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lish_e's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
“And when she was good,
She was very, very good,
But when she was bad, she was horrid.”
Jane’s habit of eating pages was interesting, and the cover is absolutely gorgeous.
But it had some elements that are often used (girl moves to a different town, into an old house that has a dark history everybody knows but no one talks about) and so the plot twist wasn’t a surprise to me. Still, it was a pleasant read and the build-up to the climax was good.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Eating disorder, Bullying, Mental illness, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Animal cruelty and Suicide
bottlesofale's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
So we follow Jane as she moves back to her mom’s childhood home after a tragedy. Things start moving about in the house and tbh I would have fled in a heartbeat, but she sticks around and starts to unravel some dark family history that holds a mirror to her face.
I definitely loved the suspense also the illustrations?!?! and the art in the novel?!?!! Check out my full review on my blog:bottlesofale
Content Warnings
Moderate: Eating disorder, Death of parent, and Mental illness
catsy2022's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Rating: A-
An unexpectedly dark YA horror novel, Horrid by Katrina Leno was a lovely, fast read and a great addition to my 2021 reads. Ruth and Jane move across the country from California to Maine after Greer, Ruth's husband and Jane's father, dies. But the North Manor where Ruth grew up holds mysterious secrets, a locked room in the back and a rose bush that seems to overpower the yard it grows in.
I definitely enjoyed reading about Jane and Ruth's strained relationship and the interaction between Jane, her friends and the other townspeople. I felt that the unravelling of the mystery may have been more interesting that the final reveal. So many parts of this book are strange and unexplained, just bordering on absurd. Seems that Jane has unbridled rage simmering below the surface and anything could set her off. She seems to completely black out when this happens. I loved the interaction with the other characters when this happens and how shocked and unsettled they are. I definitely enjoyed the moments in the house where things are completely scrambled and then back to normal. I liked the bonding moments between Ruth and Jane. The interwoven grieving and new beginnings were great points in the book.
I did like the final reveal but I felt the book ended all too abruptly - with little resolution as to the other plotlines. Definitely a fun, short read.
An unexpectedly dark YA horror novel, Horrid by Katrina Leno was a lovely, fast read and a great addition to my 2021 reads. Ruth and Jane move across the country from California to Maine after Greer, Ruth's husband and Jane's father, dies. But the North Manor where Ruth grew up holds mysterious secrets, a locked room in the back and a rose bush that seems to overpower the yard it grows in.
I definitely enjoyed reading about Jane and Ruth's strained relationship and the interaction between Jane, her friends and the other townspeople. I felt that the unravelling of the mystery may have been more interesting that the final reveal. So many parts of this book are strange and unexplained, just bordering on absurd. Seems that Jane has unbridled rage simmering below the surface and anything could set her off. She seems to completely black out when this happens. I loved the interaction with the other characters when this happens and how shocked and unsettled they are. I definitely enjoyed the moments in the house where things are completely scrambled and then back to normal. I liked the bonding moments between Ruth and Jane. The interwoven grieving and new beginnings were great points in the book.
I did like the final reveal but I felt the book ended all too abruptly - with little resolution as to the other plotlines. Definitely a fun, short read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Mental illness
Moderate: Blood, Child death, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Self harm, and Suicide
ravensandlace's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Find this review and others like it at https://aravenclawlibraryx.wordpress.com
Pica: an eating disorder that involves eating items that are not typically thought of as food and that does not contain significant nutritional value such as hair, dirt and paint chips. This is according to the National Eating Disorders website. Nationaleatingdisorders.org
Wowowowowow! What an absolutely FANTASTIC book. I loved every single minute of it. I stayed up way past my bedtime trying to finish this book. The only reason I didn’t finish it in one sitting was because my eyes were burning. That’s how much I loved this book. I never wanted it to end. It kicked my reading slump that I had been in.
The minute I read the first page, I immediately had a very unsettled feeling and that feeling never went away. I loved every single minute of this unsettling feeling. It reminded me of watching Sinister, one of my all time favorite horror movies. I just knew something was going to happen and whatever was going to happen wasn’t going to be good. The creep factor was done just beautifully.
I enjoyed Jane as the main character, which I didn’t think I would. She was unlikable at times but I found I didn’t mind that. She was very complex and had so many layers to her. You see her angry and I actually loved that. I don’t read about a lot of girls with anger issues. It was refreshing. I truly thought her anger would make me not like her at all but I found her anger was the best part of her character. Weird to say, I know. But it was just refreshing. Jane was so so angry and I felt for her.
Another fascinating thing about this book was the mention of pica. Jane has pica, which I provided a definition for you at the top. I know that not a lot of people know what pica is or understand it. I have worked with several clients that had pica. It’s a very interesting and difficult illness. I don’t know what it’s like to have it but working with the clients I have, I can only imagine what it would be like to have it.
Overall, I truly enjoyed this book. It’s one of my all time favorite books of 2020. The reason why I gave this book 4.5 stars is because the ending was a bit of an open ending. I’m personally not the biggest fan of open ending books. I prefer knowing specifically what happens to the character. But other than that, this book was absolutely amazing and I loved it so very much.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder and Mental illness
Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Child death, Death, Violence, and Self harm
sacrificarelepus's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I'm not really sure what to say about this book, it kept me intrigued enough to continue reading even though I felt the slow build up was a little much. almost 100 pages before I felt it become more than just a slice of life. And the surprise twist, well the world that was built up leaves me feeling that the suspension of disbelief I would have to put up to think that could actually happen. Then again this might be one of those horrors where you are supposed to think either this is actually happening OR this person is having a break with reality. And I'm not really a fan of those, I prefer to solidly know whether this is "real" or not.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Mental illness
nnephy's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
The amount I had to read about coffee during this book only for it to have to do with NOTHING else was wild. A lot of this book is full and nothing really happens, and when it does it's confusing. I didn't find it terrifying, I didn't really understand the parallels to agatha christie as this author writes nothing like her and it almost fell like she was comparing herself to her, it was extremely predictable, and the characters weren't fleshed out at all.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness, Child death, and Death
shannonxvx's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Child death, Death, Violence, Suicide, Mental illness, and Grief
gm_vak's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Grief, Mental illness, Torture, and Violence
jessni's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
whatellisreadnext's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦.
𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘯, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦, 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘮.
Following her father's passing, Jane and her Mum, move from sunny California to an old decrepit house in Maine. Her mother grew up there, and they have plans to do it up and sell it on, but Jane hears bumps in the night and starts to feel that they're not alone...
Did I buy this book because the cover is incredible? Yes. Did the story live upto the cover? No. That being said, I did absolutely devour this one in less that 24 hours. It is compulsively readable and super easy to follow. I enjoyed it overall, but just felt like I was reading a lesser version of Burn Our Bodies Down by Rory Power.
Taking a step back, this is young adult fiction and I could totally see a teenager absolutely loving it. I just felt as an adult, it was all too circumstance. Some YA books transcend age and can be enjoyed by all, but I just don't think this is one of those books.
I usually just put trigger warnings at the bottom, but this one is deeply rooted with Jane's grief of losing her father, and although this was really well written, I think this could be quite traumatic to read for somebody who has lost a parent.
The main thing that bothered me was the ending. Yes, I figured out the mystery before the protagonist, I mean this is often a given with YA fiction, but the last 10 pages just made no sense for me in terms of the decisions made by the main character. I threw the book on my bed when I was done and if this book wasn't so pretty, I probably would have launched it across the room💁🏻♀️
𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘯, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦, 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘮.
Following her father's passing, Jane and her Mum, move from sunny California to an old decrepit house in Maine. Her mother grew up there, and they have plans to do it up and sell it on, but Jane hears bumps in the night and starts to feel that they're not alone...
Did I buy this book because the cover is incredible? Yes. Did the story live upto the cover? No. That being said, I did absolutely devour this one in less that 24 hours. It is compulsively readable and super easy to follow. I enjoyed it overall, but just felt like I was reading a lesser version of Burn Our Bodies Down by Rory Power.
Taking a step back, this is young adult fiction and I could totally see a teenager absolutely loving it. I just felt as an adult, it was all too circumstance. Some YA books transcend age and can be enjoyed by all, but I just don't think this is one of those books.
I usually just put trigger warnings at the bottom, but this one is deeply rooted with Jane's grief of losing her father, and although this was really well written, I think this could be quite traumatic to read for somebody who has lost a parent.
The main thing that bothered me was the ending. Yes, I figured out the mystery before the protagonist, I mean this is often a given with YA fiction, but the last 10 pages just made no sense for me in terms of the decisions made by the main character. I threw the book on my bed when I was done and if this book wasn't so pretty, I probably would have launched it across the room💁🏻♀️
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Child death, Death, and Grief