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rbalir's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
I couldn’t get into this one because the narrator was too slow - pity!
taylorpleimann's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
moraymeee's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
I was a massive Poe fan as a teenager and young adult and I thought this was a fantastic retelling. very good balance of old and new. super quick read if you are looking for spooky/gothic vibes and absolutely obsessed with the cover art.
edsbian's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
sapphicshark's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
srolniak's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
linnaboobooks's review against another edition
2.0
To start this off, I am a fan of The Fall of the House of Usher. It's one of my favorite classic short stories, I've read a few times by now, as recent as last year. But that's only one part of why I didn't like What Moves the Dead.
If you are at all familiar with gothic horror or at least read a specific one that came out back in 2020, you will know what is going on from the first chapter (if you didn't read the synopsis). It's not subtle in the slightest, it's just incredibly irritating for me personally with how obvious it was. And at the time I, as the reader, felt like I was in idle as I waited for "mystery" to finally start to be answered from the perspective of Alex and the other characters.
Onto Alex, our retelling's version of the unnamed narrator of the original has come to life. Alex's personality is quite pleasant to read, unless you're an American Alex interacts with, then you may have something of a bad time with the dislike toward you.
I'm intrigued by the world-building of the country Alex comes from. The rules behind the gendered and non-gendered pronouns (in this case neopronouns, such as 'ka' and 'kan', thank you other Goodreads reviews because I had the audiobook)of that made-up country, the military, and a certain kind of alcohol that comes from there. Except I wish it wasn't done in a direct retelling, but either an entirely original story or one that took heavy influence from The Fall of The House of Usher, anything but a direct retelling because it would allow for the story to move more freely.
About the 70% or later, is when I became pulled into the plot as everyone tried to figure out what exactly was going on. The most fascinating and interesting parts of the story were in this last 30% for me. I will be picking up the second novella to see what Alex gets up to next. I also may reread this with the attempt to push out the original source material entirely from my mind, to see if I enjoy it better.
If you have a fear of fungus, spores, infection, you can avoid this one since there's a lot of talk surrounding these topics. Also if you are triggered by anything related to animal death, please avoid this, that is also a relevant subject to the plot (hence the cover of most editions).
Who I recommend this for? Anyone who wants a short-form version of the novel I mentioned above (I don't want to name it, just in case anyone reading this hasn't, but it is mentioned in the author's note, from what I hear.), anyone who enjoys checking out retellings of classics, anyone starting out in gothic horror as this is a great beginner read.
If you are at all familiar with gothic horror or at least read a specific one that came out back in 2020, you will know what is going on from the first chapter (if you didn't read the synopsis). It's not subtle in the slightest, it's just incredibly irritating for me personally with how obvious it was. And at the time I, as the reader, felt like I was in idle as I waited for "mystery" to finally start to be answered from the perspective of Alex and the other characters.
Onto Alex, our retelling's version of the unnamed narrator of the original has come to life. Alex's personality is quite pleasant to read, unless you're an American Alex interacts with, then you may have something of a bad time with the dislike toward you.
I'm intrigued by the world-building of the country Alex comes from. The rules behind the gendered and non-gendered pronouns (in this case neopronouns, such as 'ka' and 'kan', thank you other Goodreads reviews because I had the audiobook)of that made-up country, the military, and a certain kind of alcohol that comes from there. Except I wish it wasn't done in a direct retelling, but either an entirely original story or one that took heavy influence from The Fall of The House of Usher, anything but a direct retelling because it would allow for the story to move more freely.
About the 70% or later, is when I became pulled into the plot as everyone tried to figure out what exactly was going on. The most fascinating and interesting parts of the story were in this last 30% for me. I will be picking up the second novella to see what Alex gets up to next. I also may reread this with the attempt to push out the original source material entirely from my mind, to see if I enjoy it better.
If you have a fear of fungus, spores, infection, you can avoid this one since there's a lot of talk surrounding these topics. Also if you are triggered by anything related to animal death, please avoid this, that is also a relevant subject to the plot (hence the cover of most editions).
Who I recommend this for? Anyone who wants a short-form version of the novel I mentioned above (I don't want to name it, just in case anyone reading this hasn't, but it is mentioned in the author's note, from what I hear.), anyone who enjoys checking out retellings of classics, anyone starting out in gothic horror as this is a great beginner read.
therealratking's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
_kaylinconn's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
3.75
I think I need to reread this in like a year when I’m not sleepy
- I also think the world building threw me off of the tension, because I was trying to understand certain aspects instead of in the story. But again, that might have been my sleep brain making it more confusing then it needed to be
- I also think the world building threw me off of the tension, because I was trying to understand certain aspects instead of in the story. But again, that might have been my sleep brain making it more confusing then it needed to be