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kvltprincess's review against another edition
4.0
This one was very strange, and it's one that I'm going to be thinking about for a while, I can tell.
Sarah Crowe moves to a house outside of Providence, Rhode Island to write after a horrible rift between herself and her girlfriend. Outside of the house is a creepy red oak. Inside the house, in the basement, Sarah finds a manuscript written by the house's former tenant, an anthropology professor who hung himself from the previously mentioned creepy red oak.
Things that are awesome:
1) The book is prefaced by commentary from Sarah's editor. The bulk of the book is written in journal entries from Sarah. Several pages worth of the deceased anthropologist's manuscript are also here, as well as snippets from other authors, mainly Lewis Carroll and Poe. Lovecraft's shadow, too, is hanging all over this thing, even though it is more implied than overt.
2) I don't know if this is a spoiler or not, because like I said, I'll be ruminating on this thing for a while. But just in case,
3) The way the story ties into Sarah's own grief and experiences in her own past, and how much of what happens seems to mirror those.
The thing that I wasn't crazy about: The ending. Just because it didn't seem to explain enough.
That being said, this was still a fantastic book and (as you can tell if you read my spoilery bits) it's got my mind quite boggled. If you are a horror geek and like Lovecraft and Poe, there is fun stuff in here for you. And if you don't mind not having ALL the answers, or at least having to think hard for them, The Red Tree is a fantastic read.
Sarah Crowe moves to a house outside of Providence, Rhode Island to write after a horrible rift between herself and her girlfriend. Outside of the house is a creepy red oak. Inside the house, in the basement, Sarah finds a manuscript written by the house's former tenant, an anthropology professor who hung himself from the previously mentioned creepy red oak.
Things that are awesome:
1) The book is prefaced by commentary from Sarah's editor. The bulk of the book is written in journal entries from Sarah. Several pages worth of the deceased anthropologist's manuscript are also here, as well as snippets from other authors, mainly Lewis Carroll and Poe. Lovecraft's shadow, too, is hanging all over this thing, even though it is more implied than overt.
2) I don't know if this is a spoiler or not, because like I said, I'll be ruminating on this thing for a while. But just in case,
Spoiler
Time and space in this thing are WONKY. At one point, Constance tells Sarah about her experience in which she was the ghost for another person, in a sort of string theory concept. I think that maybe that is the lynch pin here. Time and space seem to be very thin around the red oak, with characters in the book in modern day meeting people who died long before. But again, this is something I need to think more about.3) The way the story ties into Sarah's own grief and experiences in her own past, and how much of what happens seems to mirror those.
The thing that I wasn't crazy about: The ending. Just because it didn't seem to explain enough.
That being said, this was still a fantastic book and (as you can tell if you read my spoilery bits) it's got my mind quite boggled. If you are a horror geek and like Lovecraft and Poe, there is fun stuff in here for you. And if you don't mind not having ALL the answers, or at least having to think hard for them, The Red Tree is a fantastic read.
zarco_j's review against another edition
1.0
Based on the reviews, I should have loved this but I didn't!
The preface written by Sarah's editor intrigued me but the diary entries were enough to put me off and I had to force myself through the rest of the book.
I found the story to meander and I really didn't like Sarah at all which is why I think I struggled with this.
Would I recommend it? No, I'd hate for anyone else to be as disappointed as I was.
The preface written by Sarah's editor intrigued me but the diary entries were enough to put me off and I had to force myself through the rest of the book.
I found the story to meander and I really didn't like Sarah at all which is why I think I struggled with this.
Would I recommend it? No, I'd hate for anyone else to be as disappointed as I was.
jfergusevans's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief, Gaslighting, and Suicide
Minor: Alcohol
oculus74's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
micksland's review against another edition
3.0
3.5/5 stars
NOTE: Whoever chose this particular cover should be fired; it has precious little to do with the story. The protagonist is a 44 year old woman, and the cover makes this book seem like a paranormal romance. There is nothing wrong with having a middle-aged woman on a book cover, and there is no need to add sex appeal to a book that is clearly not a romance. End rant.
This is a very serviceable literary horror story, presented as diary entries from a struggling author who may or may not be losing her mind after she moves into a haunted house. Rife with allusions to classic artwork and literature, Kiernan lampshades our protagonist’s own lack of literary success with plentiful quotes from better-known authors. I loved the way in which the protagonist’s diary entries, short story, and various manuscript excerpts were combined to make this epistolary novel: layers upon layers of narration and secondhand tales which combine to create a sense of unreality and confusion.
I was not a fan of the slow pace; the novel would have been much scarier without the first one third in which nothing truly happens. Additionally, our protagonist is thoroughly (and intentionally) unlikable and self-destructive, which may be a turn-off for some readers. Overall, I think that “The Red Tree” added some literary flair to an often poorly-written genre, and will be keeping Caitlin Kiernan on my list for whenever I need a good scare in the future.
NOTE: Whoever chose this particular cover should be fired; it has precious little to do with the story. The protagonist is a 44 year old woman, and the cover makes this book seem like a paranormal romance. There is nothing wrong with having a middle-aged woman on a book cover, and there is no need to add sex appeal to a book that is clearly not a romance. End rant.
This is a very serviceable literary horror story, presented as diary entries from a struggling author who may or may not be losing her mind after she moves into a haunted house. Rife with allusions to classic artwork and literature, Kiernan lampshades our protagonist’s own lack of literary success with plentiful quotes from better-known authors. I loved the way in which the protagonist’s diary entries, short story, and various manuscript excerpts were combined to make this epistolary novel: layers upon layers of narration and secondhand tales which combine to create a sense of unreality and confusion.
I was not a fan of the slow pace; the novel would have been much scarier without the first one third in which nothing truly happens. Additionally, our protagonist is thoroughly (and intentionally) unlikable and self-destructive, which may be a turn-off for some readers. Overall, I think that “The Red Tree” added some literary flair to an often poorly-written genre, and will be keeping Caitlin Kiernan on my list for whenever I need a good scare in the future.
raven_morgan's review against another edition
5.0
Reread in 2013, directly after a reread of "The Drowning Girl" (and oh, the resonances between these two novels).
I am a massive fan of Kiernan's work, and I think the duality of books that exists in "The Red Tree" and "The Drowning Girl" marks a high point in her career. Sarah Crowe's voice is engaging, drawing the reader into this strange, strange world where stories overlap on stories and there are so many darknesses for the reader to attempt to fill.
Creepy and haunting. And I absolutely loathe the paperback cover. Cannot wait to see what the limited edition is going to look like, where presumably Kiernan is going to get some control over the cover.
I am a massive fan of Kiernan's work, and I think the duality of books that exists in "The Red Tree" and "The Drowning Girl" marks a high point in her career. Sarah Crowe's voice is engaging, drawing the reader into this strange, strange world where stories overlap on stories and there are so many darknesses for the reader to attempt to fill.
Creepy and haunting. And I absolutely loathe the paperback cover. Cannot wait to see what the limited edition is going to look like, where presumably Kiernan is going to get some control over the cover.
jayfr's review against another edition
1.0
Based on the reviews, I should have loved this but I didn't!
The preface written by Sarah's editor intrigued me but the diary entries were enough to put me off and I had to force myself through the rest of the book.
I found the story to meander and I really didn't like Sarah at all which is why I think I struggled with this.
Would I recommend it? No, I'd hate for anyone else to be as disappointed as I was.
The preface written by Sarah's editor intrigued me but the diary entries were enough to put me off and I had to force myself through the rest of the book.
I found the story to meander and I really didn't like Sarah at all which is why I think I struggled with this.
Would I recommend it? No, I'd hate for anyone else to be as disappointed as I was.
alicjaz's review against another edition
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
What did I just read!?