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3.52 AVERAGE
3.52 AVERAGE
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Very creepy and incredible concept! The actual plot is very slow but it allows for the horror elements to slowly be introduced. I’ve heard some complaints with the second half of the book and while it does slow down I found the tension was consistent enough to justify it. Love you Kathe Koja
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This really worked for me, wow. It's the kind of book that stays with you!
Nick and Nakota have a toxic relationship. She mostly uses him for sex, not least because in the storage hall in his apartment building, there is a very mysterious hole in the floor that seems to transform anything that comes near it or dips inside of it. After a series of experiments to figure out what is in the hole, the characters (Nakota especially) become somewhat addicted to it's mystery, yielding a myriad of theories and eventually, "fans".
The premise seems simple - essentially, it's a love triange between the main character, Nick, the girl he wants, Nakota, and the . . cosmic thing she wants, the Funhole. But the Funhole wants Nick. What made this book for me was:
1) the writing - some might find Koja's prose 'purple' (overwrought, too descriptive) but I found that sections of the book are also written with a totally flat affect, not unlike Bret Easton Ellis or his more modern impersonators. The contrast between the body horror elements and Koja's description of them and the laconic, cynical, unshockable malaise of the character's worldview really worked.
2) the atmosphere - if you love that bleak, despondent 90's grunge feeling, this is a great book for you. It had elements of Less Than Zero, Reality Bytes, even Empire Records. Personally, I love horror in a time before social media or widespread internet use, I think it just hits different. The bleak Detroit setting and dead-end jobs of the characters only added to the mood.
I'm glad this was recommended to me based on my ratings for other books in this genre. Call it a love story, cosmic horror, or a mystery; one thing it definitely is is unforgettable.
Nick and Nakota have a toxic relationship. She mostly uses him for sex, not least because in the storage hall in his apartment building, there is a very mysterious hole in the floor that seems to transform anything that comes near it or dips inside of it. After a series of experiments to figure out what is in the hole, the characters (Nakota especially) become somewhat addicted to it's mystery, yielding a myriad of theories and eventually, "fans".
The premise seems simple - essentially, it's a love triange between the main character, Nick, the girl he wants, Nakota, and the . . cosmic thing she wants, the Funhole. But the Funhole wants Nick. What made this book for me was:
1) the writing - some might find Koja's prose 'purple' (overwrought, too descriptive) but I found that sections of the book are also written with a totally flat affect, not unlike Bret Easton Ellis or his more modern impersonators. The contrast between the body horror elements and Koja's description of them and the laconic, cynical, unshockable malaise of the character's worldview really worked.
2) the atmosphere - if you love that bleak, despondent 90's grunge feeling, this is a great book for you. It had elements of Less Than Zero, Reality Bytes, even Empire Records. Personally, I love horror in a time before social media or widespread internet use, I think it just hits different. The bleak Detroit setting and dead-end jobs of the characters only added to the mood.
I'm glad this was recommended to me based on my ratings for other books in this genre. Call it a love story, cosmic horror, or a mystery; one thing it definitely is is unforgettable.
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Art people are just different ig
“If I could have broken his neck I would have, just for the pleasure of the silence after the snap.”
I like despicable, flawed people in fiction. I think protagonists should be as varied as the people we encounter in real life. I don’t need to like people in order to emotionally invest in their stories. Sometimes, hating them is just as fun as loving them. In Kathe Koja’s The Cipher, Nicholas and Nakota are pretty loathsome people. They happen upon a strange, black hole in Nicholas’s apartment building and become obsessed with experimenting with it. Much of the novel focuses on their horrendously dysfunctional relationship, as he continuously fails to protect her from the darkness she is drawn into, and she surgically hacks away at his psychic wounds to get exactly what she wants from him. I was surprised by how real the characters felt and how horny they were. Not horny in a sexy way, but horny in a pitiful, dirty way, in a way that reflects two people who are so defeated and beat down by life that the only comfort they can find is endless sex in a shitty apartment with someone they dislike as much as they dislike themselves. The dynamic between Nakota and Nicholas and their friend group reminded me of the darker parts of my adolescence. It really has that whole ’90s nihilistic twenty/thirtysomething vibe, where everything is sarcastic or done ironically and everyone seems too self-absorbed and unsure of themselves to function, everyone abusing themselves and each other without the wisdom of wanting to make a better life for themselves or anyone. To me, The Cipher is about rot. Its main characters rot inside of their rotting apartment built in a rotting world. But these characters are alive and like all living things, the rot must be dealt with. Giving in to the rot means being swallowed and digested by it. Each character fights the rot in their own way and at their own level of intensity. Some wave a torch at the dampness to ward it off, others scrape off the mold only when it gets too unbearable. This book depicted what becomes of people who continue to let themselves be consumed by the void, and it shows how unsustainable that lifestyle is. This book may have featured literal black holes, but it much more about inner darkness and what happens when you let yours consume you. I think this was a good cautionary tale, even if I was too distracted by how easily this could have been my life.
I like despicable, flawed people in fiction. I think protagonists should be as varied as the people we encounter in real life. I don’t need to like people in order to emotionally invest in their stories. Sometimes, hating them is just as fun as loving them. In Kathe Koja’s The Cipher, Nicholas and Nakota are pretty loathsome people. They happen upon a strange, black hole in Nicholas’s apartment building and become obsessed with experimenting with it. Much of the novel focuses on their horrendously dysfunctional relationship, as he continuously fails to protect her from the darkness she is drawn into, and she surgically hacks away at his psychic wounds to get exactly what she wants from him. I was surprised by how real the characters felt and how horny they were. Not horny in a sexy way, but horny in a pitiful, dirty way, in a way that reflects two people who are so defeated and beat down by life that the only comfort they can find is endless sex in a shitty apartment with someone they dislike as much as they dislike themselves. The dynamic between Nakota and Nicholas and their friend group reminded me of the darker parts of my adolescence. It really has that whole ’90s nihilistic twenty/thirtysomething vibe, where everything is sarcastic or done ironically and everyone seems too self-absorbed and unsure of themselves to function, everyone abusing themselves and each other without the wisdom of wanting to make a better life for themselves or anyone. To me, The Cipher is about rot. Its main characters rot inside of their rotting apartment built in a rotting world. But these characters are alive and like all living things, the rot must be dealt with. Giving in to the rot means being swallowed and digested by it. Each character fights the rot in their own way and at their own level of intensity. Some wave a torch at the dampness to ward it off, others scrape off the mold only when it gets too unbearable. This book depicted what becomes of people who continue to let themselves be consumed by the void, and it shows how unsustainable that lifestyle is. This book may have featured literal black holes, but it much more about inner darkness and what happens when you let yours consume you. I think this was a good cautionary tale, even if I was too distracted by how easily this could have been my life.
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
