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the_m_lor's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Man, this book was a RIDE. Part thriller, part horror. Definitely a good pick for spooky season.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Physical abuse
Minor: Incest
literarynightowl's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
2.0
Cherry Larouche escaped her abusive mother and claustrophobic hometown of Darling, Louisiana with her high school sweetheart and to be ex when she was 16. Now years later she and her two children Jonah and Daisy are forced to return to her childhood home after her mother's death, where she imagines whispers in the walls and hears sinister skittering across the roof at night. While being made to face the monsters of her past, she must also face a new monster haunting the town. Children are being found murdered by a beast known as the "Handsome Butcher". When Cherry's own daughter turns up missing, she must fight to find her daughter and escape from the true evil infecting the town.
Book Trigger Warnings:
-Murder
- Serial Killer
-Child Death
- The R-slur
- Physical Abuse
-Sexual Abuse
-Sexual Assault
-Incest
**I received this book for free from Netgalley for the purpose of an honest review.**
**Some spoilers**
I want to start this review by saying once I started this book I couldn't put it down until I had finished it. The story of a struggling single mother doing whatever it took to take care of her children and the southern gothic vibes the author imbued into the story pulled me in and didn't let me go. I felt Cherry's anxiety at returning to a place she tried so hard to escape along with her fear and despair when Daisy went missing.
That being said there were some aspects of the writing and plot that pulled me out of the story.
The first one-half to two-thirds of the story were well paced, with just a few sections feeling like they needed more information. The book has very short chapters (with multiple chapters being only a page long), some new chapters jump around enough where I was checking to make sure I hadn't missed pages somehow.
The sense of time is very off in this book. For the first bit after Daisy goes missing Yardley is clear that it has only been 4 days since the disappearance, but after that it gets muddled with Cherry reacting to situations in a way that makes it feel like Daisy has been gone for much longer than she has. For example, for a character who talks up and down about how much she loves her children and would do anything for them, she seems to move past Daisy's disappearance very quickly and into a love triangle with her childhood friend Runner and her brother-in-law Mordachi. Within days of her daughter being seemingly abducted by a serial killer she is falling in love, waking up next to her lover and talking about how she has fresh bread and is going to make him and Jonah French toast.
Jonah, who is disabled seems to be in the story mostly as a prop, he is used as a reassurance to Cherry that there is someone who will always love and need her when lovers abandon her. Multiple times in the story she leaves her son with strangers (one a child themselves) even though she knows her abusive ex, Jonah's father is in town and looking for them.
The incest plot point feels entirely pointless and does nothing for the story, nor is it really brought up again apart from Cherry thinking about it and doing nothing with the information.
The last 10% of the book goes from 0-100 and definitely feels rushed. The "infection" of the townsfolk by the evil of the town is shown through a couple of isolated incidents of a murder and a few fights around town. There is no explanation of what this evil is or why it infects the town. From dialogue with another character Cherry finds out a similar infection happened in the town decades earlier, but it is never explored beyond that.
All in all, even with these issues I did enjoy reading Darling, so I am giving it 3 stars out of 5. If you decide to read it, just be aware of the trigger warnings for the book as it does deal with some sensitive topics.
Book Trigger Warnings:
-Murder
- Serial Killer
-Child Death
- The R-slur
- Physical Abuse
-Sexual Abuse
-Sexual Assault
-Incest
**I received this book for free from Netgalley for the purpose of an honest review.**
**Some spoilers**
I want to start this review by saying once I started this book I couldn't put it down until I had finished it. The story of a struggling single mother doing whatever it took to take care of her children and the southern gothic vibes the author imbued into the story pulled me in and didn't let me go. I felt Cherry's anxiety at returning to a place she tried so hard to escape along with her fear and despair when Daisy went missing.
That being said there were some aspects of the writing and plot that pulled me out of the story.
The first one-half to two-thirds of the story were well paced, with just a few sections feeling like they needed more information. The book has very short chapters (with multiple chapters being only a page long), some new chapters jump around enough where I was checking to make sure I hadn't missed pages somehow.
The sense of time is very off in this book. For the first bit after Daisy goes missing Yardley is clear that it has only been 4 days since the disappearance, but after that it gets muddled with Cherry reacting to situations in a way that makes it feel like Daisy has been gone for much longer than she has. For example, for a character who talks up and down about how much she loves her children and would do anything for them, she seems to move past Daisy's disappearance very quickly and into a love triangle with her childhood friend Runner and her brother-in-law Mordachi. Within days of her daughter being seemingly abducted by a serial killer she is falling in love, waking up next to her lover and talking about how she has fresh bread and is going to make him and Jonah French toast.
Jonah, who is disabled seems to be in the story mostly as a prop, he is used as a reassurance to Cherry that there is someone who will always love and need her when lovers abandon her. Multiple times in the story she leaves her son with strangers (one a child themselves) even though she knows her abusive ex, Jonah's father is in town and looking for them.
The incest plot point feels entirely pointless and does nothing for the story, nor is it really brought up again apart from Cherry thinking about it and doing nothing with the information.
The last 10% of the book goes from 0-100 and definitely feels rushed. The "infection" of the townsfolk by the evil of the town is shown through a couple of isolated incidents of a murder and a few fights around town. There is no explanation of what this evil is or why it infects the town. From dialogue with another character Cherry finds out a similar infection happened in the town decades earlier, but it is never explored beyond that.
All in all, even with these issues I did enjoy reading Darling, so I am giving it 3 stars out of 5. If you decide to read it, just be aware of the trigger warnings for the book as it does deal with some sensitive topics.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death
Moderate: Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Murder, Ableism, and Incest
bookishaddictions's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
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? It's complicated
2.5
I snagged this ARC from @netgalley. I thought this would be great since Yardley is highly praised as a horror writer, however, I felt the book did not match the author’s hype. The concept of a town of horrors with frequent children disappearing was interesting, but I found the characters fell flat. Although I got a hint of their personalities, they all felt like they were shells of the people they were meant to be. I liked that she showed how cruel society can be towards a single mother, especially one with a special needs child, but I could not really empathize with the characters. I felt like the main issue with the town (will not further explain due to spoilers) could have also been fleshed out more, as it doesn’t really add substance to the story as it is. Overall, I was intrigued but disappointed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, Gun violence, and Death
Moderate: Rape and Violence
Minor: Death of parent
sleepysadpoet's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
3.0
I received this book for free via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
This story has promise, but I genuinely struggled to stay interested at times. I really like the premise and there are some parts that are great, but others that are lacking. It's complicated in that way. I think it would make a decent horror film, but sometimes horror books struggle to keep people's interest. I had a difficult time trying to sympathize with Cherry. She was handed bad cards in life, and she put her whole heart into raising her kids, who have individual struggles. There's also a lot of ableism towards Jonah, who is special needs. It never directly says //what// he has, but the what part of the equation isn't an important part of the story.
The last 30ish percent of the book flows just fine, but the first half is pretty confusing. I kept thinking "okay is this a paranormal story? Or is cherry just severely traumatized? Or is it both?"
I also don't like that romance was squished into it. It kinda gives off the impression that cherry HAS to have a man to get through life, and that isn't true.
This isn't a bad book by any means, but I did struggle with it. The cover is cool though and ultimately why I requested to read it.
Thank you again to netgalley for the opportunity to read this.
This story has promise, but I genuinely struggled to stay interested at times. I really like the premise and there are some parts that are great, but others that are lacking. It's complicated in that way. I think it would make a decent horror film, but sometimes horror books struggle to keep people's interest. I had a difficult time trying to sympathize with Cherry. She was handed bad cards in life, and she put her whole heart into raising her kids, who have individual struggles. There's also a lot of ableism towards Jonah, who is special needs. It never directly says //what// he has, but the what part of the equation isn't an important part of the story.
The last 30ish percent of the book flows just fine, but the first half is pretty confusing. I kept thinking "okay is this a paranormal story? Or is cherry just severely traumatized? Or is it both?"
I also don't like that romance was squished into it. It kinda gives off the impression that cherry HAS to have a man to get through life, and that isn't true.
This isn't a bad book by any means, but I did struggle with it. The cover is cool though and ultimately why I requested to read it.
Thank you again to netgalley for the opportunity to read this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism and Violence
Moderate: Child death and Death
Minor: Rape
I received this book for free via netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This story has promise, but I genuinely struggled to stay interested at times. I really like the premise and there are some parts that are great, but others that are lacking. It's complicated in that way. I think it would make a decent horror film, but sometimes horror books struggle to keep people's interest. I had a difficult time trying to sympathize with Cherry. She was handed bad cards in life, and she put her whole heart into raising her kids, who have individual struggles. There's also a lot of ableism towards Jonah, who is special needs. It never directly says //what// he has, but the what part of the equation isn't an important part of the story. The last 30ish percent of the book flows just fine, but the first half is pretty confusing. I kept thinking "okay is this a paranormal story? Or is cherry just severely traumatized? Or is it both?" I also don't like that romance was squished into it. It kinda gives off the impression that cherry HAS to have a man to get through life, and that isn't true. This isn't a bad book by any means, but I did struggle with it. The cover is cool though and ultimately why I requested to read it. Thank you again to netgalley for the opportunity to read this.
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