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dimeryrene's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
This is such a sort read, and I think, a good retelling of The Fall of the House of Usher. It's got some light plant horror, but nothing too graphic. There's a few animal deaths as well, but again not graphic. I think the narrator is fun and charming. The story is super short and simple. Enjoyable.
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal death and Death
erinjeanette's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Terminal illness, and Grief
Moderate: War
Minor: Suicide and Murder
lumidouce's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, and Violence
Minor: Suicide and War
f18's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Look, even if we are only discussing personal pronouns (everyone always forgets the other types) which is clearly the intention, AND we ignore archaic AND neopronouns, English ALSO has seven sets, one of which is used for inanimate objects. I, we, you, he, she, them, and it. So Gallacian isn't that special.
I unfortunately found the worldbuilding via narrator speaking directly to the reader distracting. Maybe this type of storytelling would have worked better as an epistolatory, since a novella doesn't give the author much time for the reader to discover things naturally. Though the made up country was interesting enough, I was regardless very annoyed by the asides which felt somewhat forced vs just having the main character use kan untranslatable words without context and letting the reader deduce the meanings.
That was, however, more of a slight annoyance in an otherwise enjoyable crossover of two things I like quite a lot (Poe andfungal horror - not much of a spoiler given the cover art but just in case! ). I didn' love this like I expected, probably because several major events happens offscreen, which took away from the tension and the emotional peak of the climax that I expect from a gothic, even if the structure was there. Not quite as dark as I expected (or maybe in the way I expected?) either but that isn't a bad thing.
A bit disappointed that the sequel is not another Poe retelling. I wasn't particularly attached to Easton so I don't know if I'll read it, but its short so I may give it a shot.
I unfortunately found the worldbuilding via narrator speaking directly to the reader distracting. Maybe this type of storytelling would have worked better as an epistolatory, since a novella doesn't give the author much time for the reader to discover things naturally. Though the made up country was interesting enough, I was regardless very annoyed by the asides which felt somewhat forced vs just having the main character use kan untranslatable words without context and letting the reader deduce the meanings.
That was, however, more of a slight annoyance in an otherwise enjoyable crossover of two things I like quite a lot (Poe and
A bit disappointed that the sequel is not another Poe retelling. I wasn't particularly attached to Easton so I don't know if I'll read it, but its short so I may give it a shot.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror
Moderate: Animal death and Death
Minor: Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and War
glorifiedloveletters's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This take on "The Fall of The House of Usher" is a great spooky time. I'll definitely look for the next in the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, and Death
samchase112's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
What a fantastic retelling of a classic story — and creepy as hell! I didn't love the audiobook, and it started off a bit slow, but that second half knocked me off my feet. T. Kingfisher is such a great writer, and I loved how they interwove the original material with new, terrifying ideas. They haven't disappointed me yet.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Suicide, Murder, Alcohol, and War
Minor: Vomit
bookedbymadeline's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I’m stuck between giving this 3 stars or 2.5 stars so for now it’s a 3. Strange writing style at times, occasionally telling over showing and the attempts at humor felt so out of place I ended up rolling my eyes.
Feels less like horror and more like fantasy in the beginning because of the fake country and language, with Alex going on monologues about Gallacian pronouns. But it’s too short and not enough world building to be fantasy as the MC assumes we know things “as I’m sure you read in the Galician periodical” LIKE NO WE HAVENT BECAUSE ITS MADE UP TELL US?! While also not being scary enough for me to consider it horror-it is creepy but only for a very short time. I’d say it’s less horror and more gothic mystery as most horror I’ve read give me genuine nightmares and this was just eh 🤷🏻♀️
Made it feel like the book was trying to do too much in such a short amount of pages. I think if the made up country and language was abandoned while keeping the queer rep, instead using the already established they/them pronouns, it could’ve been more focused on the mystery (or horror for some I guess)!
I didn’t love it or hate it, it’s a story that was engaging enough while reading it, and despite my initial desire to DNF it did get better by the 3rd/4th chapter. I didn’t have any strong feelings while reading most of it nor any strong opinions after finishing feeling like “that was it?” by the end. so for that it lacked in execution trying to juggle too many things making it a forgettable read as a result.
If you want something in a similar vein but that actually executes it well, I’d recommend reading Mexican Gothic instead. The author herself mentions it and why she set this book aside feeling like she couldn’t do a better job…she was right. She also mentions in the authors note that she hated how in the OG Fall of the House of Usher there weren’t explanations for things AND YET SHE ALSO DOESNT GIVE EXPLANATIONS! So much potential for this retelling but alas
Feels less like horror and more like fantasy in the beginning because of the fake country and language, with Alex going on monologues about Gallacian pronouns. But it’s too short and not enough world building to be fantasy as the MC assumes we know things “as I’m sure you read in the Galician periodical” LIKE NO WE HAVENT BECAUSE ITS MADE UP TELL US?! While also not being scary enough for me to consider it horror-it is creepy but only for a very short time. I’d say it’s less horror and more gothic mystery as most horror I’ve read give me genuine nightmares and this was just eh 🤷🏻♀️
Made it feel like the book was trying to do too much in such a short amount of pages. I think if the made up country and language was abandoned while keeping the queer rep, instead using the already established they/them pronouns, it could’ve been more focused on the mystery (or horror for some I guess)!
I didn’t love it or hate it, it’s a story that was engaging enough while reading it, and despite my initial desire to DNF it did get better by the 3rd/4th chapter. I didn’t have any strong feelings while reading most of it nor any strong opinions after finishing feeling like “that was it?” by the end. so for that it lacked in execution trying to juggle too many things making it a forgettable read as a result.
If you want something in a similar vein but that actually executes it well, I’d recommend reading Mexican Gothic instead. The author herself mentions it and why she set this book aside feeling like she couldn’t do a better job…she was right. She also mentions in the authors note that she hated how in the OG Fall of the House of Usher there weren’t explanations for things AND YET SHE ALSO DOESNT GIVE EXPLANATIONS! So much potential for this retelling but alas
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Death and War
Minor: Suicide
starglitters's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I enjoyed this one! To be fair, as a big fan of fungi, anything involving fungi always have my heart—but I personally really enjoy her writing style. It was such a delight to read her characters and their antics.
I kinda understand Maddy a bit. Like yeah, if I found out some fungi could learn to talk, I would be hella impressed too. Oh Maddy, you would have loved modern scientific research and methodology. 🙂↕️🙂↕️
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, and Death
Moderate: Suicide, Fire/Fire injury, and War
Minor: Murder
erin2802's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This book gave me chills, the descriptions of fungi and hares and lakes make the hairs on the back of your neck stand. Very much enjoyed this book! It was a horror without the supernatural which makes it even scarier tbh.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Suicide, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
k_arnold's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-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
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death and Death