Reviews

Tear by Erica McKeen

antsman41's review

dark emotional mysterious sad

3.5

miriammm's review

challenging dark medium-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? Yes

3.25

cats_of_horror's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

kei_anne's review

dark reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

destinyr's review

mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Death

Moderate: Sexual assault and Domestic abuse

takecoverbooksptbo's review

4.0

A meditation on family trauma, sexual abuse, mental health, and the doldrums of living in Southwestern Ontario, all wrapped in a psycho-horror package. While the book loses its focus near the end, the overall effect is one of lingering discomfort.

Fave Moments:
- Part 1's flashback structure was an emotional gut-punch
- Whenever anyone goes into the basement, the tension and atmosphere is so oppressive. Stephen King could take some notes on building terrifying settings from McKeen.
- The characters in this book feel very lived-in, especially for a horror novel
- The horror set pieces, when they get going, are much more gruesome than I thought they'd be. However, I'm on the fence about how effective they are overall. I would much rather have hit on some emotional truth than the grand guignol violence that permeates the third act.

misha_ali's review

5.0

I'll need to read this at least once more to pick up on everything McKeen has incorporated in this. You can tell someone who taught literature for a while wrote this, and I mean that in the best possible way. The three part structure with completely different POV characters and completely separate events was a really interesting approach to slow, creeping horror, and I really enjoyed this book.

itisnele's review

challenging dark

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

jennadoyle's review

dark mysterious tense

4.75

avalinda's review

challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0