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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
(4.5) Dang, this was an inventive twist on a haunted house! Primate researchers in the 1970s move into an old mansion with a research chimp to teach him ASL & integrate him into a family. And then hell breaks loose - supernaturally & ethically. This was too long and the ghosty parts were almost too subtle (a critique I rarely have), but I thought this was otherwise pretty brilliant and definitely sad and unsettling. I’ll be thinking about it for a while. (There’s a part of the book that didn’t get explained, which was effectively chilling & it keeps giving me goosebumps just to remember it.)
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
probs more like 3.5 stars but not sure enough abt that to round up- loved the writing and the characters but the book did not have to be as long as it was. while reading it never felt like a chore, the majority of the book focused on the study, which got a bit repetitive, more than the paranormal/scary aspects. the scary moments were well done but were too spaced out and too few. the scariness just didn’t carry any momentum and i never felt like the story reached a climax. wanted to love the book, the premise is great but it was just fine ig
I'm rounding up from 3.5. I really wanted this to scare me more. There WERE some creepy moments but this is more like a "Haunting of Hill House" than a Stephen King novel. Subtly scary with enough ambiguity to leave you thinking it was all in everyone's heads. I was at times frustrated by the inability of the staff to put two and two together. And the character of Piers had me baffled by his lack of interest/concern for some of the things going on. However, if there is a sequel as the last line of the book suggests, I will want to check it out.
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It’s incredibly slow, and not nearly as scary as the pull quote on the cover says. It rarely makes its way past creepy, and never once into “keep the lights on terror”. The characters are very distinct, and you can clearly see their motivations and flaws and strengths. But the haunted part of the plot is so…underdeveloped. The characters jump to conclusions that don’t make any sense for them to come to, based on the info they have, and half the info they get is found by incredibly cliche or contrite ways. I love the epistolary style, and I love the characters, but overall I was left disappointed by the pace, the lack of horror, and how unfinished the book feels even at over 500 pages.
This review is based on an ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
Smithy by Amanda Desiree is a very subtle book. It is an epistolary novel, that is, it is composed of reports, diary entries, letters, interviews and transcripts which together provide the narrative. The subject matter of the novel is an experiment that took place at Trevor Hall, an old, sprawling dilapidated mansion where a group of grad students and a professor explored the possibilities of teaching sign language to a baby chimpanzee. The author ably constructs the intricate, daily routine of the house while weaving in a sense of unease through very small unusual elements. The subtlety lies in the ambiguity of the strangeness - accidents, or something else?
Smithy is the chimpanzee, though his real name is Webster, but the affectionate Smithy became the term of common usage in the novel. With him, we are introduced to a cast of students who live and work with him/. At first, things go well, as the characters are entranced by the huge mansion they are living in. A bit of time is spent on introducing the cast and indicating their different personalities. A significant portion of the first part of the book is spent in discussing the first phase of the experiment - sign language training and the mostly positive experience of the characters with Smithy. The epistolary style helps, as it presents the reader with a range of points of view - from the developments of the project through bulletin board entries, to the internal monologue of characters through letters and diary entries. Occasionally later interviews and book excerpts are spliced in to lend flashes of hindsight. As the book progresses, the daily routine is interrupted more and more, in unpredictable ways by a series of small incidents that range from being a bit strange, to unusual, to quite frightening. The scientific temper of the team is strained as these incidents help to open up incipient rifts. As personalities clash, and the inexplicable rears its head, the students and professor have to question their root assumptions.
This is a book about denial. Time and again, the characters are confronted with incidents that question their basic assumptions, including about their own safety. And repeatedly these are ignored. The author uses this element of denial to highlight how expectations about and investment in the project lead to a systematic neglect of basic investigations and precautions.
I really enjoyed this book. The pacing was fairly smooth, the epistolary style lent texture and depth to the story, and the subtlety and ambiguity of the uncanny elements leaves much to the fertile imagination of the reader. Ultimately, many questions are left unanswered, but this is by design. The author presents all the elements needed to pain the full picture, and leaves the brush lying in the open so we may fill in the grey spaces.
Smithy by Amanda Desiree is a very subtle book. It is an epistolary novel, that is, it is composed of reports, diary entries, letters, interviews and transcripts which together provide the narrative. The subject matter of the novel is an experiment that took place at Trevor Hall, an old, sprawling dilapidated mansion where a group of grad students and a professor explored the possibilities of teaching sign language to a baby chimpanzee. The author ably constructs the intricate, daily routine of the house while weaving in a sense of unease through very small unusual elements. The subtlety lies in the ambiguity of the strangeness - accidents, or something else?
Smithy is the chimpanzee, though his real name is Webster, but the affectionate Smithy became the term of common usage in the novel. With him, we are introduced to a cast of students who live and work with him/. At first, things go well, as the characters are entranced by the huge mansion they are living in. A bit of time is spent on introducing the cast and indicating their different personalities. A significant portion of the first part of the book is spent in discussing the first phase of the experiment - sign language training and the mostly positive experience of the characters with Smithy. The epistolary style helps, as it presents the reader with a range of points of view - from the developments of the project through bulletin board entries, to the internal monologue of characters through letters and diary entries. Occasionally later interviews and book excerpts are spliced in to lend flashes of hindsight. As the book progresses, the daily routine is interrupted more and more, in unpredictable ways by a series of small incidents that range from being a bit strange, to unusual, to quite frightening. The scientific temper of the team is strained as these incidents help to open up incipient rifts. As personalities clash, and the inexplicable rears its head, the students and professor have to question their root assumptions.
This is a book about denial. Time and again, the characters are confronted with incidents that question their basic assumptions, including about their own safety. And repeatedly these are ignored. The author uses this element of denial to highlight how expectations about and investment in the project lead to a systematic neglect of basic investigations and precautions.
I really enjoyed this book. The pacing was fairly smooth, the epistolary style lent texture and depth to the story, and the subtlety and ambiguity of the uncanny elements leaves much to the fertile imagination of the reader. Ultimately, many questions are left unanswered, but this is by design. The author presents all the elements needed to pain the full picture, and leaves the brush lying in the open so we may fill in the grey spaces.
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-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:
Complicated
i loved ghost stories as a kid, and thought this was a great reintroduction to the genre. the plot and setting were intriguing, and the concept was different but likeable. i definitely would’ve liked there to have been more to the ‘ghost story’ aspect, as it felt as though the last main disruption had some loose ends (in my opinion). not necessarily ‘keep the lights on terror’, as is written on the cover, but still a good “ghost story”.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide, Blood
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced