Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - What Moves the Dead

Oh, this was delightful!

Atmospheric, dark, and a sort of subtle terror within the imagery that creeps along the back of your neck and holds you hostage up until the last chapter.

That last chapter is what kept it from being a 5 star read for me. It has a rather lack luster climax, which in a Gothic style horror isn't a bad thing, but the ending is abrupt and a tad disappointing.

As a retelling, I think T. Kingfisher knocked it out of the park. The fungal element was well thought out, and the imagery was beautiful. If that ending would have been a bit more.. complete, I suppose, it would have been phenomenal.

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cowardlyteaman's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Ouch

Unfortunately, this did not hold up to my expectations.

First of all, I don't see the need for this fictional world that Kingfisher has created. She spends valuable pages explaining a world that isn't relevant to her story. That's not to say that I don't like it, but I wish she would've chosen one or the other—fantasy novel or a short horror story.
Because the mystery doesn't really start until the book is nearly done. I never really got the feeling of something ominous or even anticipation for what happened next. Well, that isn't entirely true. The part about the rabbits really intrigued me! But Kingfisher's writing style here seems too—rushed. She's moved on to the next point before she ever lets the last impression set in. I want more detail—insight into the characters.
Still, I like that she writes a non-binary character without writing an LGBT novel. I'm gay myself—I have nothing against them, but representation in genres that aren't LGBT is important, I think. Normalises it.

Another thing I'd like to mention, is that I personally didn't like at all the part where the fungus learns to talk and speaks through Madeleine and stuff. It was boring, really. Felt cliché and wasn't actually eerie in the least.

Well, as a whole, I just think the mystery and horror never struck me. I very rarely read horror at all, but I do love Poe's work, so this disappointed me deeply.

However! Not a bad book. As I said, there were parts that intrigued me, but I'd really expected more of this book.

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matcha_cat's review against another edition

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dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

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batcaves's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

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

2.25

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lipstickitotheman's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Solid horror, very creepy, super cool universe--love how the main character's culture has a distinctly gendered soldier class that many readers would classify as non-binary. Also one of the only books I've read with a character with tinnitus, whose disability was well integrated in the story.

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tifftastic87's review

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dark funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

It took me a minute to decide if this was a 5 ⭐️. In the end because I had to think about it, it's not. But it's close.

I really loved how the characters interact, especially Easton and Hob the horse. I like the simple use of pronouns woven into a made up foreign language and how the culture is heavily featured in Easton's character. I loved that there was an English woman who was a mycologist as one of the unlikely heroes.

This was a fun story and I found myself wishing for more.

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