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aylasultana's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Death and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Drug use and Infidelity
hchandler1092's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Moderate: Violence, Torture, Blood, and Death
Minor: Drug use
batesbarb's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I will say that this book had the same issue that I've had with most of her horror stories, which is that they're incredibly tense and frightening until the last quarter. Once the main character (and the audience) see and interact with the monsters, they're never anywhere near as scary as what we've made up from the glimpses out of the corner of our eyes. It's a common problem in horror, but I think it's a bit amplified here because Kingfisher is so good at building and escalating the early tension of the imagination and the search that the falloff once we have an actual, visible problem to face is a bit more extreme.
Graphic: Violence and Body horror
Moderate: Alcohol, Drug use, and Gore
spineofthesaurus's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Death, Self harm, Violence, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Drug use, Gore, Alcohol, Grief, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Torture
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Gaslighting, Animal death, Medical trauma, Infidelity, and Ableism
Minor: Incest and Cannibalism
anntharai's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Body horror, Gore, and Alcohol
Moderate: Drug use, Blood, and Animal death
Minor: Infidelity
midnightgremlin's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Graphic: Child death, Vomit, Body horror, Death, and Gore
Minor: Blood, Drug use, Infidelity, and Cannibalism
mandkips's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Body horror and Gore
Moderate: Death, Blood, and Animal death
Minor: Drug use and Infidelity
_thelitlibrarian's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
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TW: Body Horror, Gore, Death, Animal Death, Child Death, Blood, Drug Use, Infidelity.
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"Does your uncle know there's a portal to Narnia in his museum?"
After a rough divorce, Kara relocates her entire life back home to help out at her uncle's museum of curiosities. While her uncle is out for surgery a hole suddenly appears out of the blue, leaving Kara to explore the unknown with the next-door barista, Simon. This hole leads to a bunker where they discover a dead body, as the two get more curious about this world, they'll soon realize that some things are better left untouched.
I would categorize this more of a fantasy and not a horror. Yes, there are some spooky moments, but this focuses on a world that links to endless possible universes. I really wanted to fall in love with the book, I really enjoyed the plot and the unique concept (hello fear of the unknown), but it was a tad repetitive and fell under common horror stereotypes (gay best friend, the main character doing dumb things). What I love about T. Kingfisher's books is the inclusion of humor in such creepy moments, this is often done with the banter between Kara and Simon. I found the ending a bit predictable, throughout the book there's constantly referencing to one of the artifacts in the museum and I instantly knew that it played a bigger picture in the story than just a museum curiosity.
Graphic: Infidelity, Body horror, Blood, Drug use, Gore, Death, Animal death, and Child death
zxillaisreading's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Body horror and Death
Moderate: Blood and Gore
Minor: Alcohol, Animal death, Cursing, Drug use, and Infidelity
anni_swanilda's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, and Vomit
Minor: Drug use and Infidelity