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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book truly got screwed over by it's own pacing. The first 60% of the book is unbearably slow. Almost no supernatural occurrences, just a couple here and there. It feels like this book is in its beginning stages for most of it run time.
And then everything suddenly goes from 5% to 100%. No in-between. At one moment the mc is mostly rational and the next she's raving mad. So even when it took 60% of the book to get there, the chance still feels abrupt.
And like, the plot is good. I was invested in the characters. I just can't omit the structure problems.
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
The world can be an awful and cruel place to women who refuse to conform to rigid gender expectations, and also to women who are bad at their jobs.
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
I reached into the dark bag of myself and found it empty of everything but the truth.
perfect pacing and atmosphere, ham-fisted conclusion.
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
mysterious
slow-paced
3.75 rounded up to 4. I would argue that the synopsis of this book does it a disservice. This is not so much a book about feminist rage as it is the rage of a person made to suffer from and conform to patriarchal misogyny and religious trauma. This story is not meant to be empowering, and its protagonist is not meant to be a good woman nor a good feminist.
Gish’s writing is compelling and precise as she documents a slow descent into madness. The entity this story revolves around— the grey dog— is built up carefully throughout the book, but its final portrayal as a lover feels ham-fisted… The grey dog ends up playing second fiddle to the more tangible, human character of Mrs. Kinsley. I feel as though this was a missed opportunity to reintroduce the motif of men using up women until they leave nothing left: Bluebeard, Muriel’s father, her brother-in-law, and ultimately, the god of the outside. It’s an omission I sadly felt was out of touch with the rest of the book.
The slow creep of horror and depiction of religious trauma are exceedingly well done. I genuinely did like this book, but wanted to love it and could not.
Gish’s writing is compelling and precise as she documents a slow descent into madness. The entity this story revolves around— the grey dog— is built up carefully throughout the book, but its final portrayal as a lover feels ham-fisted… The grey dog ends up playing second fiddle to the more tangible, human character of Mrs. Kinsley. I feel as though this was a missed opportunity to reintroduce the motif of men using up women until they leave nothing left: Bluebeard, Muriel’s father, her brother-in-law, and ultimately, the god of the outside. It’s an omission I sadly felt was out of touch with the rest of the book.
The slow creep of horror and depiction of religious trauma are exceedingly well done. I genuinely did like this book, but wanted to love it and could not.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated