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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
tense
medium-paced
dark
emotional
mysterious
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:
Yes
Like a sweet-smelling carnivorous flower, Grey Dog draws you deep into Ada's life of secrets, longing, and suffering with masterful prose, evocative descriptions, and shades of what's to come in this exceptional slow-burn Gothic novel from Elliott Gish. This book had me in its jaws until the last bloody chapter.
Ada Byrd is a school teacher almost "beyond her prime" - which for a woman in 1901 is just shy of 30 years old. Mourning the loss of her sister, she arrives in a small, mostly Christian town to take on a teaching post. As much as she tries to ride the line between respectability and her own passions, something in the woods calls to her...
Her journal entries chronicle her developing relationships and the increasingly strange occurrences that are visible to her alone. Ada is an intelligent, good-humored, and observant writer, and part of what I loved so much about the book was her beautiful prose - even when writing about terrible moments, or when coming up against her own faults, her voice is completely original. Gish uses the journal framework to perfection, telling us as much about Ada from what she doesn't write down as what she leaves on the page. The changing frequency of the entries also ramped up tension and pacing throughout the book.
The "slow" development of the first half weaves a complex and compelling story of Ada's past, the town's dynamics, and the supernatural. I love a good social commentary in horror, and Gish knocks it out of the park. Ada's story clearly shows how the restrictions of women in this period - and honestly, today - lead to the increasing draw to a life "outside" of strict social order.
Ada Byrd is a school teacher almost "beyond her prime" - which for a woman in 1901 is just shy of 30 years old. Mourning the loss of her sister, she arrives in a small, mostly Christian town to take on a teaching post. As much as she tries to ride the line between respectability and her own passions, something in the woods calls to her...
Her journal entries chronicle her developing relationships and the increasingly strange occurrences that are visible to her alone. Ada is an intelligent, good-humored, and observant writer, and part of what I loved so much about the book was her beautiful prose - even when writing about terrible moments, or when coming up against her own faults, her voice is completely original. Gish uses the journal framework to perfection, telling us as much about Ada from what she doesn't write down as what she leaves on the page. The changing frequency of the entries also ramped up tension and pacing throughout the book.
The "slow" development of the first half weaves a complex and compelling story of Ada's past, the town's dynamics, and the supernatural. I love a good social commentary in horror, and Gish knocks it out of the park. Ada's story clearly shows how the restrictions of women in this period - and honestly, today - lead to the increasing draw to a life "outside" of strict social order.
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
there wasn’t enough emotional gain for the slow pace to be worth it!
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
we support women’s wrongs until it takes 300 pages for something to happen
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
maybe i’m just not a historical fiction person no matter how much horror is mixed in