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frantic_vampire's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
What the fuck did I just read ๐ตโ๐ซ??!? I can honestly say that Horrid is one of the creepiest books Iโve ever read. And if you know me, you know that horror and scary books really arenโt my thing. I donโt think I would have picked this one for myself if I hadnโt gotten it in a subscription box last year. Horrid is definitely a perfect read for Halloween and spooky seasonโฆ.Just, maybe donโt read it right before going to bed. Unless you want nightmares.
Lenoโs work is something that Iโve come to really enjoy and even though this one scared the pants off of me, itโs something that I just couldnโt put down. Itโs compulsively readable, and Jane is such an interesting main character. She knew that something wasnโt right with that house. And boy was she rightโฆbut nobody would listen.
I honestly donโt know what to say about this book, other then that itโs really fucking scary and really good. Oh! And fact that it ends abruptly! I think thatโs probably one of the scariest parts of this book, that it just cuts to black before we get to see the aftermath. Horrid such a great read and Iโm giving it solid four stars.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gaslighting, Murder, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Grief, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence
sunsetcity's review
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Torture, and Violence
catsy2022's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Rating: A-
An unexpectedly dark YA horror novel, Horrid by Katrina Leno was a lovely, fast read and a great addition to my 2021 reads. Ruth and Jane move across the country from California to Maine after Greer, Ruth's husband and Jane's father, dies. But the North Manor where Ruth grew up holds mysterious secrets, a locked room in the back and a rose bush that seems to overpower the yard it grows in.
I definitely enjoyed reading about Jane and Ruth's strained relationship and the interaction between Jane, her friends and the other townspeople. I felt that the unravelling of the mystery may have been more interesting that the final reveal. So many parts of this book are strange and unexplained, just bordering on absurd. Seems that Jane has unbridled rage simmering below the surface and anything could set her off. She seems to completely black out when this happens. I loved the interaction with the other characters when this happens and how shocked and unsettled they are. I definitely enjoyed the moments in the house where things are completely scrambled and then back to normal. I liked the bonding moments between Ruth and Jane. The interwoven grieving and new beginnings were great points in the book.
I did like the final reveal but I felt the book ended all too abruptly - with little resolution as to the other plotlines. Definitely a fun, short read.
An unexpectedly dark YA horror novel, Horrid by Katrina Leno was a lovely, fast read and a great addition to my 2021 reads. Ruth and Jane move across the country from California to Maine after Greer, Ruth's husband and Jane's father, dies. But the North Manor where Ruth grew up holds mysterious secrets, a locked room in the back and a rose bush that seems to overpower the yard it grows in.
I definitely enjoyed reading about Jane and Ruth's strained relationship and the interaction between Jane, her friends and the other townspeople. I felt that the unravelling of the mystery may have been more interesting that the final reveal. So many parts of this book are strange and unexplained, just bordering on absurd. Seems that Jane has unbridled rage simmering below the surface and anything could set her off. She seems to completely black out when this happens. I loved the interaction with the other characters when this happens and how shocked and unsettled they are. I definitely enjoyed the moments in the house where things are completely scrambled and then back to normal. I liked the bonding moments between Ruth and Jane. The interwoven grieving and new beginnings were great points in the book.
I did like the final reveal but I felt the book ended all too abruptly - with little resolution as to the other plotlines. Definitely a fun, short read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Mental illness
Moderate: Blood, Child death, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Self harm, and Suicide
ravensandlace's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Find this review and others like it at https://aravenclawlibraryx.wordpress.com
Pica: an eating disorder that involves eating items that are not typically thought of as food and that does not contain significant nutritional value such as hair, dirt and paint chips. This is according to the National Eating Disorders website. Nationaleatingdisorders.org
Wowowowowow! What an absolutely FANTASTIC book. I loved every single minute of it. I stayed up way past my bedtime trying to finish this book. The only reason I didnโt finish it in one sitting was because my eyes were burning. Thatโs how much I loved this book. I never wanted it to end. It kicked my reading slump that I had been in.
The minute I read the first page, I immediately had a very unsettled feeling and that feeling never went away. I loved every single minute of this unsettling feeling. It reminded me of watching Sinister, one of my all time favorite horror movies. I just knew something was going to happen and whatever was going to happen wasnโt going to be good. The creep factor was done just beautifully.
I enjoyed Jane as the main character, which I didnโt think I would. She was unlikable at times but I found I didnโt mind that. She was very complex and had so many layers to her. You see her angry and I actually loved that. I donโt read about a lot of girls with anger issues. It was refreshing. I truly thought her anger would make me not like her at all but I found her anger was the best part of her character. Weird to say, I know. But it was just refreshing. Jane was so so angry and I felt for her.
Another fascinating thing about this book was the mention of pica. Jane has pica, which I provided a definition for you at the top. I know that not a lot of people know what pica is or understand it. I have worked with several clients that had pica. Itโs a very interesting and difficult illness. I donโt know what itโs like to have it but working with the clients I have, I can only imagine what it would be like to have it.
Overall, I truly enjoyed this book. Itโs one of my all time favorite books of 2020. The reason why I gave this book 4.5 stars is because the ending was a bit of an open ending. Iโm personally not the biggest fan of open ending books. I prefer knowing specifically what happens to the character. But other than that, this book was absolutely amazing and I loved it so very much.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder and Mental illness
Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Child death, Death, Violence, and Self harm
shannonxvx's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Child death, Death, Violence, Suicide, Mental illness, and Grief
gm_vak's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Grief, Mental illness, Torture, and Violence
whatellisreadnext's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ.
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ค๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐น๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ญ๐บ ๐ช๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฏ, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ช๐ต ๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ข ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ค๐ฆ, ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ข ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ.
Following her father's passing, Jane and her Mum, move from sunny California to an old decrepit house in Maine. Her mother grew up there, and they have plans to do it up and sell it on, but Jane hears bumps in the night and starts to feel that they're not alone...
Did I buy this book because the cover is incredible? Yes. Did the story live upto the cover? No. That being said, I did absolutely devour this one in less that 24 hours. It is compulsively readable and super easy to follow. I enjoyed it overall, but just felt like I was reading a lesser version of Burn Our Bodies Down by Rory Power.
Taking a step back, this is young adult fiction and I could totally see a teenager absolutely loving it. I just felt as an adult, it was all too circumstance. Some YA books transcend age and can be enjoyed by all, but I just don't think this is one of those books.
I usually just put trigger warnings at the bottom, but this one is deeply rooted with Jane's grief of losing her father, and although this was really well written, I think this could be quite traumatic to read for somebody who has lost a parent.
The main thing that bothered me was the ending. Yes, I figured out the mystery before the protagonist, I mean this is often a given with YA fiction, but the last 10 pages just made no sense for me in terms of the decisions made by the main character. I threw the book on my bed when I was done and if this book wasn't so pretty, I probably would have launched it across the room๐๐ปโโ๏ธ
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ค๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐น๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ญ๐บ ๐ช๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฏ, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ช๐ต ๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ข ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ค๐ฆ, ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ข ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ.
Following her father's passing, Jane and her Mum, move from sunny California to an old decrepit house in Maine. Her mother grew up there, and they have plans to do it up and sell it on, but Jane hears bumps in the night and starts to feel that they're not alone...
Did I buy this book because the cover is incredible? Yes. Did the story live upto the cover? No. That being said, I did absolutely devour this one in less that 24 hours. It is compulsively readable and super easy to follow. I enjoyed it overall, but just felt like I was reading a lesser version of Burn Our Bodies Down by Rory Power.
Taking a step back, this is young adult fiction and I could totally see a teenager absolutely loving it. I just felt as an adult, it was all too circumstance. Some YA books transcend age and can be enjoyed by all, but I just don't think this is one of those books.
I usually just put trigger warnings at the bottom, but this one is deeply rooted with Jane's grief of losing her father, and although this was really well written, I think this could be quite traumatic to read for somebody who has lost a parent.
The main thing that bothered me was the ending. Yes, I figured out the mystery before the protagonist, I mean this is often a given with YA fiction, but the last 10 pages just made no sense for me in terms of the decisions made by the main character. I threw the book on my bed when I was done and if this book wasn't so pretty, I probably would have launched it across the room๐๐ปโโ๏ธ
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Child death, Death, and Grief
coolmombeck's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Fast read and creepy. Leno wrote a perfectly accurate description of pica (eating of non-food items as comfort during stressors for people that struggle with specific OCD). While I truly enjoyed the book, the ending left me saddened. I thoroughly enjoyed the addition of the love of Agatha. 3/5 stars.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Mental illness, Eating disorder, Bullying, Violence, Death, Confinement, Child death, and Animal death
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