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4.43 AVERAGE
4.43 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Just this morning finished listening to the new edition Valencourt released a few years ago. This is my fourth McDowell book and probably my second favorite (nothing has topped The Elementals yet.) It's hard to put my feelings into words, this is a weird book.
The closest thing this book has to a conflict is resolved halfway through. This is the story of an entire family, told over fifty some odd years and spanning several generations. This is a long book, but a lot of this time is described in broad strokes. The story will focus on some slice of life; a wedding, a funeral, someone goes away to college; then it will zoom out for almost a decade before zooming back in to focus on something else.
If you've never read McDowell before, this may sound pretty boring, and to be completely honest, it doesn't get a bit boring towards the very end. But McDowell has such a way with characters and dialogue that this will start to feel like your own family.
As far as horror goes, this books is probably the lightest on that front. Don't go in expect a lot of that (despite one of the main characters being some sort of alligator person.) But there are some pretty gruesome deaths here for you folks that enjoy that sort of thing.
In summation, read this shit, it's real good.
The closest thing this book has to a conflict is resolved halfway through. This is the story of an entire family, told over fifty some odd years and spanning several generations. This is a long book, but a lot of this time is described in broad strokes. The story will focus on some slice of life; a wedding, a funeral, someone goes away to college; then it will zoom out for almost a decade before zooming back in to focus on something else.
If you've never read McDowell before, this may sound pretty boring, and to be completely honest, it doesn't get a bit boring towards the very end. But McDowell has such a way with characters and dialogue that this will start to feel like your own family.
As far as horror goes, this books is probably the lightest on that front. Don't go in expect a lot of that (despite one of the main characters being some sort of alligator person.) But there are some pretty gruesome deaths here for you folks that enjoy that sort of thing.
In summation, read this shit, it's real good.
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I was a bit hesitant going into this book due to its length (888 pages) and not sure that I liked the idea of a river monster being at the center of this Southern Gothic tale but WOW!!! I was completely mesmerized - loved every word!!! This book is utter perfection!!! I couldn't stop turning the pages and I treasured every moment while reading this fantastical novel that has everything: mystery, romance, intrigue, supernatural suspense and horror!!! The saga of the Caskey family is one of the best books I have ever read!!!
Originally published in the 80s as 6 serial novels, I was happy to get my hands on this special Suntup collector's edition that has the full story with beautiful color illustrations. This will definitely be a re-read for me for years to come. Was so sad when I turned the last page. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!!
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-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
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I was happy to find the writer of one of my favorite movies also wrote southern gothic (one of my favorite genres) as a genre. This was a great mix of supernatural, horror and myth wrapped up in gothic delivery. The only disappointing part was the mix of the "plantation tradition" of literature, but even that was relatively subtle, especially for the genre.