Reviews with content warning for Body horror - Cackle

Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Cackle by Rachel Harrison

38 reviews

cinthiaurora's review against another edition

dark funny lighthearted mysterious reflective medium-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

4.0

I picked this up because I wanted something spooky, but still lighthearted and easy to read, and the good news was that this delivered. While Rachel Harrison’s writing WAS easy to read though, I found her writing flowed really well and was very introspective. Premise of the book sounds like a pitch for a sitcom, which for me is a plus. If it WAS a sitcom I would watch 10 seasons of it. Good read if you know what to expect!

I deducted .5 because Annie and Sophie never kissed. And another .5 because at a certain point it was just unbelievable to me that Annie moves to a pretty new town where she befriends a LITERAL WITCH who cooks for her and makes her dresses and shows her her own magic powers AND has a cute little spider side-kick….and she’s STILL thinking about her loser ex-boyfriend? She’s literally insane. Also I really thought for a minute there that all the character development we did manage to get from her would be undone when she decided to see Sam. I literally had zero faith in her. None whatsoever. So a pleasant surprise she turned it around in the end. Anyways, Annie and Sophie should have kissed. I don’t care if Sophie was a little toxic. I support women’s wrongs. Otherwise pretty solid read.

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joyfleming's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

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amandalorianxo's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-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

3.75

My mind is going back and forth between 3.5 to 4 stars for this one. Annie is nearly thirty and she is moving to upstate NY after her and her longtime boyfriend break up. Annie doesn’t have a lot of confidence in herself and she somehow catches the attention of Rowan’s(her new town) one and only Sophie - a woman who seems to have a controversial role in the area. This book went beyond a simple lonely woman meets a witch who lives in the middle of the woods. It sparks a conversation about being comfortable with who you are and not necessarily needing a partner to be happy. Unfortunately, about the 60/70 percent of the book is where I got a little confused, especially when it came to Annie’s sudden realization. I wanted more of an explanation than just an assumption based on a drink. However, I will say, this is what I wish The Ex Hex could have been but didn’t quite meet expectations.

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lucybbookstuff's review against another edition

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hopeful mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

The last few chapters redeemed the rest of the book, but that doesn't make me less annoyed that I still had to read the whole thing lol. (Not sure I'm capable of DNF-ing, plus it was a fast enough read that I could get through it.)

I think this book would be a lot better as a novella. The middle 100 pages or so were boring af and unnecessary. The whole story and moral could have been told a lot more quickly and effectively.

That said, I did appreciate the moral of self-actualization and learning to love yourself outside of relationships, because I've been through that whole process myself and know how liberating it can be.

However, I didn't really like the characters very much. Annie's sad sack-ness, however realistic, got very old very fast. And I found Sophie fucking creepy and controlling and manipulative the entire time. Again, all of this was only resolved at the very end.

Gotta say, I also don't love the violent female revenge trope. No thanks.

I do also appreciate the ace representation, however, I definitely think it could have been accomplished without being so queer-baity. 🤷🏻‍♀️

So. Not my least favorite book but definitely not my cup of tea. A good quick Halloween read though! 🕷

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foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition

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dark emotional medium-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

4.5

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katiemack's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

I have found the perfect book (well, for me) for Spooky Season, and this is it.

Annie is a teacher who moves out of NYC after her boyfriend Sam breaks up with her; she move into a place in the picturesque, perfectly cozy autumnal New England town of Rowan; and she meets Sophie, a preternaturally youthful and elegant woman who commands power over the little town. I adore the way Harrison wrote Annie; she's relatable and sarcastic and, in her own way, empowering. Through Sophie, she discovers her own strength and learns to depend on herself rather than the other people in her life.

The prose is hilarious and biting with just enough horror to keep you on your toes. Pick it up before Spooky Season ends.

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wevan's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad 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

1.75

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sarahholliday's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I absolutely loved The Return (Harrison's first novel), but Cackle just didn't hit the right note for me. It felt like the story stayed very surface-level, possibly because we never go to really dig into the minds and lives of the other inhabitants of Rowan due to the close first-person narration.

While I liked that both Sophie and Annie defy categorization as "good" or "evil," and really appreciate the obvious feminist argument being made re: independent, confident women, I also felt like that approach was only possible because Harrison refused to interrogate the moral complexities of the women's choices.

That being said, this was still a delightfully creepy-without-being-scary read focused on female friendship and the importance of finding one's sense of self. Fun, spooky, and perfect for Fall reading!

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