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3.51 AVERAGE
3.51 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Just finished the ARC. Not bad. It was quite creepy at times, and quite disturbing at others. Definitely some gross moments, but not really any gore, just depictions of death and decay and other disturbing things. I liked the spiral into madness and the use of text size, journal entries, varying fonts, etc. Sometimes it felt a bit convoluted and clunky, but I think the ending helped me tie it all together. I think teens (or adults) who are into creepiness and madness would enjoy this.
This was a "What the actual...! I didn't see THAT one coming!" kind of book. I started yesterday and finished it today. That should prove something about how unputdownable this book was. Sheezusfookingchryst what a ride that was.
I'm actually reading this for work (I'm a high school librarian) since I'm about to recommend some books for an English class next week. The multi-layered intelligent plot with all its twists and turns and repetitive scenarios might be a bit of a challenge for some of the students who aren't bilingual with English as their second language, but it should be no problem and a great read for the brighter squad.
I'd recommend it to anyone who liked The Others, The Turn of the screw, The Village and some classical great horror tropes (like, the Mad Woman in the Attic).
I'm actually reading this for work (I'm a high school librarian) since I'm about to recommend some books for an English class next week. The multi-layered intelligent plot with all its twists and turns and repetitive scenarios might be a bit of a challenge for some of the students who aren't bilingual with English as their second language, but it should be no problem and a great read for the brighter squad.
I'd recommend it to anyone who liked The Others, The Turn of the screw, The Village and some classical great horror tropes (like, the Mad Woman in the Attic).
A haunting story that kept me on the edge of my seat. So many times I wanted to put this book down, not because it was bad, but because of the creepy nature of the story. The ending left me with a weight on my chest, but in a good/ wtf just happened way.
This book reminded me of the author's other book, Dead House. Both started off so perfectly eerie and creepy. And both ended in ways that I didn't love but didn't hate. I have conflicting thoughts and I am not entirely sure why.
Like I said, this book was perfectly haunting. I loved that. But about halfway through or so I figured out what was happening. The ending confirmed my suspicion. I think that the reason I didn't totally love the ending was because I guessed it. I wanted it to be something more than it was. Not that it was bad, I just wanted something... else.
My only other issue was that certain parts of the book dragged, they were just too repetitive. But other than that, I really loved this book. I will 100% buy any future horror novel this author writes.
Like I said, this book was perfectly haunting. I loved that. But about halfway through or so I figured out what was happening. The ending confirmed my suspicion. I think that the reason I didn't totally love the ending was because I guessed it. I wanted it to be something more than it was. Not that it was bad, I just wanted something... else.
My only other issue was that certain parts of the book dragged, they were just too repetitive. But other than that, I really loved this book. I will 100% buy any future horror novel this author writes.
This book was bizarre beyond belief and I loved it. I am embarrassed to say I didn’t see this one coming. But dang it got me with that spooky ambiance for sure. I felt creeped out the whole dang time.
Barely readable, all the potential of the interesting premise completely wasted because of the following flaws:
All the stylistic devices were gimmicky. They were either used superficially or they were pointless. Some served a purpose, like repeating a certain onomatopoeia to engage the reader in how a character is feeling about a repeating sound, that creates urgency and tension, but that's very simple and did not warrant the formatting nightmare that was this book. Most of the time, the stylistic choices were just a way to force the reader to feel something that couldn't be achieved through prose alone. For instance, the prologue ends with these sentences:
"She peered closer, looking at his legs. His two long, gnarly legs...
They looked like roots."
You've got the ellipses for tensions, the line break and the italics for emphasis on this one element. We get it, the roots are creepy and a significant detail, but good writing can convey that without using three visual cues, that basically spells out exactly how the reader is meant to feel. It's a forced, superficial way to build drama or tension, and the entire book is written like that. It's kind of exhausting.
The spooky scary presence in the book is called, wait for it... The Creeper Man. Now if that doesn't just make you chortle a little bit. Seriously, who approved that name? It's so ridiculously cheesy, so childish, so not scary. It's what you'd sarcastically call the dude looking at you on the bus for just a bit too long, not a tall faceless demon.
World War 3 is just thrown in there for context but plays such a minimal part it could've been replaced with any tragedy. Honestly, it should've been replaced with any other tragedy, because it did not pan out and it felt, again, like a gimmick or a cheap way to make things more "dark" while also refusing to engage with the inherent sociopolitical themes of any war, let alone the third World War. I would've been less annoyed with the ending if it would've been any other tragedy, a natural disaster or such, because that doesn't need to same kind of development, and it would've felt less lacking.
Madness/insanity used as a plot device. I don't really need to explain why this is tacky and offensive, right? I like unreality, I like doubting the characters' senses and stories that use that somehow, but only when it's done properly (usually by using an external supernatural or alien force). This portrayal had all the flavour of a cheap 2010s horror film that takes place in a haunted asylum. Without exaggerating, the word "crazy" or "mad" or "insane" were on damn near every page. If not, they were on some pages 3-5 times, to make up for those pages where they were missing.
What really put the nail in the coffin, though, was the romance, if you can even call it that. I could tell that choosing to develop it over many short scenes was meant to show a natural buildup over time. Except the scenes were so short, contained minimal interactions between the characters, and happened very close together, so there was no sense of progression or escalation. In the reading experience, it felt like Gowan "fell in love" with Silla in about a week, even though it's apparently meant to be months. And when this actually gets acknowledged, Gowan goes all out in a way that is so laughably unrealistic and obnoxious. He straight up says, out of the blue right after a scene break so we have 0 emotional progression, "I love you." No, "I think I'm falling for you," no "I might have feelings for you," no "I have a crush on you," straight up "I love you" to someone he has never spent a full day with, has never had a proper conversation with, has never even been friends with let alone been in a relationship with for a while. I've seen insta love, but this is truly something else.
There's a portion towards the last third where Silla and Gowan need to find her younger sister, Nori, because she's gone missing. Keep in mind Silla has been staying in this dilapidated mansion that is falling apart and rotting, despite starving nearly to death, all because she wanted to protect her sister. Every single page it's just "Nori Nori Nori Nori I have to protect Nori I can't let anything happen to Nori", she was obsessing over her sister. Yet when her sister actually goes missing and she is in actually danger, not just potential danger, and they have finally gone into the dark scary woods, Silla and Gowan stop the search to have sex. I shit you not. Who let this happen? She's starving, is losing hair and teeth, is covered in mold, has just taken a big step for herself into the woods that made her panic, has lost her sister who she obsesses over until she sends herself into a panic, yet she gets in the mood to have sex. I'm pretty sure that's hardly possible given the mental state she SHOULD be in if the author followed her own rules. She went from panicking over her sister to being upset because of Gowan to telling Gowan her deepest fears and secrets to being scared for Nori again to having sex with Gowan to distrusting Gowan over some minuscule speculation. The artificial melodrama is so cheap and poorly written.
I am once again asking editors to please do their jobs. This feels like a first draft, before even the author reread it.
All the stylistic devices were gimmicky. They were either used superficially or they were pointless. Some served a purpose, like repeating a certain onomatopoeia to engage the reader in how a character is feeling about a repeating sound, that creates urgency and tension, but that's very simple and did not warrant the formatting nightmare that was this book. Most of the time, the stylistic choices were just a way to force the reader to feel something that couldn't be achieved through prose alone. For instance, the prologue ends with these sentences:
"She peered closer, looking at his legs. His two long, gnarly legs...
They looked like roots."
You've got the ellipses for tensions, the line break and the italics for emphasis on this one element. We get it, the roots are creepy and a significant detail, but good writing can convey that without using three visual cues, that basically spells out exactly how the reader is meant to feel. It's a forced, superficial way to build drama or tension, and the entire book is written like that. It's kind of exhausting.
The spooky scary presence in the book is called, wait for it... The Creeper Man. Now if that doesn't just make you chortle a little bit. Seriously, who approved that name? It's so ridiculously cheesy, so childish, so not scary. It's what you'd sarcastically call the dude looking at you on the bus for just a bit too long, not a tall faceless demon.
World War 3 is just thrown in there for context but plays such a minimal part it could've been replaced with any tragedy. Honestly, it should've been replaced with any other tragedy, because it did not pan out and it felt, again, like a gimmick or a cheap way to make things more "dark" while also refusing to engage with the inherent sociopolitical themes of any war, let alone the third World War. I would've been less annoyed with the ending if it would've been any other tragedy, a natural disaster or such, because that doesn't need to same kind of development, and it would've felt less lacking.
Madness/insanity used as a plot device. I don't really need to explain why this is tacky and offensive, right? I like unreality, I like doubting the characters' senses and stories that use that somehow, but only when it's done properly (usually by using an external supernatural or alien force). This portrayal had all the flavour of a cheap 2010s horror film that takes place in a haunted asylum. Without exaggerating, the word "crazy" or "mad" or "insane" were on damn near every page. If not, they were on some pages 3-5 times, to make up for those pages where they were missing.
What really put the nail in the coffin, though, was the romance, if you can even call it that. I could tell that choosing to develop it over many short scenes was meant to show a natural buildup over time. Except the scenes were so short, contained minimal interactions between the characters, and happened very close together, so there was no sense of progression or escalation. In the reading experience, it felt like Gowan "fell in love" with Silla in about a week, even though it's apparently meant to be months. And when this actually gets acknowledged, Gowan goes all out in a way that is so laughably unrealistic and obnoxious. He straight up says, out of the blue right after a scene break so we have 0 emotional progression, "I love you." No, "I think I'm falling for you," no "I might have feelings for you," no "I have a crush on you," straight up "I love you" to someone he has never spent a full day with, has never had a proper conversation with, has never even been friends with let alone been in a relationship with for a while. I've seen insta love, but this is truly something else.
There's a portion towards the last third where Silla and Gowan need to find her younger sister, Nori, because she's gone missing. Keep in mind Silla has been staying in this dilapidated mansion that is falling apart and rotting, despite starving nearly to death, all because she wanted to protect her sister. Every single page it's just "Nori Nori Nori Nori I have to protect Nori I can't let anything happen to Nori", she was obsessing over her sister. Yet when her sister actually goes missing and she is in actually danger, not just potential danger, and they have finally gone into the dark scary woods, Silla and Gowan stop the search to have sex. I shit you not. Who let this happen? She's starving, is losing hair and teeth, is covered in mold, has just taken a big step for herself into the woods that made her panic, has lost her sister who she obsesses over until she sends herself into a panic, yet she gets in the mood to have sex. I'm pretty sure that's hardly possible given the mental state she SHOULD be in if the author followed her own rules. She went from panicking over her sister to being upset because of Gowan to telling Gowan her deepest fears and secrets to being scared for Nori again to having sex with Gowan to distrusting Gowan over some minuscule speculation. The artificial melodrama is so cheap and poorly written.
I am once again asking editors to please do their jobs. This feels like a first draft, before even the author reread it.
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book started off so strong. I thought it would dispell my distaste for YA fiction. It was clever and creepy and really drew me in. Then, around 150 pages and following an absurd abuse of the word "squelch" in all its forms, it just went weird. And I don't mean good weird. The book tried to do way too many things and in the end accomplished none. I really thought I was going to give a YA 4 + stars and alas, we are giving it a 2.
A nice creepy read that reminds me of the Slender Man stories. Kurtagich once again does an excellent job with setting the right creepy tone and keeps you engaged all the way through. But I do think Dead House is the better book only because it kept me up, and made me paranoid. Still worth reading.
GOOD
Very creepy, poetic atmosphere. The beginning was intriguing, and then [spoiler alert] Aunt Cath went crazy and...
NOT SO GOOD
Not much happened. Things are bad. Silla is scared of the woods just because crazy Aunt Cath is and won't go in them, but also won't leave the house. This makes for a frustratingly dull main character since she doesn't do much. Also, I didn't really buy that she would be that scared of the woods just because they're creepy and Aunt Cath said to stay away. Oh yeah, and a nice boy is hanging around who is not scared of the woods. So what gives? Also, Nori sees a creepy man Silla can't see. And that's everything that's happened up to page 80. Maybe something came of all this, but I wasn't entertained enough to continue reading.
OVERALL
If you like slow build books with a creepy atmosphere and poetic language (and a few actual poems thrown in), you may really enjoy this book. If you like plots that move along at a decent clip (like me), this book won't be for you.
Very creepy, poetic atmosphere. The beginning was intriguing, and then [spoiler alert] Aunt Cath went crazy and...
NOT SO GOOD
Not much happened. Things are bad. Silla is scared of the woods just because crazy Aunt Cath is and won't go in them, but also won't leave the house. This makes for a frustratingly dull main character since she doesn't do much. Also, I didn't really buy that she would be that scared of the woods just because they're creepy and Aunt Cath said to stay away. Oh yeah, and a nice boy is hanging around who is not scared of the woods. So what gives? Also, Nori sees a creepy man Silla can't see. And that's everything that's happened up to page 80. Maybe something came of all this, but I wasn't entertained enough to continue reading.
OVERALL
If you like slow build books with a creepy atmosphere and poetic language (and a few actual poems thrown in), you may really enjoy this book. If you like plots that move along at a decent clip (like me), this book won't be for you.