Scan barcode
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
Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Grief, Mental illness, Torture, and Violence
fionac326's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Child death, Death, Grief, Self harm, and Suicide
annacolb's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Death
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💁🏻♀️
Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Child death, Death, and Grief
delvesinshelves's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Mental illness, Child death, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Body horror and Blood
Minor: Confinement
ollieshark's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
**this book contains themes of grief, anger control issues, mental illness, gaslighting and emotional manipulation, death by suffocation, and mentions of animal cruelty, animal death, drinking, and bullying. if you are sensitive to any of these, this may not be a good read for you.**
pretty much all of my thoughts on this novel can be boiled down to a few points.
1.) the pacing was too slow for a novel as short as horrid (my edition is 322 pages of story).
2.) as a result, the ending suffered greatly. it feels like it was cut off too quickly in order to keep the story short. i have a bad habit of rushing endings but usually fix it before the final version. horrid ends AT the climax. there's no falling action or resolution, so if you're looking for a neat little ending, you won't find it here.
3.) the prose itself is great. i actually love the meandering tone it had at the beginning. it sets the atmosphere of small town maine up well. BUT, when the novel takes 100 pages out of 322 to get going, you need to speed things up a bit. just a tad.
4.) however, the resulting tropes and cliches used didn't wow me. i know you don't have to reinvent the wheel every time you use a trope, but they're considered cliche for a reason.
5.) i found the synopsis on the dust jacket somewhat misleading. jane wasn't bullied by the "bad seed" so much as had like 3 unpleasant encounters, and then they avoided each other the rest of the novel.
6.) it has absolutely no romance whatsoever, which is the only thing about horrid that makes me want to recommend it.
while i would be willing to give leno another try in the future, i found horrid rather basic. it's a typical ghost story that doesn't really do anything fancy, but it's a good way to dip your toes into spooky season before getting into more hardcore novels, or for those who are looking for lighter horror/ghost stories in general.
pretty much all of my thoughts on this novel can be boiled down to a few points.
1.) the pacing was too slow for a novel as short as horrid (my edition is 322 pages of story).
2.) as a result, the ending suffered greatly. it feels like it was cut off too quickly in order to keep the story short. i have a bad habit of rushing endings but usually fix it before the final version. horrid ends AT the climax. there's no falling action or resolution, so if you're looking for a neat little ending, you won't find it here.
3.) the prose itself is great. i actually love the meandering tone it had at the beginning. it sets the atmosphere of small town maine up well. BUT, when the novel takes 100 pages out of 322 to get going, you need to speed things up a bit. just a tad.
4.) however, the resulting tropes and cliches used didn't wow me. i know you don't have to reinvent the wheel every time you use a trope, but they're considered cliche for a reason.
5.) i found the synopsis on the dust jacket somewhat misleading. jane wasn't bullied by the "bad seed" so much as had like 3 unpleasant encounters, and then they avoided each other the rest of the novel.
6.) it has absolutely no romance whatsoever, which is the only thing about horrid that makes me want to recommend it.
while i would be willing to give leno another try in the future, i found horrid rather basic. it's a typical ghost story that doesn't really do anything fancy, but it's a good way to dip your toes into spooky season before getting into more hardcore novels, or for those who are looking for lighter horror/ghost stories in general.
Graphic: Child death and Grief
Moderate: Bullying, Mental illness, Self harm, and Suicide
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Confinement
More...