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returnofsaturn's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
rogue_raven's review
4.0
Wow what a ride, loved it though it only gets 4 stars because I felt the ending was too abrupt and incomplete. Lilith wants revenge for her treatment, wants it against the world, against the angels and demons who tormented her, against the angel of death and against The Creator himself, the four whores of the apocalypse will ride..
I can't really give more than that without giving too much away. This book will not be for everybody. It can be gritty and graphic and will have you squirming quite a few times. I love books that manage to achieve this. It's sort of religious horror mixed with urban fantasy and I couldn't get enough. I hope to see more from this author
I can't really give more than that without giving too much away. This book will not be for everybody. It can be gritty and graphic and will have you squirming quite a few times. I love books that manage to achieve this. It's sort of religious horror mixed with urban fantasy and I couldn't get enough. I hope to see more from this author
evavroslin's review
4.0
I really liked the original concept this book presented, feminizing the four horsemen of the apocalypse, and I think the author's execution of a gritty, raw read is definitely something the novel accomplishes. It is extremely graphic, as in rated MA if it were a film. There's explicit sex, a traumatic birth (which is putting it mildly), drug addiction, homelessness, assault, violence against women, trauma, and a whole host of other things that if readers are sensitive to, should consider these as trigger warnings. The author has stated it is not a book that will resonate with everyone for that reason. For those who can't get enough of demons, fallen angels, and biblical lore, this novel has that in spades, so fans of those elements will definitely enjoy this book.
daezarkian's review
2.0
Loved the idea. Loved the descriptions. Hated the execution, especially lack of anything resembling actual character development. Not a fan, though I would be curious to read future efforts by this author.
motherhorror's review
3.0
*cracks knuckles*
Okay, first things first.
Thank you Erin and Raw Dog Screaming Press for accommodating our Night Worms Book Party for this debut release. We strongly believe in supporting indie horror and especially, Women in Indie Horror.
Business aside, let's dive in. *deep breath*
There is a lot going on in this book. It's just over 300 pages but so help me, it reads like so much more. To be honest, it was a bit rich for my taste. I don't love the feeling of having to work hard for reading enjoyment; this book requires some heavy lifting on behalf of the reader. Suspending disbelief because this is high, dark fantasy as much as it is horror but also just managing the cast list and changing narratives. The plot is like shifting sand.
As a retelling of the biblical Four Horseman of the Apocalypse, I loved the concept of a Girl Gang gathering power under the headship of the iconic character, Lilith (legendary succubus). If you're unfamiliar with biblical stories or the mythology of Lilith, readers could find the texturing a bit overwhelming. I know these stories and I was struggling. It's clear very early on, this is a revenge fantasy and a reimagining of a patriarchal-centric mythos flipped on its head to be more honoring towards women. I can certainly appreciate that but was this the right vehicle for all this female empowerment broadcasting? Let me unpack it for you:
As a parallel narrative to Lillith's building her army of "whores" is Kenzie's narrative. Kenzie is a young woman living in the slums of Detroit with her neglectful, problematic, useless caregivers (parents) who live in a constant state of being "cracked out". Kenzie is forced to be street smart and resourceful in any way she can be, including selling her body in exchange for rent. It's pretty grim.
Under the surface layer of all this graphic sex and violence, is the very strong feminist message from the author. I could see everything through E. V. Knight's lens.
Not "whores" but "warriors".
Not sexually immoral but sexually in control, wielding sex as an act of war.
A strong female protagonist and a strong female antagonist.
Neither of them wrong or right in their quest to survive and tell the story of their lives, their way.
It's this reader's opinion that there are two epic storylines competing for importance and one of them should have been given prominence. I was far more interested in Lilith's story and frustrated when the story transitioned back and forth to Kenzie's story. The author enmeshed the two storylines in a technically effective way, but I don't think the author was successful in bringing the reader in and executing well on all the fighting ideas. Conceptually, I love THE FOURTH WHORE. Realistically, it doesn't stick the landing.
Due to the provocative nature of the storyline and the compelling writing, I was determined to hang with this until the end, but this has some issues.
It's not a matter of the author having the writing chops to pull the scale and scope of this tale off but more like the author, maybe, had too much of a voice in this story.
I actually loved the way Knight unflinchingly gave this story some teeth and it's probably going to miss some readers just on some of the more shocking content and descriptive language but seasoned horror fans shouldn't have any problem with that.
I'm curious to see how Knight would handle a less epic, more subtle story and I'm eager to read more of her work.
Okay, first things first.
Thank you Erin and Raw Dog Screaming Press for accommodating our Night Worms Book Party for this debut release. We strongly believe in supporting indie horror and especially, Women in Indie Horror.
Business aside, let's dive in. *deep breath*
There is a lot going on in this book. It's just over 300 pages but so help me, it reads like so much more. To be honest, it was a bit rich for my taste. I don't love the feeling of having to work hard for reading enjoyment; this book requires some heavy lifting on behalf of the reader. Suspending disbelief because this is high, dark fantasy as much as it is horror but also just managing the cast list and changing narratives. The plot is like shifting sand.
As a retelling of the biblical Four Horseman of the Apocalypse, I loved the concept of a Girl Gang gathering power under the headship of the iconic character, Lilith (legendary succubus). If you're unfamiliar with biblical stories or the mythology of Lilith, readers could find the texturing a bit overwhelming. I know these stories and I was struggling. It's clear very early on, this is a revenge fantasy and a reimagining of a patriarchal-centric mythos flipped on its head to be more honoring towards women. I can certainly appreciate that but was this the right vehicle for all this female empowerment broadcasting? Let me unpack it for you:
As a parallel narrative to Lillith's building her army of "whores" is Kenzie's narrative. Kenzie is a young woman living in the slums of Detroit with her neglectful, problematic, useless caregivers (parents) who live in a constant state of being "cracked out". Kenzie is forced to be street smart and resourceful in any way she can be, including selling her body in exchange for rent. It's pretty grim.
Under the surface layer of all this graphic sex and violence, is the very strong feminist message from the author. I could see everything through E. V. Knight's lens.
Not "whores" but "warriors".
Not sexually immoral but sexually in control, wielding sex as an act of war.
A strong female protagonist and a strong female antagonist.
Neither of them wrong or right in their quest to survive and tell the story of their lives, their way.
It's this reader's opinion that there are two epic storylines competing for importance and one of them should have been given prominence. I was far more interested in Lilith's story and frustrated when the story transitioned back and forth to Kenzie's story. The author enmeshed the two storylines in a technically effective way, but I don't think the author was successful in bringing the reader in and executing well on all the fighting ideas. Conceptually, I love THE FOURTH WHORE. Realistically, it doesn't stick the landing.
Due to the provocative nature of the storyline and the compelling writing, I was determined to hang with this until the end, but this has some issues.
It's not a matter of the author having the writing chops to pull the scale and scope of this tale off but more like the author, maybe, had too much of a voice in this story.
I actually loved the way Knight unflinchingly gave this story some teeth and it's probably going to miss some readers just on some of the more shocking content and descriptive language but seasoned horror fans shouldn't have any problem with that.
I'm curious to see how Knight would handle a less epic, more subtle story and I'm eager to read more of her work.
inkychaotics's review
4.0
I had the pleasure of reading an early copy of this book and blurbing it -- E.V. Knight's powerful debut novel offers up a poignant story of revenge through a strong feminist lens. Within, we dive into horror that does not shy away from taking its readers on a twisted journey into darkness. Knight pulls from myth, religion, history, and current times of upheaval to craft an important story that will stick with you. I cannot wait to see what this author does next!
readswithdogs's review
3.0
You ever finish a book and think, "what in the world did I just read?!"
That's how I feel about The Fourth Whore.
This book was a dark fantasy mixed with horror and smut elements, but honestly it didn't go far enough in any direction to fit just a single genre.
There's a lot going on and so many characters I had to keep notes. Luckily, I was familiar with the biblical story of Lilith and some of the other characters so I had an understanding right away. If you're not familiar you will want to look some stuff up to better understand the story.
I'm thinking this is a solid ⭐⭐⭐ out of 5 because there's a lot I enjoyed and an equal measure of confusion.
I loved the concept: an army of whores turned warriors battling the patriarchy and taking charge of their sexuality?! Fantastic! Bring it on! I love strong female protagonists!
However, there's a fair amount of sex scenes and they relate to the story, but are varying degrees of graphic which was confusing because I wanted either all-the-way smuttiness or just "they had sex."
Trying to follow the various storylines was difficult as well. This is a very ambitious book and while the author is a great writer this just felt like she crammed too much in.
That's how I feel about The Fourth Whore.
This book was a dark fantasy mixed with horror and smut elements, but honestly it didn't go far enough in any direction to fit just a single genre.
There's a lot going on and so many characters I had to keep notes. Luckily, I was familiar with the biblical story of Lilith and some of the other characters so I had an understanding right away. If you're not familiar you will want to look some stuff up to better understand the story.
I'm thinking this is a solid ⭐⭐⭐ out of 5 because there's a lot I enjoyed and an equal measure of confusion.
I loved the concept: an army of whores turned warriors battling the patriarchy and taking charge of their sexuality?! Fantastic! Bring it on! I love strong female protagonists!
However, there's a fair amount of sex scenes and they relate to the story, but are varying degrees of graphic which was confusing because I wanted either all-the-way smuttiness or just "they had sex."
Trying to follow the various storylines was difficult as well. This is a very ambitious book and while the author is a great writer this just felt like she crammed too much in.
findingmontauk1's review
3.0
"Forget the Four Horsemen, Lilith is assembling the Four Whores."
E.V. Knight knows how to write! The language is gorgeous, evocative, and the character development brought on are quite impressive. Who needs the Four HorseMEN when you can have equally, if not more, kick ass women leading the charge?! It felt like I was reading an episode of Supernatural in a sense - especially when they took to the religious side of their show's plotline. I had a lot of fun with this one - as the title MIGHT suggest, be prepared for some heavy, graphic sex. That did not bother me in the least, though, because it actually isn't something you read about all the time and it's fun to change things up!
My struggle with this book was finding a character to connect to that I could cheer on. I liked everyone well enough, but no one ever spoke TO ME on a deeper level. And then trying to follow the various sub-plots/storylines meant that we hopped around too much for me to build that character connection.
All in all, this is a solid 3 stars and it's a book that I am not sure I would have picked up before... but am so glad that I did. We get a great insight into the writing style and prowess of E.V. Knight and I am ready for more! Thank you, Erin and RDS Press for sending this book for a #nightwormsbookparty!
E.V. Knight knows how to write! The language is gorgeous, evocative, and the character development brought on are quite impressive. Who needs the Four HorseMEN when you can have equally, if not more, kick ass women leading the charge?! It felt like I was reading an episode of Supernatural in a sense - especially when they took to the religious side of their show's plotline. I had a lot of fun with this one - as the title MIGHT suggest, be prepared for some heavy, graphic sex. That did not bother me in the least, though, because it actually isn't something you read about all the time and it's fun to change things up!
My struggle with this book was finding a character to connect to that I could cheer on. I liked everyone well enough, but no one ever spoke TO ME on a deeper level. And then trying to follow the various sub-plots/storylines meant that we hopped around too much for me to build that character connection.
All in all, this is a solid 3 stars and it's a book that I am not sure I would have picked up before... but am so glad that I did. We get a great insight into the writing style and prowess of E.V. Knight and I am ready for more! Thank you, Erin and RDS Press for sending this book for a #nightwormsbookparty!
exorcismofemilyreed's review
3.0
The Fourth Whore is the debut novel from EV Knight! The story is creative, and the writing is vivid. I'm not the biggest fan of religious horror, but I wanted to give this a shot, and I enjoyed it overall. At times it felt gratuitous, but there are some really good gory scenes in this book. It gets intense. There was a little too much going on since there were several storylines, and I think this may have worked better for me if it was longer, or had fewer storylines. The concept was good, but the execution was unfocused. The language in this book is so gorgeous, and I would check out another book by EV Knight.
CW - infant death, death during childbirth, self-harm, drug abuse, death of a child, suicide, misogyny, grooming, genital mutilation
CW - infant death, death during childbirth, self-harm, drug abuse, death of a child, suicide, misogyny, grooming, genital mutilation