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dovedozen's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
This book was written by a man whose blog says he's fostered a bunch of dogs, but who I can only infer never learned to trim their nails and also seems to think lions are more interesting, because they're epic or whatever. Also, the racism is WILDLY out of line and VERY OBVIOUSLY comes from the author's entirely unexamined history of personal mass media consumption. The hyperviolent rapist is a man who wears a tutu for most of the book, because haha, get it, he's ~not human~ and doesn't understand which clothes go with which gender, lol? Oh, also, it's dropped halfway through the book in a throwaway line that he's black. Also the tutu came from the childhood bedroom closet of a gay man, I guess? I wish this dude didn't know what gay people were. I also wish he didn't know what dogs were, to be perfectly honest with you.
Listen to me. The pacing is awful. Scenes that don't matter are explained in excruciating detail and the lore is nothing but a series of vague gestures towards the CONCEPT of real-life mythological systems. The main character is bait-and-switched from the Woman Who Might Be Losing Her Humanity the blurb tells you about to the author's epic quipping self-insert everyman, who has the same conversation with rando after rando about how HE KNOWS, RIGHT, what's happening is REALLY weird but he has a gun and will shoot them if they don't help him fail to advance the plot. This is a book written by a middle-aged man who has seen a lot of movies and reads Neil Gaiman sometimes. Whoever edited it didn't do shit, because it barely hangs together as a coherent narrative at all. Instead it reads like the idle dark fantasy of a guy who had some free time to write one book, one time. It's a story that uses sexual assault and graphic descriptions of violence to ask the reader "wouldn't it be fucked up if" and it doesn't even have the decency to do it in a way that's well-written enough to be cathartic. It's not even that weird. It's, like, an intensely boring person's idea of what a weird book is probably like, they think.
Mount Char is nothing. It's a desperately sad waste of my ears and brain cells. It's fodder for my lifelong vendetta against Artists Who Are Just Some Guy. It's "John Dies at the End" for assholes. Whoever wrote the blurb for it is some kind of chaos genius and I hope they were paid accordingly, because if you'd asked me to describe this novel concisely, in a way that might trick people with brains into taking a chance on it, I would have simply said "no, thank you".
Fuck this book.
Listen to me. The pacing is awful. Scenes that don't matter are explained in excruciating detail and the lore is nothing but a series of vague gestures towards the CONCEPT of real-life mythological systems. The main character is bait-and-switched from the Woman Who Might Be Losing Her Humanity the blurb tells you about to the author's epic quipping self-insert everyman, who has the same conversation with rando after rando about how HE KNOWS, RIGHT, what's happening is REALLY weird but he has a gun and will shoot them if they don't help him fail to advance the plot. This is a book written by a middle-aged man who has seen a lot of movies and reads Neil Gaiman sometimes. Whoever edited it didn't do shit, because it barely hangs together as a coherent narrative at all. Instead it reads like the idle dark fantasy of a guy who had some free time to write one book, one time. It's a story that uses sexual assault and graphic descriptions of violence to ask the reader "wouldn't it be fucked up if" and it doesn't even have the decency to do it in a way that's well-written enough to be cathartic. It's not even that weird. It's, like, an intensely boring person's idea of what a weird book is probably like, they think.
Mount Char is nothing. It's a desperately sad waste of my ears and brain cells. It's fodder for my lifelong vendetta against Artists Who Are Just Some Guy. It's "John Dies at the End" for assholes. Whoever wrote the blurb for it is some kind of chaos genius and I hope they were paid accordingly, because if you'd asked me to describe this novel concisely, in a way that might trick people with brains into taking a chance on it, I would have simply said "no, thank you".
Fuck this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, and Violence
Minor: Bullying, Drug use, Fatphobia, and Homophobia
rachelunabridged's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
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? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Cursing, and Drug use
sydneythebookpal's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Violence
amandajoy's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, and Violence
whatellisreadnext's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-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
5.0
"๐๐ข๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ฃ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ต๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฃ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง*๐ค๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฌ?"
๐๐ข๐ณ๐ฐ๐ญ๐บ๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฑ๐ด, ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ. "๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฎ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ช๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ด."
Carolyn has spent most of her life locked inside an infinite library alongside her adopted siblings. Father gives each of them different catalogs to study, all becoming experts in their given fields. After a turn of events, father is missing, and none of them can reach the library, they need the help of an outsider.
I love this book so much. It has without a doubt cemented it's place in my top 10 favourite books of all time. It is everything I want from a story and more. The Library At Mount Char might be one of the weirdest, funniest and most confusing books I have ever read, but I loved every single second of it. There is something so special about reading the first 30 pages of a book, and just knowing it's going to be one of the best things you've ever read.
This book isn't going to be for everyone, if you like a linear structured narrative that isn't confusing, then this probably isn't the book for you. I spent the first 200 pages, so confused, but I just couldn't tear my eyes away from the craziness that was unfolding. And then the last 190 pages, when it all came together was so bloody satisfying.
I can't really say much without ruining this one. I recommend going in as blind as possible, but if you're into weird, witty, gory sci-fi, then you need this book. I mean you should buy it for Carolyn alone, she is such a fantastic main protagonist. I love her with my whole heart. You know what is frustrating? The fact that this is the only book Scott Hawkins has written so far. I need more books like this in my life ๐ญ
Thanks to my bookish bestie Kathryn for gifting me this book for Christmas. You are the best, and I never would have picked this up if it wasn't for you
๐๐ข๐ณ๐ฐ๐ญ๐บ๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฑ๐ด, ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ. "๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฎ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ช๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ด."
Carolyn has spent most of her life locked inside an infinite library alongside her adopted siblings. Father gives each of them different catalogs to study, all becoming experts in their given fields. After a turn of events, father is missing, and none of them can reach the library, they need the help of an outsider.
I love this book so much. It has without a doubt cemented it's place in my top 10 favourite books of all time. It is everything I want from a story and more. The Library At Mount Char might be one of the weirdest, funniest and most confusing books I have ever read, but I loved every single second of it. There is something so special about reading the first 30 pages of a book, and just knowing it's going to be one of the best things you've ever read.
This book isn't going to be for everyone, if you like a linear structured narrative that isn't confusing, then this probably isn't the book for you. I spent the first 200 pages, so confused, but I just couldn't tear my eyes away from the craziness that was unfolding. And then the last 190 pages, when it all came together was so bloody satisfying.
I can't really say much without ruining this one. I recommend going in as blind as possible, but if you're into weird, witty, gory sci-fi, then you need this book. I mean you should buy it for Carolyn alone, she is such a fantastic main protagonist. I love her with my whole heart. You know what is frustrating? The fact that this is the only book Scott Hawkins has written so far. I need more books like this in my life ๐ญ
Thanks to my bookish bestie Kathryn for gifting me this book for Christmas. You are the best, and I never would have picked this up if it wasn't for you
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Violence
Dog attackjayisreading's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
3.0
Iโm not sure where to begin with this book. The Library at Mount Char is weird. A lot happens that will make you experience a range of emotions which, admittedly, tend to be unpleasant. It certainly fits into the horror genre for disturbing imagery, but I wouldnโt necessarily call this a โscaryโ book (though Iโd take my opinion on this with a grain of salt; it takes a lot for me to find something terrifying).
It really wasnโt until the second half of the book that I felt any kind of investment in the novel and understand what was actually going on. Until then, I found the first half incredibly slow and frustrating. The premise of the novel itself was interesting, especially for knowledge seekers who would love to be true masters of one particular topic. The idea that you pour through every imaginable book for that one topic has its appeal to a certain crowd, though the question is at what cost? If Hawkins could have revealed a little more of that at the start of the novel, I think I would have felt more invested from the start.
I felt that there was a bit of deus ex machina happening towards the end of the novel, but not to an extreme that would have made me hate this book. I still had questions even after finishing, but I get the impression that Hawkins wants his readers to sit in that unease in all the strangeness that happened in the novel.
I hesitate to recommend this to anyone, not because itโs bad, but because itโs definitely for a specific audience, which I think I wasnโt exactly part of. If youโre queasy with graphic descriptions of violence, Iโd strongly recommend avoiding this one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Torture, and Violence
Minor: Drug use, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Suicide
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