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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.
theduchess93's review against another edition
4.0
I absolutely HATED the protagonist, and I'm not sure if I was supposed to -- his three character traits were talking about Paris, painting, and making love to his wife. Yikes. It was a VERY slow burn but I enjoyed getting to know everyone in the small town. The big reveals were almost too obvious, but enjoyable nonetheless.
bunnyonthemoon's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
gripyfish's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
bekab20's review against another edition
4.0
These women are crazy! A little slow at first, but plenty of atmospheric creepy weirdness. And leaves you thinking "what on earth did I just read?" lol
mallorywht's review against another edition
3.0
I’m not normally one to be bothered by things that require a trigger warning, but in this case I think I would have benefited from knowing a little more going in. I would put a strong trigger warning on this for rape, sexual assault, and domestic violence. I knew it was horror going in, but some of the scenes were so descriptive it was, in my opinion, past horror and off putting. If I had known to expect that going in, I think I could have gotten past it and given the book a better review.