any time of the year.
4.5 stars
This was my ‘spooky’ read for the Halloween season and it was perfect! My first read from Tananarive Due, explored themes of family trauma and racial strife, with a healthy mix of Haitian Vodou and malevolent evil. UMMMM! Loved!
This was my ‘spooky’ read for the Halloween season and it was perfect! My first read from Tananarive Due, explored themes of family trauma and racial strife, with a healthy mix of Haitian Vodou and malevolent evil. UMMMM! Loved!
4.5 stars.
This was such an interesting book! It's one of the few horror books that has actually made me feel scared, so that's a huge plus in my book! It starts out really sad and it took a bit to get going, but once it did, SO much stuff started happening. I actually found it a bit difficult to keep up with at times, since it started jumping back and forth in time to explain things, so the story unfolds in both the present and the past. It didn't help that I'm pretty unfamiliar with the kind of magic and spells discussed in the book, so admittedly I didn't catch everything. However, I found it fairly easy to understand overall, once I finished the book.
The only problem I really have with the book is its casual discussion and inclusion of rape and sexual assault. I will say that had a man written this, these instances would be a lot worse I'm sure, but I still found all of these things highly unnecessary to the story.
Overall, really good book! It felt super long, but a lot of stuff happened so I don't think it got bogged down much, though it took a few chapters to really grab my attention.
This was such an interesting book! It's one of the few horror books that has actually made me feel scared, so that's a huge plus in my book! It starts out really sad and it took a bit to get going, but once it did, SO much stuff started happening. I actually found it a bit difficult to keep up with at times, since it started jumping back and forth in time to explain things, so the story unfolds in both the present and the past. It didn't help that I'm pretty unfamiliar with the kind of magic and spells discussed in the book, so admittedly I didn't catch everything. However, I found it fairly easy to understand overall, once I finished the book.
The only problem I really have with the book is its casual discussion and inclusion of rape and sexual assault.
Spoiler
Angie's first sexual experience is when she's 13, with a band instructor so pretty clearly an adult, and this is pretty glossed over for the most part. I'm not sure why it was necessary to include, as it didn't add anything to the story. Also, when Myles and Angie reconnect, they have sex twice, then he has sex with her again while she's asleep because he couldn't resist her? And it's supposed to be this romantic thing, that isn't presented as an issue in the text whatsoever? Hell no. There was also a prison rape joke that I didn't appreciate.Overall, really good book! It felt super long, but a lot of stuff happened so I don't think it got bogged down much, though it took a few chapters to really grab my attention.