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mjtucker's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-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
2.75
janagaton's review against another edition
4.0
I would've simply given up tbh...
lol props to our main girl Addy's resilience & ability to think things through for as long as she did. I also appreciated her character growth in being independent post-divorce & working with herself through trying to shake off her ex-husband's influence.
lol props to our main girl Addy's resilience & ability to think things through for as long as she did. I also appreciated her character growth in being independent post-divorce & working with herself through trying to shake off her ex-husband's influence.
notenchanted's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
somebodys_fool's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Blood
jdh_ky's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
ambersautumnreads'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? Yes
3.5
nordiccowgirl's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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
4.0
arlenren's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
reaperreads's review against another edition
4.0
Part creature feature, part survival horror, and part feminist social critique, Below has a little something for everyone. As a novella, it wastes little time getting to the meat of the matter, and Laurel Hightower does a great job using Addy's internal dialogue (not monologue) as both a tool for character development and plot progression.
I say internal dialogue because from the first chapter of Below, it becomes clear that Addy is haunted by the voice of her ex-husband Brian, whom she divorced just the summer before the outset of this novella. After being gaslit by him for thirteen years, she frequently has trouble disentangling his voice from her own inner compass.
"Brian was quick to dismiss and downplay her frustration at the constant danger she faced simply being a woman, but he'd still lectured her about guys."
As someone who has been through an emotionally abusive/manipulative relationship with a guy who always perceived himself as the arbiter of truth in every situation, even ones that he didn't directly experience, I felt very seen because of this aspect of Addy's character. I hated that Brian's voice would make her second-guess herself and constantly hoped that she would break free of that internalized misogyny. At different points in the story, her internal dialogue would pick up new voices like a snowball rolling downhill, at times sounding like her dad and at other times sounding like the truck driver she decides to trust during her (mis)adventure through West Virginia. Overall, I found this to be an intriguingly tangible method of demonstrating the chastising voice of patriarchy and its psychological oppression of free will.
And the Mothman of it all? Well, he does thematically fit into Addy's internal journey just as well as he influences her physical journey through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered. I was skeptical about how this would work, but it actually worked much better than I thought it would.
The only reason I give this four stars instead of five is because, as a nonbinary person, I felt that the feminist critique was only making space for binary-identifying women (especially those who are straight) and not really anyone else North American society perceives as feminine (despite or, oftentimes, in spite of the internal and/or lived experience of the individual).
"Who in her right mind would choose any kind of evil, lesser or otherwise?" (Emphasis mine; her could be easily changed to their here)
Similarly, due to the frequent lack of physical character description, the novella also felt to me like it leaned towards white feminism instead of taking an intersectional approach. While all of this could be me reading into things a bit too much, it still slightly impacted my enjoyment of the novella, and I wanted to have the courage to voice that since raising one's voice is the moral of this story.
Regardless, I still found a lot of kinship with Addy and felt immensely invested in her narrative. I wanted her to survive and to express her rage and to free herself from the internalized voices of patriarchal, chauvinist authority figures in her head. And, just from a horror fan perspective, I found the suspense to be very effective and the cryptids to be well-woven into the fabric of the plot. I highly recommend this novella to anyone with an interest in Mothman, Indrid Cold, and feminist criticisms of who passes judgment on which stories are deemed "believable" when people have run-ins with the unexplained.
For fans of: The Descent (2005), Barbarian (2022), The Mothman Prophecies (2002), Come Closer by Sara Gran, Patricia Wants to Cuddle by Samantha Allen, Your Mind is a Terrible Thing by Hailey Piper (because anxiety), The Vegetarian by Han Kang, The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw, Jackal by Erin E. Adams, My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones
I say internal dialogue because from the first chapter of Below, it becomes clear that Addy is haunted by the voice of her ex-husband Brian, whom she divorced just the summer before the outset of this novella. After being gaslit by him for thirteen years, she frequently has trouble disentangling his voice from her own inner compass.
"Brian was quick to dismiss and downplay her frustration at the constant danger she faced simply being a woman, but he'd still lectured her about guys."
As someone who has been through an emotionally abusive/manipulative relationship with a guy who always perceived himself as the arbiter of truth in every situation, even ones that he didn't directly experience, I felt very seen because of this aspect of Addy's character. I hated that Brian's voice would make her second-guess herself and constantly hoped that she would break free of that internalized misogyny. At different points in the story, her internal dialogue would pick up new voices like a snowball rolling downhill, at times sounding like her dad and at other times sounding like the truck driver she decides to trust during her (mis)adventure through West Virginia. Overall, I found this to be an intriguingly tangible method of demonstrating the chastising voice of patriarchy and its psychological oppression of free will.
And the Mothman of it all? Well, he does thematically fit into Addy's internal journey just as well as he influences her physical journey through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered. I was skeptical about how this would work, but it actually worked much better than I thought it would.
The only reason I give this four stars instead of five is because, as a nonbinary person, I felt that the feminist critique was only making space for binary-identifying women (especially those who are straight) and not really anyone else North American society perceives as feminine (despite or, oftentimes, in spite of the internal and/or lived experience of the individual).
"Who in her right mind would choose any kind of evil, lesser or otherwise?" (Emphasis mine; her could be easily changed to their here)
Similarly, due to the frequent lack of physical character description, the novella also felt to me like it leaned towards white feminism instead of taking an intersectional approach. While all of this could be me reading into things a bit too much, it still slightly impacted my enjoyment of the novella, and I wanted to have the courage to voice that since raising one's voice is the moral of this story.
Regardless, I still found a lot of kinship with Addy and felt immensely invested in her narrative. I wanted her to survive and to express her rage and to free herself from the internalized voices of patriarchal, chauvinist authority figures in her head. And, just from a horror fan perspective, I found the suspense to be very effective and the cryptids to be well-woven into the fabric of the plot. I highly recommend this novella to anyone with an interest in Mothman, Indrid Cold, and feminist criticisms of who passes judgment on which stories are deemed "believable" when people have run-ins with the unexplained.
For fans of: The Descent (2005), Barbarian (2022), The Mothman Prophecies (2002), Come Closer by Sara Gran, Patricia Wants to Cuddle by Samantha Allen, Your Mind is a Terrible Thing by Hailey Piper (because anxiety), The Vegetarian by Han Kang, The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw, Jackal by Erin E. Adams, My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones