Reviews

The Beetle is compared frequently to Dracula because they were published the same year and have similar writing styles and a fantasy/horror bent. I much preferred The Beetle because I found the underlying mechanism used to generate fear to be more interesting. Beyond the surface level cozy mystery, Marsh has much to say about gender and colonialism. There is a constant push and pull between male and female in the novel. A huge part of the fear in this book comes from, at its root, the fear of a loss of masculinity. Classically masculine characters are made weak, taken advantage of, and dominated in the face of a gender shifting (although ultimately female) monster, who acts in the name of a female god. In the end, the novel reads as moral tale of what happens when Victorian values are challenged by outsiders.

jmm11's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious fast-paced

5.0

shane's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

I see from another site I've been 'reading' this for at least 3 years on and off. It was worth the effort to finish it at last. The ending was a little bit lacklustre if I'm honest, and kind of petered out rather than ending with a gasp or a bang, but nevertheless it wasn't bad all things considered.

goonerette's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

obfuscatress's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

Content Warnings

beardedbarista's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

Take Dracula and replace with THE BEETLE! This book was suggested by a friend who was reading it, so you know I had to check it out. I didn't realize this book was written so long ago when I started but it made sense after the first bit of the book. The book has a pretty open end so I guess it kept many guessing and still terrified of THE BEETLE! I think I would have maybe given this a higher rating if it was fleshed out a little bit more. The writing was pretty great though... Have you read this? Let's talk??

More...