Reviews with content warning for Fire/Fire injury - What Moves the Dead

This was so creepy, especially in the last half, I was so jumpy reading it. It was atmospheric, suspenseful, and grotesque. I also really enjoyed the MC and thought some of the secondary characters were quite quirky and charming

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hauntedantiqueshop's review against another edition

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mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

As I was reading, I had the sense that the story was somewhat familiar but I just couldn’t place it. Turns out it’s a reimagining of Edgar Allen Poe’s The Fall of The House of Usher. I did immediately reread Poe’s short story after I finished to see what this author built off. It took a while for it to fully become interesting but I liked the ending, the realization of what’s happened to Madeline and the plan for Alex. Other than that, it was nothing great or noteworthy for me, just not bad at all. I’ll probably reread at some point though!

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bohemianhermit04's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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booksthatburn's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

WHAT MOVES THE DEAD is a retelling of Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher", which I waited to read until after I'd finished the retelling. This was a good decision, leaving me room to enjoy what the novella actually does rather than waiting for the scant events from the original story to play out. The cast of characters is larger and significantly more developed than in the original, which is good. The particular fungal incursion is resolved, but as this gets a sequel I doubt the problem was handled once and for all, merely suppressed in this particular instance.

Things I love, in no particular order: the way pronouns and gender are used; the appearance of a relative of Beatrix Potter, who was a children's writer/illustrator because of sexism precluding her from illustrating botanical texts; the way the discovery of the cause is approached; how creepy the hares are.

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