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balladofreadingqueer's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book was interesting. It is told from various perspectives, including the house called La Kay. The story starts almost at the end with the house burning down. It follows the story of a pervy Haitian immigrant in New York who we find out calculated to be with his wife when he she was only 15 and watched his daughters through peep holes. It turns out that he has secrets that his family and the house never knew about.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Death, Pedophilia, and Child abuse
biancajay's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
ridgewaygirl's review against another edition
3.0
This is the story of a house's death. La Kay is a middle class house surrounded by other middle class houses that were built for returning GIs on an area near JFK Airport. South Ozone Park became a neighborhood of immigrants, the latest ones being from the Caribbean. Lucien and his wife buy the house and raise their three daughters there, while operating as an informal gathering place for new Haitian arrivals to find help getting settled, a card game and a taste of home. But Lucien's friendly demeanor hides an inner rot. He's done terrible things. Things the house finds unendurable and which lead it to decide to burn itself down in order to stop him. But Lucien, now an elderly man in poor health, a widower estranged from his children, has one more secret he's kept hidden from the house. And it's far worse than all of the other things he's done.
This is an impossible book to pigeon-hole. It's horror, sure. It's also a novel about immigrants struggling to make lives for themselves and those that prey on them. There's a grim realism here, but also a supernatural element that interact uneasily with each other. There are tonal shifts between the chapters, the ones centering Lucian have a black humor with a touch of slapstick that contrasts with the grim realism of another character's sections, which in turn are jarringly different than the magic realism of the sentient house.
Momplaisir is a talented writer, one who can evoke strong emotions or create a vivid image in very few words. This skill made this novel much harder to read than had her writing been just serviceable. The author is never overly graphic, nor does she linger on the act of harming being done. But she does dig into the emotions and harm being experienced by the victims and it makes for hard reading. It also made it difficult to appreciate Lucien's chapters or to enter in to what the house is experiencing. It's as though three very different novels about the same events were mashed together. Each element on its own is very good, but they lose something as a group.
This is an impossible book to pigeon-hole. It's horror, sure. It's also a novel about immigrants struggling to make lives for themselves and those that prey on them. There's a grim realism here, but also a supernatural element that interact uneasily with each other. There are tonal shifts between the chapters, the ones centering Lucian have a black humor with a touch of slapstick that contrasts with the grim realism of another character's sections, which in turn are jarringly different than the magic realism of the sentient house.
Momplaisir is a talented writer, one who can evoke strong emotions or create a vivid image in very few words. This skill made this novel much harder to read than had her writing been just serviceable. The author is never overly graphic, nor does she linger on the act of harming being done. But she does dig into the emotions and harm being experienced by the victims and it makes for hard reading. It also made it difficult to appreciate Lucien's chapters or to enter in to what the house is experiencing. It's as though three very different novels about the same events were mashed together. Each element on its own is very good, but they lose something as a group.
spinstah's review
3.0
The narrative structure didn't really work for me here, and I found the characters were also under-developed. There is a lot that is just sort of alluded to, which on the one hand it's fine because it's mostly abuse, but on the other hand makes it hard to understand what's actually happened to these characters in the past. I really liked the idea of the house being part of the narrative, but those parts did not make up as big a proportion of the book as I expected.
patti66's review against another edition
4.0
I really liked the premise for this book but it was not for the faint of heart.
katsherms's review against another edition
This was a rough read. Had it not been a book club book, I wouldn't have finished it.
zoya_neela's review against another edition
House as a character and one of the narrator's of the story. Reminded me of "Joplin's Ghost" by Tananarive Due, and "My Sister, the Serial Killer" by Oyinkan Braithwaite.
k8iedid's review against another edition
In Lucian, Momplaisir has created a truly horrifying character. As a writer, I admire this character development, but as a reader, I found it very difficult to persevere and had to take several breaks. The perspective of the house narrative kept me reading - I loved this literary device - and Momplaisir is clearly a talented writer. But the path to the end was pretty difficult.
booksofjj's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
0.5
Really not my thing, did want to finish it though
readbyashleyd's review against another edition
dark
emotional
medium-paced
5.0
I had a feeling I’d enjoy this book but I had no idea that I’d love it so much that it would become a contender for my favourite book of the year! It might be classified as a bit of a slow burn but it was absolutely riveting and I never felt like I wanted the pace to pick up, a slow burn was perfect for this story. I was hooked from start to finish and I couldn’t put the book down, I had a deep burning desire to find out how it would turn out. I really couldn’t have loved this book more, it had everything I love in a thriller/horror novel and heaps more and if that doesn’t make you want to pick up this book and devour it then I don’t know what will!