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zaisgraph's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Hallucinagens ✅️
Sex ritual ✅️
Vague nature gods ✅️
Human sacrifice ✅️
Isolated rural community ✅️
Allergic to modern tech ✅️
Small town intrigue ✅️
Withcraft and wizardry ✅️
Honestly if this were a wild excuse/expanation of a cheating husband to his buddies I wouldn't be mad at all lol.
Sex ritual ✅️
Vague nature gods ✅️
Human sacrifice ✅️
Isolated rural community ✅️
Allergic to modern tech ✅️
Small town intrigue ✅️
Withcraft and wizardry ✅️
Honestly if this were a wild excuse/expanation of a cheating husband to his buddies I wouldn't be mad at all lol.
skycrasher's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
precioussantiago's review against another edition
4.0
ʜᴀʀᴠᴇꜱᴛ ʜᴏᴍᴇ ʙʏ ᴛʜᴏᴍᴀꜱ ᴛʀʏᴏɴ ɪꜱ ᴀ ꜱʟᴏᴡ ʙᴜʀɴ ꜱɪᴢᴢʟɪɴɢ ᴡɪᴛʜ ꜱᴍᴀʟʟ ᴛᴏᴡɴ ɪɴꜱɪᴅɪᴏᴜꜱ ɪɴʜᴀʙɪᴛᴀɴᴛꜱ ᴀɴᴅ ʙɪᴢᴀʀʀᴇ ᴄᴜꜱᴛᴏᴍꜱ. ᴛʜɪꜱ ɪꜱ ᴀ ɢʀᴇᴀᴛ ᴀᴍᴇʀɪᴄᴀɴ ꜰᴏʟᴋ ʜᴏʀʀᴏʀ ꜱᴛᴏʀʏ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ꜰᴜʀᴛʜᴇʀ ᴄᴇᴍᴇɴᴛꜱ ᴡʜʏ ɪ ᴘᴇʀꜱᴏɴᴀʟʟʏ ꜰɪɴᴅ ꜰᴏʟᴋ ʜᴏʀʀᴏʀ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ᴡᴀʏ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴜɴꜱᴇᴛᴛʟɪɴɢ ᴀɴᴅ ᴅɪꜱᴛᴜʀʙɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴀɴ ɪɴ ʏᴏᴜʀ ꜰᴀᴄᴇ ʙʟᴏᴏᴅ ᴀɴᴅ ɢᴏʀᴇ. ᴛʜɪꜱ ᴄᴏᴜʟᴅ ᴀᴄᴛᴜᴀʟʟʏ ʜᴀᴘᴘᴇɴ, ᴘʀᴏʙᴀʙʟʏ ᴅᴏᴇꜱ
pizzamyheart's review against another edition
4.0
Good suspenseful book, but takes awhile to get to the point. The "now" timeline started feeling outdated and caused the book to start dragging. I'm curious to find the tv special that was based on this.
the_enobee's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book because of the pitch-perfect writing, slow build of tension, and truly horrible revelations. I definitely have mixed feelings about some events and character behavior. The fact that the main character, Ned Constantine, became a non-sympathetic protagonist for me actually added to my enjoyment of the story.
****Spoilers Follow***
Okay, so what the heck was with the scene between Ned and Tamar on the riverbank toward the end? I am still wondering what this added to the story. It didn't reveal anything to me about Tamar or the Mother Earth deity, which I have a feeling was the author's intent. Instead it revealed that Ned was willing to betray his family for a rut in the mud with Tamar. Maybe that was actually the purpose, but I think Ned's total disregard of his family's safety in favor of his pursuit for the truth would have completed his downfall nicely without the icky mud sequence.
What really worked for me was the Widow and trying to guess if she was good or bad throughout the story. I envisioned several possible endings with her making a stand against the town in order to save the Constantine family, and while I also envisioned her turning out evil, I did not imagine how far things would go.
Ned's downfall was complete, and in a way deserved. He was a fool (as many stated), and his shock at Beth's involvement with Harvest Home only proved it. He can romp in the mud with Tamar, but oh my, it's time to lose our mind when Beth enjoys herself some Justin Hooke. And his complete lack of caring where Kate was during the ending sequence cements that his priorities were wrong, and while the ending is brutal for him, I still don't feel 100% sympathetic.
Overall, this was a great foray into the land of "country village is not what it seems". I kinda wish I had saved this for later in the fall, but there's something about the summer that makes it hard for me to resist a good spook story, and I had this on the back burner for awhile. I had never read Thomas Tryon before, and I came away impressed and felt that I was in the hands of an expert. I would recommend this to any horror fan, particularly if they're in the mood for a good secret cult/pagan worship story.
****Spoilers Follow***
Okay, so what the heck was with the scene between Ned and Tamar on the riverbank toward the end? I am still wondering what this added to the story. It didn't reveal anything to me about Tamar or the Mother Earth deity, which I have a feeling was the author's intent. Instead it revealed that Ned was willing to betray his family for a rut in the mud with Tamar. Maybe that was actually the purpose, but I think Ned's total disregard of his family's safety in favor of his pursuit for the truth would have completed his downfall nicely without the icky mud sequence.
What really worked for me was the Widow and trying to guess if she was good or bad throughout the story. I envisioned several possible endings with her making a stand against the town in order to save the Constantine family, and while I also envisioned her turning out evil, I did not imagine how far things would go.
Ned's downfall was complete, and in a way deserved. He was a fool (as many stated), and his shock at Beth's involvement with Harvest Home only proved it. He can romp in the mud with Tamar, but oh my, it's time to lose our mind when Beth enjoys herself some Justin Hooke. And his complete lack of caring where Kate was during the ending sequence cements that his priorities were wrong, and while the ending is brutal for him, I still don't feel 100% sympathetic.
Overall, this was a great foray into the land of "country village is not what it seems". I kinda wish I had saved this for later in the fall, but there's something about the summer that makes it hard for me to resist a good spook story, and I had this on the back burner for awhile. I had never read Thomas Tryon before, and I came away impressed and felt that I was in the hands of an expert. I would recommend this to any horror fan, particularly if they're in the mood for a good secret cult/pagan worship story.
tarah_'s review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
slmatejcik's review against another edition
2.0
I really hate to rate this book so low, because I love folk horror, and this is one of the classics of the genre, so I was genuinely excited to read it. But I just could not get into it.
It's well-written from a technical standpoint, but subjectively, I felt the plot and pacing were off. The book easily could have been cut down to 2/3 the size without losing anything important. It was exposition-heavy, with most of that being delivered through dialogue that felt, at times, forced (the main character randomly asking a question about a taboo subject in the middle of an unrelated conversation and getting a multi-paragraph response, for example.)
Speaking of the main character, I found it really hard to understand his motivations and sympathize with him. He's not very likeable and makes excuses for his (egregiously, in one notable instance near the end) bad behavior. I'm not saying a main character has to be flawless or even a good person, but in a horror story like this, I wanted someone to root for over the obviously evil town that was turning against him. And I know it's probably unfair to criticize him for making uninformed or downright stupid decisions, given that characters don't know the genre they're in... but a lot of the things he did had me feeling like a stereotypical moviegoer shouting at a character to not go into the dark spooky basement.
Despite all this, I appreciate the influence this book had on folk horror. There's a lot of tropes here where I can see how future works were inspired by it. Most of the twists felt predictable with the context of 50 years of folk horror developments following this book's publication, but I still enjoyed figuring out all the secrets and piecing them all together, and I was caught off guard by a few. The Widow was a great character and by far my favorite, and the author has a talent for describing settings and some of the more horrific/disorienting parts of the novel.
All in all, there's potential here, but it feels like this book was still a draft or two away from a finished copy. Definitely still worth reading if you're into folk horror like I am, just don't expect perfection.
It's well-written from a technical standpoint, but subjectively, I felt the plot and pacing were off. The book easily could have been cut down to 2/3 the size without losing anything important. It was exposition-heavy, with most of that being delivered through dialogue that felt, at times, forced (the main character randomly asking a question about a taboo subject in the middle of an unrelated conversation and getting a multi-paragraph response, for example.)
Speaking of the main character, I found it really hard to understand his motivations and sympathize with him. He's not very likeable and makes excuses for his (egregiously, in one notable instance near the end) bad behavior. I'm not saying a main character has to be flawless or even a good person, but in a horror story like this, I wanted someone to root for over the obviously evil town that was turning against him. And I know it's probably unfair to criticize him for making uninformed or downright stupid decisions, given that characters don't know the genre they're in... but a lot of the things he did had me feeling like a stereotypical moviegoer shouting at a character to not go into the dark spooky basement.
Despite all this, I appreciate the influence this book had on folk horror. There's a lot of tropes here where I can see how future works were inspired by it. Most of the twists felt predictable with the context of 50 years of folk horror developments following this book's publication, but I still enjoyed figuring out all the secrets and piecing them all together, and I was caught off guard by a few. The Widow was a great character and by far my favorite, and the author has a talent for describing settings and some of the more horrific/disorienting parts of the novel.
All in all, there's potential here, but it feels like this book was still a draft or two away from a finished copy. Definitely still worth reading if you're into folk horror like I am, just don't expect perfection.