Reviews with content warning for Transphobia - What Moves the Dead

I liked individual components of this book, but it felt a little underwhelming as a whole to me. I went back and forth between giving it 3 stars or 4. I think its sitting somewhere between 3.75 and 4.00.

I read The Fall of the House of Usher in high school. I remember it vaguely, but believe that I enjoyed it. I did refresh my memory before reading this because I was curious about the changes.

The book's aesthetic immediately grabbed my attention. The cover art is amazing and the title intrigued me. The end page art on the hardcover is also a plus.

Despite that, I had a really hard time getting into this one. I carried it around in my purse for an entire month and only made it to the third chapter. I'm not sure if this was due to the book or a reading slump, but I just couldn't find the motivation to read it. But then last night I sat down to read and ended up finishing it in one go.

I really like the main character. I also enjoyed the exploration of gender, identity, and purpose through Easton, Maddy, and Miss Potter in this 1890 landscape. The use of a fictional country was a great way to introduce those themes, though I do feel as if the explanation of the pronouns at the beginning was a little clunky. Rather than expositing it all in one go, I would have preferred a more subtle introduction (such as in the end when Easton asks

"Why is she referring to a child?" when Madeline uses the va/van pronouns for the tarn

as an example).

There were several moments that I chuckled or laughed out loud and I enjoyed the inclusion of the humor to lighten things up. While this made the story lose some of its atmospheric tension, it gave the characters a little more depth for me. The American bashing was a little much at times, but ultimately it was in good fun and I found it amusing.

There were some pretty creepy moments and I enjoyed how the hares and fungi were used in this. Where it was going was a bit predictable, but I still enjoyed the journey there. I appreciated how the ending played out and how the

fungi was compared to rabies and the "its not evil, its alien"

message to describe motivations.

Content Warnings

booksthatburn's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

WHAT MOVES THE DEAD is a retelling of Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher", which I waited to read until after I'd finished the retelling. This was a good decision, leaving me room to enjoy what the novella actually does rather than waiting for the scant events from the original story to play out. The cast of characters is larger and significantly more developed than in the original, which is good. The particular fungal incursion is resolved, but as this gets a sequel I doubt the problem was handled once and for all, merely suppressed in this particular instance.

Things I love, in no particular order: the way pronouns and gender are used; the appearance of a relative of Beatrix Potter, who was a children's writer/illustrator because of sexism precluding her from illustrating botanical texts; the way the discovery of the cause is approached; how creepy the hares are.

Content Warnings

oliver_thorne's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

lazmataz's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Content Warnings

perifairy's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Absolutely loved this book. Easton is a really endearing main character and this is a delightfully creepy retelling of the Fall of the House of Usher. I keep thinking about Madeline and the rabbits and I feel myself shiver. I'm very excited for the sequel!

Content Warnings