Scan barcode
taylorpleimann's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
moraymeee's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
I was a massive Poe fan as a teenager and young adult and I thought this was a fantastic retelling. very good balance of old and new. super quick read if you are looking for spooky/gothic vibes and absolutely obsessed with the cover art.
edsbian's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
sapphicshark's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
srolniak's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
linnaboobooks's review against another edition
2.0
To start this off, I am a fan of The Fall of the House of Usher. It's one of my favorite classic short stories, I've read a few times by now, as recent as last year. But that's only one part of why I didn't like What Moves the Dead.
If you are at all familiar with gothic horror or at least read a specific one that came out back in 2020, you will know what is going on from the first chapter (if you didn't read the synopsis). It's not subtle in the slightest, it's just incredibly irritating for me personally with how obvious it was. And at the time I, as the reader, felt like I was in idle as I waited for "mystery" to finally start to be answered from the perspective of Alex and the other characters.
Onto Alex, our retelling's version of the unnamed narrator of the original has come to life. Alex's personality is quite pleasant to read, unless you're an American Alex interacts with, then you may have something of a bad time with the dislike toward you.
I'm intrigued by the world-building of the country Alex comes from. The rules behind the gendered and non-gendered pronouns (in this case neopronouns, such as 'ka' and 'kan', thank you other Goodreads reviews because I had the audiobook)of that made-up country, the military, and a certain kind of alcohol that comes from there. Except I wish it wasn't done in a direct retelling, but either an entirely original story or one that took heavy influence from The Fall of The House of Usher, anything but a direct retelling because it would allow for the story to move more freely.
About the 70% or later, is when I became pulled into the plot as everyone tried to figure out what exactly was going on. The most fascinating and interesting parts of the story were in this last 30% for me. I will be picking up the second novella to see what Alex gets up to next. I also may reread this with the attempt to push out the original source material entirely from my mind, to see if I enjoy it better.
If you have a fear of fungus, spores, infection, you can avoid this one since there's a lot of talk surrounding these topics. Also if you are triggered by anything related to animal death, please avoid this, that is also a relevant subject to the plot (hence the cover of most editions).
Who I recommend this for? Anyone who wants a short-form version of the novel I mentioned above (I don't want to name it, just in case anyone reading this hasn't, but it is mentioned in the author's note, from what I hear.), anyone who enjoys checking out retellings of classics, anyone starting out in gothic horror as this is a great beginner read.
If you are at all familiar with gothic horror or at least read a specific one that came out back in 2020, you will know what is going on from the first chapter (if you didn't read the synopsis). It's not subtle in the slightest, it's just incredibly irritating for me personally with how obvious it was. And at the time I, as the reader, felt like I was in idle as I waited for "mystery" to finally start to be answered from the perspective of Alex and the other characters.
Onto Alex, our retelling's version of the unnamed narrator of the original has come to life. Alex's personality is quite pleasant to read, unless you're an American Alex interacts with, then you may have something of a bad time with the dislike toward you.
I'm intrigued by the world-building of the country Alex comes from. The rules behind the gendered and non-gendered pronouns (in this case neopronouns, such as 'ka' and 'kan', thank you other Goodreads reviews because I had the audiobook)of that made-up country, the military, and a certain kind of alcohol that comes from there. Except I wish it wasn't done in a direct retelling, but either an entirely original story or one that took heavy influence from The Fall of The House of Usher, anything but a direct retelling because it would allow for the story to move more freely.
About the 70% or later, is when I became pulled into the plot as everyone tried to figure out what exactly was going on. The most fascinating and interesting parts of the story were in this last 30% for me. I will be picking up the second novella to see what Alex gets up to next. I also may reread this with the attempt to push out the original source material entirely from my mind, to see if I enjoy it better.
If you have a fear of fungus, spores, infection, you can avoid this one since there's a lot of talk surrounding these topics. Also if you are triggered by anything related to animal death, please avoid this, that is also a relevant subject to the plot (hence the cover of most editions).
Who I recommend this for? Anyone who wants a short-form version of the novel I mentioned above (I don't want to name it, just in case anyone reading this hasn't, but it is mentioned in the author's note, from what I hear.), anyone who enjoys checking out retellings of classics, anyone starting out in gothic horror as this is a great beginner read.
therealratking's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
_kaylinconn's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
3.75
I think I need to reread this in like a year when I’m not sleepy
- I also think the world building threw me off of the tension, because I was trying to understand certain aspects instead of in the story. But again, that might have been my sleep brain making it more confusing then it needed to be
- I also think the world building threw me off of the tension, because I was trying to understand certain aspects instead of in the story. But again, that might have been my sleep brain making it more confusing then it needed to be
jake_evan_'s review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I will say that this actually had me feeling genuinely creeped out and spooked for a good 20 ish pages. The reveal and depiction of what is actually happening with Madeline and the lake was genuinely frightening. I also felt that the author did a good job of setting up the eerie atmosphere and make the setting feel creepy the entire time. “The dead don’t walk” being repeated throughout the book was a nice touch and I liked how Easton was reproachful of the idea that this could be anything supernatural at all. The character being a war veteran and have the world-view of “If I can’t see it I don’t need to worry about it” works for horror stories so well, there’s always a character that doesn’t believe in ghosts in a ghost story.
I saw some people saying that the inclusion of fungus to be a let down in a way because of the original story’s perceived alluding to supernatural. However, the original story never explains anything about Madeline and Roderick’s malady and so why is this not as good an explanation as any other. I found this to be extremely satisfying and even creepier that, scientifically, it could actually possibly happen .. sorta.
I’m not giving this 5 stars for 2 reason. One is that I didn’t find the characters to be that interesting or likable really. They weren’t unlikeable at all but they weren’t anything special that sticks out to me: more just vessels to carry the story. The second reason is that I wish there was a little bit more horror at the end post-bedroom scene. I feel like there could have been more interpersonal drama and goodbyes and visual description of the final moments at the Usher house that really played up the melodrama.
I saw some people saying that the inclusion of fungus to be a let down in a way because of the original story’s perceived alluding to supernatural. However, the original story never explains anything about Madeline and Roderick’s malady and so why is this not as good an explanation as any other. I found this to be extremely satisfying and even creepier that, scientifically, it could actually possibly happen .. sorta.
I’m not giving this 5 stars for 2 reason. One is that I didn’t find the characters to be that interesting or likable really. They weren’t unlikeable at all but they weren’t anything special that sticks out to me: more just vessels to carry the story. The second reason is that I wish there was a little bit more horror at the end post-bedroom scene. I feel like there could have been more interpersonal drama and goodbyes and visual description of the final moments at the Usher house that really played up the melodrama.