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3.51 AVERAGE
3.51 AVERAGE
2 1/2 but i’ll give it three because i loved it in middle school.
I loved the mysteriousness of this book. But it became nonsensical and culminated in, what felt to me like 'cheating' by the author.
You can find this and other reviews at: owlsandvowels.org
Plot: La Baume is supposed to be a sanctuary for Silla and Nori, but this large manor house offers something much darker.
Review: This is a very hard book to review, and the following will have some spoilers. Stop now if you don’t want to know.
Let me give you the breakdown:
What it’s about:
The story follows two sisters, Silla and Nori, who have run away from home in order to escape their abusive father and negligent mother. The only place they have to turn to is their mother’s family estate, La Baume, which is a large manor house outside of London. When the sisters first meet their Aunt Cathy (who runs the old estate), they find that both the hostess and her home are in disrepair. Cathy is flighty, and reminded be a bit of Professor Trelawney form Harry Potter. She’s just not quite there, but she’s way better that getting beaten by a drunk. The house is without technology, or means for outside communication. In spite of this, things are going well until Nori (the younger sister) goes into the Python Woods.
What’s in the woods?!
A few things happen once Nori crosses the threshold:
1. It awakens the Creeper Man (child nabbing demon).
2. Aunt Cathy loses it and permanently locks herself in the attic, thus abandoning the girls.
3. The forest starts to rapidly creep towards the estate, which leaves the girls without resources or a way to escape.
4. Some random guy named Gowan shows up.
5. Silla starts to lose it.
Why I didn’t *like reading it:
The narrative is from Silla’s perspective, and that’s not a fun place to be. She’s a traumatized teen who is in way over her head. She won’t leave the estate, because she is convinced that the Creeper Man will kill Nori. The girls are frightened and starving. For four hundred pages. The text format becomes more and more chaotic to match pace with Silla’s decline.
Kurtagich doesn’t spare us any details about this experience either. Every hunger pain, delusion, and worm-infested slice of cake is explored… deeply. The cringe factor is pretty intense. Silla’s madness and starvation created this gaunt and twitchy character that just creeped me out. Particularly when there were love scenes between her and Gowan. Nothing will gross you out faster than a make out scene where her teeth are falling out. I basically felt uncomfortable the entire time.
Final thoughts:
The overall reading experience was sorrowful and chaotic, but I feel that was always Kurtagich’s intension. Silla’s experience is a horrible one, and Kurtagich makes a conscious decision to run readers through Silla’s grief and struggle, rather than elude to it. While there is a bit of a happy ending, it was still too much for me. The book falls more on the traumatic side, rather than the suspenseful, and that kept me from enjoying this reading experience. However, I do think that Kurtagich deserves some serious props for being brave enough to tackle such tough topics, and for her original plot work.
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Who Should Snag It: Fans of horror that aren’t too gory might like this one.
*I would like to thank Edelweiss and the publisher for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review*
Plot: La Baume is supposed to be a sanctuary for Silla and Nori, but this large manor house offers something much darker.
Review: This is a very hard book to review, and the following will have some spoilers. Stop now if you don’t want to know.
Let me give you the breakdown:
What it’s about:
The story follows two sisters, Silla and Nori, who have run away from home in order to escape their abusive father and negligent mother. The only place they have to turn to is their mother’s family estate, La Baume, which is a large manor house outside of London. When the sisters first meet their Aunt Cathy (who runs the old estate), they find that both the hostess and her home are in disrepair. Cathy is flighty, and reminded be a bit of Professor Trelawney form Harry Potter. She’s just not quite there, but she’s way better that getting beaten by a drunk. The house is without technology, or means for outside communication. In spite of this, things are going well until Nori (the younger sister) goes into the Python Woods.
What’s in the woods?!
A few things happen once Nori crosses the threshold:
1. It awakens the Creeper Man (child nabbing demon).
2. Aunt Cathy loses it and permanently locks herself in the attic, thus abandoning the girls.
3. The forest starts to rapidly creep towards the estate, which leaves the girls without resources or a way to escape.
4. Some random guy named Gowan shows up.
5. Silla starts to lose it.
Why I didn’t *like reading it:
The narrative is from Silla’s perspective, and that’s not a fun place to be. She’s a traumatized teen who is in way over her head. She won’t leave the estate, because she is convinced that the Creeper Man will kill Nori. The girls are frightened and starving. For four hundred pages. The text format becomes more and more chaotic to match pace with Silla’s decline.
Kurtagich doesn’t spare us any details about this experience either. Every hunger pain, delusion, and worm-infested slice of cake is explored… deeply. The cringe factor is pretty intense. Silla’s madness and starvation created this gaunt and twitchy character that just creeped me out. Particularly when there were love scenes between her and Gowan. Nothing will gross you out faster than a make out scene where her teeth are falling out. I basically felt uncomfortable the entire time.
Final thoughts:
The overall reading experience was sorrowful and chaotic, but I feel that was always Kurtagich’s intension. Silla’s experience is a horrible one, and Kurtagich makes a conscious decision to run readers through Silla’s grief and struggle, rather than elude to it. While there is a bit of a happy ending, it was still too much for me. The book falls more on the traumatic side, rather than the suspenseful, and that kept me from enjoying this reading experience. However, I do think that Kurtagich deserves some serious props for being brave enough to tackle such tough topics, and for her original plot work.
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Who Should Snag It: Fans of horror that aren’t too gory might like this one.
*I would like to thank Edelweiss and the publisher for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review*
This book was fantastic!! I couldn't put it down. It was creepy in a very unique way and chilling. Definitely recommend!
THIS BOOK IS AMAZING. I NEVER FELT SO ATTACHED TO THID BOOK BECAUSE I HAF TO KEEP READING. The ENDING OH MY GOD. I would DEFINITELY recommend
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
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:
Yes
Solid creepy page-turner until the last few chapters which dragged. I was disappointed in the ending, but am glad I picked it up, cause the first 2/3rds were great!
dark
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
౨ৎ | ‘it makes sense why mam never wanted to talk of la baume. she wasn't hiding a paradise. she was hiding a hell.’
— ★ 4/5
this book was so well written. it was so immersive and i loved it!! this book made me cry, scream, and gasp. it had so many emotions to it i absolutely devoured it.
only reason its a 4 star is because the ending was kind of open, and i dont really like open endings. and the heartbreak was too much im sorry 💔
Quite The Novel Idea ~ Words from the Clouds
3.5 stars
I honestly have NO idea what I just read. I am all of the confused and a little creeped out on top. But at the same time I recognize that this was a great book. It's just really really confusing. And unlike Dawn's debut, this book wasn't scary to me. Which was a bit disappointing. And since I'm so confuzzled, I'm going to make a list. Because lists are the way to go with this kind of situation.
♦ The story was unique and twisted. I had no idea what was going on most of the time. But it was so compelling and I was so curious that I just had to keep reading to find out what the actual hell was going on. There are so many twists and turns to this story and all of them were unexpected. And then the actual reveal at the end had me like OMG WHUT?? So great story telling right there.
♦ The writing was SO good. This kind of story isn't easy to write. But Dawn Kurtagich has already proven with her debut that unique storytelling and non-standard formatting are kind of her thing. And she does it again with this book. So bravo Dawn! Props to you! And I can't wait to see what you come up with next.
♦ I was VERY confused most of the time. 98% of the story I had exactly 0 clue as to what was going on or where the story was headed. Which made it very hard for me to connect with the characters and the romance too. And I know that it's kind of the point that you're a bit confused reading this kind of story, but I don't like being this confused while reading. It takes away a lot from my actual enjoyment of the book. But if that's your thing, then you'll probably go nuts for this book.
♦ It was SLOW. This is a slow story. It builds slowly and it dragged a bit in some places for me. That could be because it was so confusing to me, but it's also just a slow, slow story. And I felt like the pacing was a bit odd too. Which made me all the more confused.
♦ It wasn't scary. I know that might seem like a silly point to make but I need to make it either way. I mean, I was creeped out almost all of the time, which is good. But considering how scared I was reading The Dead House, I kind of expected to be scared reading this too. But I wasn't. And that's slightly disappointing to me.
Overall this book is great, but it had some issues that kept me from loving it completely. I still love this author and look forward to reading her future books because she has such a unique and awesome way of story telling, which I just LOVE. So go check it out, if you can.
3.5 stars
I honestly have NO idea what I just read. I am all of the confused and a little creeped out on top. But at the same time I recognize that this was a great book. It's just really really confusing. And unlike Dawn's debut, this book wasn't scary to me. Which was a bit disappointing. And since I'm so confuzzled, I'm going to make a list. Because lists are the way to go with this kind of situation.
♦ The story was unique and twisted. I had no idea what was going on most of the time. But it was so compelling and I was so curious that I just had to keep reading to find out what the actual hell was going on. There are so many twists and turns to this story and all of them were unexpected. And then the actual reveal at the end had me like OMG WHUT?? So great story telling right there.
♦ The writing was SO good. This kind of story isn't easy to write. But Dawn Kurtagich has already proven with her debut that unique storytelling and non-standard formatting are kind of her thing. And she does it again with this book. So bravo Dawn! Props to you! And I can't wait to see what you come up with next.
♦ I was VERY confused most of the time. 98% of the story I had exactly 0 clue as to what was going on or where the story was headed. Which made it very hard for me to connect with the characters and the romance too. And I know that it's kind of the point that you're a bit confused reading this kind of story, but I don't like being this confused while reading. It takes away a lot from my actual enjoyment of the book. But if that's your thing, then you'll probably go nuts for this book.
♦ It was SLOW. This is a slow story. It builds slowly and it dragged a bit in some places for me. That could be because it was so confusing to me, but it's also just a slow, slow story. And I felt like the pacing was a bit odd too. Which made me all the more confused.
♦ It wasn't scary. I know that might seem like a silly point to make but I need to make it either way. I mean, I was creeped out almost all of the time, which is good. But considering how scared I was reading The Dead House, I kind of expected to be scared reading this too. But I wasn't. And that's slightly disappointing to me.
Overall this book is great, but it had some issues that kept me from loving it completely. I still love this author and look forward to reading her future books because she has such a unique and awesome way of story telling, which I just LOVE. So go check it out, if you can.