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bozzi1's review
dark
tense
fast-paced
3.5
Cosmic horror isn’t my thing, but this novella was still an enjoyable read and I look forward to seeing what else this author has published.
nics_books's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.5
Genuinely stunning.
shannyraichu's review
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
sporkus's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
locket1981's review
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I’ve never read anything like it. It was just one of those books where you are shook to the core but can’t stop reading. So so good. This was so brilliantly written.
lipsandpalms's review
3.0
There's a lot of elements in the story that, while interesting, aren't really serving a purpose. Why is his dad an adulterer and a murderer? Why is this teenager struggling with his sexuality? Why mention the bully at all? Why is Heath now homeless?Why is 90% of the story a flashback? There were too many story elements that I knew in the end would amount to nothing. They weren't tied together the way a coherent story should be. There's too many threads of the story left unresolved.
Was the monster even real? At first I thought it was similar to the babadook in that Heath was carrying the shame of his sexuality around and that it tore his family apart, or at least that he blamed himself for his father disappearing and his mother turning to alcohol to cope and eventually going into foster care and eventually homelessness. His shame manifested as a monster, creeping in the basement, eating the people he loved. The ending shows his final acceptance with his sexuality. The problem is that the metaphor is too weak. There aren't enough connections.
I want to believe the monster doesn't actually exist but so much time was spent on describing the monster and the carnage it caused that it's not gratifying. Either the monster was in his head and the violence was only his imagination or the monster is real and the story elements beyond the monster are just irrelevant details.
Was the monster even real? At first I thought it was similar to the babadook in that Heath was carrying the shame of his sexuality around and that it tore his family apart, or at least that he blamed himself for his father disappearing and his mother turning to alcohol to cope and eventually going into foster care and eventually homelessness. His shame manifested as a monster, creeping in the basement, eating the people he loved. The ending shows his final acceptance with his sexuality. The problem is that the metaphor is too weak. There aren't enough connections.
I want to believe the monster doesn't actually exist but so much time was spent on describing the monster and the carnage it caused that it's not gratifying. Either the monster was in his head and the violence was only his imagination or the monster is real and the story elements beyond the monster are just irrelevant details.
raincorbyn's review
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
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? Yes
5.0
lattelibrarian's review
3.0
"There are no gods, only teeth."
Heath isn't gay. Never mind that the school bully thinks that Heath is a faggy name, or that there's something alluring about the man in the Playboy magazine--who Heath wants to be, by the way--, or that the mixtape he shares is a little too emotional. What he is, though, is an artist. And he conjures up a monster like no other, one that will stop at nothing to eat and grow and track him down.
Heath is growing up in the nineties where video stores, nudie magazines, and mixtapes are all the rage. Mostly, he's trying to make it through the school day. But when his father goes missing, along with his cat, his family begins to fall apart at the seams. Told largely en media res, beginning just before Y2K, we are transported back in time to where this all begins. What follows is quite literally a monstrous metaphor for Heath realizing that he is, in fact, gay. As his denial grows, the hungrier he gets right alongside the monster he doesn't know he's created. The monster lives in the house, it seems, somehow nothing and everything at once, causing startling and completely unreal occurrences, like a tree growing through Heath's wall. As a metaphor, the cosmic horror here, and his eventual acceptance of it works.
However, I don't know if it's because I'm not as experienced with cosmic horror as a subgenre, but there was something about this book that felt a little understated to me. I wasn't as freaked out as I thought I'd be (GREAT cover art, btw!), but maybe cosmic horror is more understated than what I've recently read (unfortunately, splatterpunk lol). I wanted Dries to push and pull this a little bit more, show me a little bit of what happened after Heath's family is decimated. The timeline was a little confusing to me and it felt like there was a lot skipped over at the end. Dries is certainly a good writer; perhaps I wish that he had written more of the story.
Heath isn't gay. Never mind that the school bully thinks that Heath is a faggy name, or that there's something alluring about the man in the Playboy magazine--who Heath wants to be, by the way--, or that the mixtape he shares is a little too emotional. What he is, though, is an artist. And he conjures up a monster like no other, one that will stop at nothing to eat and grow and track him down.
Heath is growing up in the nineties where video stores, nudie magazines, and mixtapes are all the rage. Mostly, he's trying to make it through the school day. But when his father goes missing, along with his cat, his family begins to fall apart at the seams. Told largely en media res, beginning just before Y2K, we are transported back in time to where this all begins. What follows is quite literally a monstrous metaphor for Heath realizing that he is, in fact, gay. As his denial grows, the hungrier he gets right alongside the monster he doesn't know he's created. The monster lives in the house, it seems, somehow nothing and everything at once, causing startling and completely unreal occurrences, like a tree growing through Heath's wall. As a metaphor, the cosmic horror here, and his eventual acceptance of it works.
However, I don't know if it's because I'm not as experienced with cosmic horror as a subgenre, but there was something about this book that felt a little understated to me. I wasn't as freaked out as I thought I'd be (GREAT cover art, btw!), but maybe cosmic horror is more understated than what I've recently read (unfortunately, splatterpunk lol). I wanted Dries to push and pull this a little bit more, show me a little bit of what happened after Heath's family is decimated. The timeline was a little confusing to me and it felt like there was a lot skipped over at the end. Dries is certainly a good writer; perhaps I wish that he had written more of the story.