izzyhallow's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

This book is the PERFECT January read. Eight short stories that invoke Winter but not necessarily Christmas, I enjoyed reading one or two each evening for the last week. 

My ranking from favourite to least would be:
Monster
Confinement
The Eel Singers
Lily Wilt
The Chillingham Chair 
A Study in Black and White
Thwaite's Tennant
The Hanging of the Greens

It made me chuckle how the (living) men in these stories were often the scariest ghouls.

When adding content warnings I realise that the book covers a lot of sensitive ground over the eight stories. I would class the majority of these instances as moderate or minor but do proceed with caution.

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cabbagecakes's review against another edition

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dark mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

1.0


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spacecadelliot's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5


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joareads's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Bit of a mixed bag of a book. A collection of eight haunting wintery tales - it ranges from the old to the new, the bizarre to the creepy.

A Study in Black and White is good, I love the writing style and it kept me interested in the story with its slightly freaky atmosphere (four stars).

Thwaite's Tenant is a little strange but interesting and ends in a satisfying way (three stars).

The Eel Singers is very strange and gets very weird at times but I'm glad with how it ends (three stars).

Lily Wilt gets very dark and weird and I'm not that keen on the story, especially the animal death part (three stars).

The Chillingham Chair is a perfect blend of creepy and entertaining with some great characters - a story I thoroughly enjoyed (five stars).

The Hanging of the Greens is confusing - is there supposed to be a message in the story? Nevertheless is was an eerie read but again, there's animal death (three stars).

Confinement is definitely a creepy one and ends in that open ended way with it being up to you to interpret how it all ends. It focuses on post natal psychosis and is quite startling to read (three stars).

Monster is not the story I would have picked to close the book. I didn't enjoy at all and I think it's not creepy, it's disturbing (one star).

A good book to read close to Halloween as the nights get longer and the days colder - definitely a haunting book!

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