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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
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:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
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:
Yes
I don't really know what to say except for 4 things:
1) holy shit
2) elliot, please write another book because your writing is was so engrossing that i finished this book in 2 1/2 days
3) this would make an incredible miniseries
4) holy shit!
1) holy shit
2) elliot, please write another book because your writing is was so engrossing that i finished this book in 2 1/2 days
3) this would make an incredible miniseries
4) holy shit!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Pregnancy
Minor: Miscarriage, Vomit
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I think NightBitch did 'woman becomes feral for not wanting to be what society wants' a little better.
Lesbian killing her crush, the pastor's wife , just felt so disappointing. If the author wasn't queer I'd almost consider it offensive. Woman becomes a monster because society views her that way but feels violent towards children and harms before killing her bestfriend that she held feelings for
It is not terribly written although it felt dragging at times.
It is not terribly written although it felt dragging at times.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual harassment
Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Rape, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship
Minor: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Stalking, Gaslighting
Ada Byrd arrives in the small town of Lowry Bridge to become the new teacher. She's unmarried, loves nature, and knows that this posting will allow her to reestablish her reputation where no one knows her.
She elicits curiosity and friendship from the town, starts the school year off well engaging the students, taking then for small explorations in the woods, and begins to hope for a future in this place.
Ada keeps a journal, and we discover that she is still grieving the violent death of her sister Florrie who was married to an abusive man. Both she and Florrie are no strangers to abuse, as their father spent years emotionally and physically abusing them.
As Ada begins to feel comfortable in the town, small things begin happening: she sees strange, disturbing things that no one else can, and begins to believe the Grey Dog, the presence she feels in the woods, is leaving her animal corpses and visions. Ada becomes increasingly unsure what is real and what isn't, and between her slowly unravelling mental state and her befriending an unconventional, wealthy widow who keeps herself separate from the town residents, Ada's reputation begins to deteriorate to the point that she can barely tell what is real and what is caused by the Grey dog.
This book plays with one’s perceptions, and the reliability of the main character’s narration: was she suffering from overwhelming grief and years of physical abuse to the extent that she began seeing things that were not there? Or was there actually a wild presence in the woods outside the town that only some people could see, particularly oppressed and/or abused girls and women? Or is Ada's behaviour just a manifestation of female rage that can no longer be contained after all the restrictions, hatred and abuse?
Author Elliott Gish walks a fine line between the daily horror inflicted by patriarchy and misogyny, and the possibly supernatural, elemental force that some women of the town give themselves to.
The author, though including some gory scenes, creates more of a suspenseful story with menace and violence creating a horror-filled atmosphere. Ada is desperate to flee society's and her father's expectations and constraints. She doesn't really understand her feelings as there has been no one to show her or support her in expressing these emotions and desires, including that of her burgeoning sexuality. It's no surprise that Ada hears the call of the otherworldly entity or elemental force, giving in increasingly to a desire to not conform, to not be respectable, as that has never made her happy.
This was a beautifully written story that pulled me in immediately. Ada's journal entries give you a fantastic understanding of her changing, possibly deteriorating, mental state, including her resentments, her worries, and her increasing fascination with whatever is in the woods.
This is a book that lingered in my mind long after I finished it. I felt uncomfortable and deeply sympathetic for Ada, and loved the way the novel closed.
Thank you to Netgalley and to ECW Press for this ARC in exchange for my review.
She elicits curiosity and friendship from the town, starts the school year off well engaging the students, taking then for small explorations in the woods, and begins to hope for a future in this place.
Ada keeps a journal, and we discover that she is still grieving the violent death of her sister Florrie who was married to an abusive man. Both she and Florrie are no strangers to abuse, as their father spent years emotionally and physically abusing them.
As Ada begins to feel comfortable in the town, small things begin happening: she sees strange, disturbing things that no one else can, and begins to believe the Grey Dog, the presence she feels in the woods, is leaving her animal corpses and visions. Ada becomes increasingly unsure what is real and what isn't, and between her slowly unravelling mental state and her befriending an unconventional, wealthy widow who keeps herself separate from the town residents, Ada's reputation begins to deteriorate to the point that she can barely tell what is real and what is caused by the Grey dog.
This book plays with one’s perceptions, and the reliability of the main character’s narration: was she suffering from overwhelming grief and years of physical abuse to the extent that she began seeing things that were not there? Or was there actually a wild presence in the woods outside the town that only some people could see, particularly oppressed and/or abused girls and women? Or is Ada's behaviour just a manifestation of female rage that can no longer be contained after all the restrictions, hatred and abuse?
Author Elliott Gish walks a fine line between the daily horror inflicted by patriarchy and misogyny, and the possibly supernatural, elemental force that some women of the town give themselves to.
The author, though including some gory scenes, creates more of a suspenseful story with menace and violence creating a horror-filled atmosphere. Ada is desperate to flee society's and her father's expectations and constraints. She doesn't really understand her feelings as there has been no one to show her or support her in expressing these emotions and desires, including that of her burgeoning sexuality. It's no surprise that Ada hears the call of the otherworldly entity or elemental force, giving in increasingly to a desire to not conform, to not be respectable, as that has never made her happy.
This was a beautifully written story that pulled me in immediately. Ada's journal entries give you a fantastic understanding of her changing, possibly deteriorating, mental state, including her resentments, her worries, and her increasing fascination with whatever is in the woods.
This is a book that lingered in my mind long after I finished it. I felt uncomfortable and deeply sympathetic for Ada, and loved the way the novel closed.
Thank you to Netgalley and to ECW Press for this ARC in exchange for my review.
dark
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
drag
"Female rage" is a marketing term, not an apt description of genre. If you want a book of empowerment, a stick it to the man triumph, then this is not what you want. This is at its core a horrific tragedy, blood dripping from the body of a woman and dirt crusting under her nails as she scrabbles for purchase. It's the uncertainty of never being able to control your world, and it is cannibalism as a metaphor for love and desire. This is a book that you, in turn, can sink your teeth into.
dark
mysterious
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:
Yes
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Murder
Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Grief, Classism
I love two things in horror: when nature gets spooky and slow-burn plots with endless atmosphere. Grey Dog hits both those marks.
"'There are two Gods,' she'd told me once, sotto voce in case our father heard her uttering such an impious thought. 'There is the God of inside — the God of churches, and prayer meetings and all that — and then there is the God of outside, the God that lives in the trees and in the dirt. And the insects, and the birds, and the things that eat them too.”
This is a great horror-for-lightweights like myself. I'm not big on being scared, but Grey Dog was just uncomfy enough to make me squirm and keep turning the page. Grey Dog is set in 1901-1902 Canada and is written in journal-entry format. Our protagonist, Ada, is a young schoolteacher with a dark past who arrives at her new post in small-town Lowry Bridge, where there is a wonderful array of strange, creepy villagers. Soon, Ada begins finding disturbing bits and pieces of mutilated animals, and it becomes hard to know if what she's experiencing is real or imagined. As Ada gradually loses her grip on reality, her dark past and what she's left behind becomes revealed.
“A good woman. How odd that the phrase has such a particular meaning. One might say “a good man” and mean anything — there are as many ways of being a good man, it seems, as there are of being a man at all. But there is only one way to be a good woman. It is such a narrow, stunted, blighted way to be that I wonder any woman throughout history has been up to the task. Perhaps none of us ever have.”
Grey Wolf explores what it means to be "a good woman," feminine rage, and queer love.
A solid 4 stars.
"'There are two Gods,' she'd told me once, sotto voce in case our father heard her uttering such an impious thought. 'There is the God of inside — the God of churches, and prayer meetings and all that — and then there is the God of outside, the God that lives in the trees and in the dirt. And the insects, and the birds, and the things that eat them too.”
This is a great horror-for-lightweights like myself. I'm not big on being scared, but Grey Dog was just uncomfy enough to make me squirm and keep turning the page. Grey Dog is set in 1901-1902 Canada and is written in journal-entry format. Our protagonist, Ada, is a young schoolteacher with a dark past who arrives at her new post in small-town Lowry Bridge, where there is a wonderful array of strange, creepy villagers. Soon, Ada begins finding disturbing bits and pieces of mutilated animals, and it becomes hard to know if what she's experiencing is real or imagined. As Ada gradually loses her grip on reality, her dark past and what she's left behind becomes revealed.
“A good woman. How odd that the phrase has such a particular meaning. One might say “a good man” and mean anything — there are as many ways of being a good man, it seems, as there are of being a man at all. But there is only one way to be a good woman. It is such a narrow, stunted, blighted way to be that I wonder any woman throughout history has been up to the task. Perhaps none of us ever have.”
Grey Wolf explores what it means to be "a good woman," feminine rage, and queer love.
A solid 4 stars.
