Scan barcode
planreadrepeat's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The book starts with a lot of funny or zany bits. Lulling you into thinking everything is going to be great and why is this tagged as horror? The middle is fantastically terrifying and makes you wonder if “everyone dies the end” is next. The end has you feeling relieved. Not optimistic and happy but whew. I like suspenseful horror like this. Kingfisher ties together a little Poe, some Lovecraft, and some good dry humor that would make Douglas Adams proud.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Gore, and Death
tays_books's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Death, and Gore
Moderate: Alcohol, Animal death, and Child death
Minor: Vomit, Blood, Infidelity, Mental illness, and Self harm
d0505's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Gore
Moderate: Animal death
akallabeth's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
another 3.5, maybe. weirdly enough, the horror in this worked better for me than <i>the twisted ones</i>, but the non-horror stuff worked worse.
the actual horror novel plot setup (based on algernon blackwood's <i>the willows</i>, this time) was really interesting and unsettling, and the scares felt better distributed throughout the story. you're still left with some unanswered questions, but it works with the nature of the plot. and while this won't be keeping me up at night, there were definitely scenes that made me shudder.
i just didn't care for any of the characters much, and the humour just didn't gel with the rest of the story for me. i don't mind humour and horror being mixed - it can definitely work if all the elements are right - but here... just didn't work for me. too pop-culture referential, maybe. i haven't had this issue with kingfisher's works that aren't set in 'our' world. i will say that this bothered me much more in the first like, quarter of the story - once the plot kicked in more, i noticed it less. but i noticed it.
(i will also admit that there was one petty-ish thing that drove me nutsss - carrot, the protagonist, is mind-numblingly slow on the uptake regarding one particular plot element, and every time it came up i wanted to tear my hair out. i didn't find her to be a dumbass <i>overall</i> but this one thing is SO clearly signposted to the reader SO early on, and she doesn't figure it out until like fully 80% into the story.)
no regrets on reading this and i would say it's worth checking out if the premise appeals - whatever its faults i found it very readable, much like <i>the twisted ones</i>. i do think i may go back to kingfisher's purer Fantasy stuff for a bit, though.
the actual horror novel plot setup (based on algernon blackwood's <i>the willows</i>, this time) was really interesting and unsettling, and the scares felt better distributed throughout the story. you're still left with some unanswered questions, but it works with the nature of the plot. and while this won't be keeping me up at night, there were definitely scenes that made me shudder.
i just didn't care for any of the characters much, and the humour just didn't gel with the rest of the story for me. i don't mind humour and horror being mixed - it can definitely work if all the elements are right - but here... just didn't work for me. too pop-culture referential, maybe. i haven't had this issue with kingfisher's works that aren't set in 'our' world. i will say that this bothered me much more in the first like, quarter of the story - once the plot kicked in more, i noticed it less. but i noticed it.
(i will also admit that there was one petty-ish thing that drove me nutsss - carrot, the protagonist, is mind-numblingly slow on the uptake regarding one particular plot element, and every time it came up i wanted to tear my hair out. i didn't find her to be a dumbass <i>overall</i> but this one thing is SO clearly signposted to the reader SO early on, and she doesn't figure it out until like fully 80% into the story.)
no regrets on reading this and i would say it's worth checking out if the premise appeals - whatever its faults i found it very readable, much like <i>the twisted ones</i>. i do think i may go back to kingfisher's purer Fantasy stuff for a bit, though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Body horror, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
aidareads's review against another edition
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
overall it was fine and it had its moments, a lot of comic relief and an engaging writing/narrative style that i now know it’s the author’s brand. but it didn’t creep me out :(
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Gore
schnaucl's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
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? No
4.25
I didn't like this one as much as some other books by the author but I loved Cara, Simon, Uncle Earl and the museum. The other world was deeply unsettling, as it was supposed to be.
I'm not really sure why this one didn't appeal to me more.After all, I love the concept of well loved things coming to life to defend the people who loved them and I think the items from other worlds were absolutely fascinating. It was well written, as her books always are.
I'm not really sure why this one didn't appeal to me more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Gore, and Death
cuddlygryphon's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Cursing, and Gore
Moderate: Medical content, Vomit, Self harm, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Cannibalism, Confinement, Grief, and Gun violence
emmalouisereads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
The middle of this book creeped me out. It’s been a while since I’ve read something and had to put it down for a bit as I was getting a bit spooked.
I liked the characters and the little town with the museum. The portals were weird and disturbing, in a not too unbelievable way.
This the third book I’ve read by Kingfisher and I think it’s safe to say they’re one of my favourite authors.
I liked the characters and the little town with the museum. The portals were weird and disturbing, in a not too unbelievable way.
This the third book I’ve read by Kingfisher and I think it’s safe to say they’re one of my favourite authors.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Child death
Minor: Gore and Violence
batesbarb's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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? No
4.0
T. Kingfisher is fast becoming one of my favorite authors. Her POV characters tend to be very relatable to me, with an absorbing and engaging voice. Much like her other horror books, this one kept me up too late a few nights running because the creeping flashes of something very wrong at the periphery kept me too scared to put it down until there was a break in the story.
I will say that this book had the same issue that I've had with most of her horror stories, which is that they're incredibly tense and frightening until the last quarter. Once the main character (and the audience) see and interact with the monsters, they're never anywhere near as scary as what we've made up from the glimpses out of the corner of our eyes. It's a common problem in horror, but I think it's a bit amplified here because Kingfisher is so good at building and escalating the early tension of the imagination and the search that the falloff once we have an actual, visible problem to face is a bit more extreme.
I will say that this book had the same issue that I've had with most of her horror stories, which is that they're incredibly tense and frightening until the last quarter. Once the main character (and the audience) see and interact with the monsters, they're never anywhere near as scary as what we've made up from the glimpses out of the corner of our eyes. It's a common problem in horror, but I think it's a bit amplified here because Kingfisher is so good at building and escalating the early tension of the imagination and the search that the falloff once we have an actual, visible problem to face is a bit more extreme.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Body horror
Moderate: Alcohol, Drug use, and Gore
maregred's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror
Moderate: Gore, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Infidelity and Grief