raybudbury's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I feel like horror is one of the hardest genres to write because I feel like an ending has to land for it to be amazing. 

I liked a lot of the setting, atmosphere, main character, etc. But the ending fell off for me. 

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amyiris's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Loveable characters? Yes

3.75


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garbage_mcsmutly's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

The first big reveal was kind of an obvious one, but they took it in an unexpected direction. It was interesting and well written.

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deetabz's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0


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astralatlas's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I listened to this book as an audiobook and it was a real struggle to get through 75% of it. Much of the buildup seemed exceedingly repetitive and a lot of the characters seem pretty flat. However, even though I figured out the general shape of the reveal, the last 25% was riveting. Great body horror, fascinating backdrop, biting metaphorical critique of capitalism/colonialism/classism. 

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esterie's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

was expecting a haunted house type of story, but instead it was
the horrors of colonialism, incest, and hivemind fungi
. was not expecting 2 of those 3 things, but i liked it!

the only 2 glaring issues for me:
- the timeline is confusing.
howard sought out this cult (where? idk), integrated into it, married a woman from the cult, took over & subsequently killed everyone else in the cult, and left with this woman, now pregnant. later we see who i am ASSUMING is this woman being guided through birth by howard's sisters (agnes and alice). she's then buried alive to become the "seed" under the foundation of the house through which the fungus spreads. but THEN at the end, the woman buried under the house was agnes? wtf am i missing here? as howard is leaving the cult with this woman he thinks of his two sisters back home, so we KNOW this woman isn't agnes. did he burry alive TWO women? different locations, as in the first wife was buried in england (hence the dirt being brought over), then the events in mexico?
i feel like that makes the most sense, but even reading subtext does not make that clear enough for me to feel confident about it being the author's intention.

- also with timeline confusion,
francis mentions that howard has "lived many lives in many bodies" but as far as we know he only ever had 2 living children (well.... before ruth.... you know). so..... whose body was he in during the present pov of the story? it seemed like it was his original body, so why francis' statement about that?
i feel that needed to be explained further.

i could handwave the second point as
howard being so desperate to hold out for a proper male "heir" that he clung to his original body out of spite. but then francis' statement doesn't make sense.
the first point though really confuses me. like i kept having to go back and reread to make sure i wasn't misplacing characters lmao

so much of the rest of this book was an absolute hit for me, but these two points (especially the first one) degrades it a least half to three-quarters of a star imo.
the mushroom visuals were so good! i really loved noemi and francis! the mystery was compelling! the doyle family was absolutely horrendous like oh my god extremely fucked up!
just needed that last lil bit of tightening up and it would have been a 5, but alas. :(

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chaotic_tumbleweed's review against another edition

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dark hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

I really enjoyed this book. However, towards the end there was a lot of explaining I didn't think was necessary. It felt like the action kept starting and stoping. Other than that I really enjoyed it.

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trying_ceratops's review against another edition

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

3.5

My main problem with the book was the pacing. It was hard to get into but once it did, the mystery was great to unravel! It definitely felt like the gothic novels I’ve read before, so it is aptly titled. There is some character development, but it’s more about the story. I loved the reason for the mystery at the end and it was very new. 

Id recommend this book to people who enjoy a slow build and a touch of spookiness. I wouldn’t consider this horror by any means, but it can be creepy. I can understand the hype this book created and am glad I read it. 

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kaylokay_'s review against another edition

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

5.0


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daepyonimst's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25


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