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emilywemily6's review against another edition
dark
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
For a light, spooky read for the season, this book had more depth than I expected. This book is about a character’s experience and growth rather than plot, and I found it really interesting with lots of insights actually. It was more gorey/graphic than I expected too (the curses were very creative). It took a while for the witchiness to really get introduced, so it had a slower start but the pacing picked up throughout the book. I appreciated how Annie’s perspective of her relationship with Sam changed over time; not a fan of him. I was disappointed that the co-dependent/slightly toxic nature of this friendship wasn’t really addressed beyond the one conflict at the end of the book, as we didn’t really get closure about how Annie chose to act morally in the long run. I appreciated the themes of empowerment though, and the vibes of this were perfect for October!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Bullying, Cursing, Grief, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body horror, Blood, and Misogyny
Moderate: Hate crime, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Eating disorder, Murder, Infidelity, and Vomit
bluelillybooks's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
medium-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
4.0
Menacing, magnanimous, magic.
Annie is a 30 year-old teacher who suffers from depression after her boyfriend broke up with her. She moves through life trying to be as inconspicious as possible, while her mind is haunted by anxiety. Now that she has to move cities and live on her own, she is confronted with her bad drinking habits and loneliness. Then she meets Sophie, who carries herself with a grace and confidence that inspires awe in Annie. They quickly become friends, but if Sophie is that wonderful, then why are the other villagers always nervous around her? And why are there so many spiders in Annie's appartment?
I have never before seen myself in a character as much as I saw myself in Annie. "Cackle" describes anxiety attacks, self-doubt and depressive symptoms in such an accurate way that I highlighted some of the passages to show to my therapist. Not even joking. I've seen some reviews calling Annie gullible and annoying, but girlies that's literally how anxiety works *shrugs*.
Without spoiling anything, because I think everyone should read this book, "Cackle" is about finding the courage to live life for yourself and all the magic in yourself that is just waiting to come out. Also spooky vibes!
Annie is a 30 year-old teacher who suffers from depression after her boyfriend broke up with her. She moves through life trying to be as inconspicious as possible, while her mind is haunted by anxiety. Now that she has to move cities and live on her own, she is confronted with her bad drinking habits and loneliness. Then she meets Sophie, who carries herself with a grace and confidence that inspires awe in Annie. They quickly become friends, but if Sophie is that wonderful, then why are the other villagers always nervous around her? And why are there so many spiders in Annie's appartment?
I have never before seen myself in a character as much as I saw myself in Annie. "Cackle" describes anxiety attacks, self-doubt and depressive symptoms in such an accurate way that I highlighted some of the passages to show to my therapist. Not even joking. I've seen some reviews calling Annie gullible and annoying, but girlies that's literally how anxiety works *shrugs*.
Without spoiling anything, because I think everyone should read this book, "Cackle" is about finding the courage to live life for yourself and all the magic in yourself that is just waiting to come out. Also spooky vibes!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Bullying
Moderate: Body shaming, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, Eating disorder, and Grief
Spidersemoryjoy's review against another edition
dark
inspiring
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
The back of the book sounds like it will be a queer romance. It is not.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Blood
Moderate: Addiction, Cursing, Death, Gore, Stalking, Blood, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence
Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Emotional abuse, Vomit, Mental illness, Death of parent, and Body shaming
Arachnophobia - there are lots of spiders in this bookbitterseason's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Grief, Body shaming, and Body horror
Minor: Animal death, Misogyny, Murder, Vomit, Bullying, Sexism, Cursing, Infidelity, Blood, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
blewballoon's review
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-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
3.0
As I was reading this book, I thought I would describe it as "unhinged." It starts out sane enough with a main character who feels like a person. A person who is in a bad place emotionally, but still a person you can relate to. As she is thrust into more bizarre situations and interactions, it is harder to understand why she does what she does. In some instances she's obtusely passive and ignores what should not be ignored. In others she's overly confrontational and aggressive. I started to lose my sympathy and understanding of her and any of the other characters and never really got it back. The side characters and Sophie never feel completely fleshed out. Sophie is so performative and mysterious you never get closure on what she's really like underneath it all. I did like the ending, and I flew through the book, it was easy to read and kept me engaged even if a lot of the time I was just asking myself "wtf?"
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol
Moderate: Body horror and Bullying
Minor: Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, and Toxic relationship
cinthiaurora's review against another edition
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I picked this up because I wanted something spooky, but still lighthearted and easy to read, and the good news was that this delivered. While Rachel Harrison’s writing WAS easy to read though, I found her writing flowed really well and was very introspective. Premise of the book sounds like a pitch for a sitcom, which for me is a plus. If it WAS a sitcom I would watch 10 seasons of it. Good read if you know what to expect!
I deducted .5 because Annie and Sophie never kissed. And another .5 because at a certain point it was just unbelievable to me that Annie moves to a pretty new town where she befriends a LITERAL WITCH who cooks for her and makes her dresses and shows her her own magic powers AND has a cute little spider side-kick….and she’s STILL thinking about her loser ex-boyfriend? She’s literally insane. Also I really thought for a minute there that all the character development we did manage to get from her would be undone when she decided to see Sam. I literally had zero faith in her. None whatsoever. So a pleasant surprise she turned it around in the end. Anyways, Annie and Sophie should have kissed. I don’t care if Sophie was a little toxic. I support women’s wrongs. Otherwise pretty solid read.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol, Body horror, Bullying, and Cursing
Minor: Animal death, Blood, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Misogyny, and Toxic relationship
katiemack's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-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
5.0
I have found the perfect book (well, for me) for Spooky Season, and this is it.
Annie is a teacher who moves out of NYC after her boyfriend Sam breaks up with her; she move into a place in the picturesque, perfectly cozy autumnal New England town of Rowan; and she meets Sophie, a preternaturally youthful and elegant woman who commands power over the little town. I adore the way Harrison wrote Annie; she's relatable and sarcastic and, in her own way, empowering. Through Sophie, she discovers her own strength and learns to depend on herself rather than the other people in her life.
The prose is hilarious and biting with just enough horror to keep you on your toes. Pick it up before Spooky Season ends.
Annie is a teacher who moves out of NYC after her boyfriend Sam breaks up with her; she move into a place in the picturesque, perfectly cozy autumnal New England town of Rowan; and she meets Sophie, a preternaturally youthful and elegant woman who commands power over the little town. I adore the way Harrison wrote Annie; she's relatable and sarcastic and, in her own way, empowering. Through Sophie, she discovers her own strength and learns to depend on herself rather than the other people in her life.
The prose is hilarious and biting with just enough horror to keep you on your toes. Pick it up before Spooky Season ends.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, and Cursing
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