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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
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:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The vibes were immaculate. Great Halloween read, and takes place around Halloween too!
I still don't know how to feel about the ending, it was satisfying and it wasn't. I might have to ruminate on it a while longer and then update this review, but I did like it. My initial reaction was "well that was abrupt, that's it?" and then the more I thought about it the more I thought it made sense and was actually fitting. I don't know, I just stepped away with a lot of mixed and complicated emotions about the ending.
The mystery also kept me hooked the whole way through, I could not put it down.
I still don't know how to feel about the ending, it was satisfying and it wasn't. I might have to ruminate on it a while longer and then update this review, but I did like it. My initial reaction was "well that was abrupt, that's it?" and then the more I thought about it the more I thought it made sense and was actually fitting. I don't know, I just stepped away with a lot of mixed and complicated emotions about the ending.
The mystery also kept me hooked the whole way through, I could not put it down.
I sense that what we were going for with that ending was “shocking and scary”, but for me it landed somewhere around “jarring, barely earned, and annoying.”
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-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
I'm a sucker for any horror-ish story that begins with a family being forced to relocate to a creepy old house outside a small town. The reason for the move is often the death of a parent, but very rarely does the story itself focus as hard on the mourning of that death as Horrid does. For whatever ghostly, gothic elements it has, it's really a book about grief and trauma and mental health.
I liked that and enjoyed going back and forth trying to decide whether Jane's experiences in her mother's childhood home are supernatural or in her head. Both were compelling ideas to me, though my preference is always going to be for a ghost story.
Leno leaves it ambiguous and I would have been okay with that, but she also ends the story super abruptly with so much unresolved. Jane finishes the book with an important decision, but we see none of the consequences of that. Especially how it will impact her relationships with a lot of other characters whom I really came to like. Leno abandons those characters without thought at the end and that's the book's fatal crime.
I liked that and enjoyed going back and forth trying to decide whether Jane's experiences in her mother's childhood home are supernatural or in her head. Both were compelling ideas to me, though my preference is always going to be for a ghost story.
Leno leaves it ambiguous and I would have been okay with that, but she also ends the story super abruptly with so much unresolved. Jane finishes the book with an important decision, but we see none of the consequences of that. Especially how it will impact her relationships with a lot of other characters whom I really came to like. Leno abandons those characters without thought at the end and that's the book's fatal crime.
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Horrid was a pleasant surprise for me. It was unpredictable and even a little unhinged at times. I picked this up for the Summerween readathon. I can't decide between a 2 star or 3 star because while there was so much to like, it was ultimately unmemorable. The side characters felt so under developed. Even though there was so beautiful imagery, the story still felt bare bones. Horrid had a lot of potential but it could have been even better. I'm indecisive on how to rate this.
complex mother-daughter relationship ✔
small town in Maine setting ✔
creepy haunted rose gardens and autumnal vibes ✔
themes of grief and how it can manifest ✔
prose that sucked me in with it's imagery ✔
No, she couldn't remember the first book she'd eaten, but she could remember the first book she'd eaten purposefully. And that was maybe more important.
The anger was faded now, replaced with sadness, replaced with a gnawing in her stomach that she identified as the place that had been ripped out of her when Greer died.
She imagined the paper re-forming in her belly. She imagined the words dissolving off the paper and sinking into her bloodstream. She imagined her body filled with words. Made up of them. Words instead of blood, words instead of organs.
complex mother-daughter relationship ✔
small town in Maine setting ✔
creepy haunted rose gardens and autumnal vibes ✔
themes of grief and how it can manifest ✔
prose that sucked me in with it's imagery ✔
No, she couldn't remember the first book she'd eaten, but she could remember the first book she'd eaten purposefully. And that was maybe more important.
The anger was faded now, replaced with sadness, replaced with a gnawing in her stomach that she identified as the place that had been ripped out of her when Greer died.
She imagined the paper re-forming in her belly. She imagined the words dissolving off the paper and sinking into her bloodstream. She imagined her body filled with words. Made up of them. Words instead of blood, words instead of organs.
3.5/5-I really wanted to like this book more. I’ve been searching for scary books to read and this was definitely creepy. My main issue is with the ending. I feel like it needed to be a bit more developed. It was a quick read and it definitely has its moments.