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bickleyhouse's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
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
5.0
I wasn't sure what to expect when I started reading this book, but it definitely was not what I got. The author has a wonderful presence on Facebook, constantly sharing hilarious memes about the realities of life. This book does not mirror those memes at all. There's pretty much nothing at all hilarious about it. Oh, sure, I laughed a few times. But the story itself is both delightful and terrifying.
Imagine if your favorite childhood book/story came to life. Imagine if you got a free trip to visit the estate of its author. Imagine if you discovered what your favorite childhood author was really like and it wasn't at all like you imagined. Imagine if Wind in the Willows was a horror story. Or, even better . . . Winnie the Pooh!!
If you can imagine all of those things, you might have a glimpse of what Winterset Hollow is.
John Eamon Buckley is our hero. He and his two best friends, Mark and Caroline, who are a couple, get a chance to travel to the island estate of Edward Addington, author of Eamon's and Caroline's childhood favorite book, Winterset Hollow. Parts of this book are represented by poems throughout the story. I have to say I really enjoy the meter of the poetry, and the way it tells a tale.
Included in the original tale are Runnymeade Rabbit, Phineas the Fox, Binghamton Bear, and Olivia the Owl. And Flackwell the Frog.
The trip goes fine until our trio find a way through the gate in the fence that surrounds the property, and manage to make their way to Addington's house. Unexpectedly, the door of the house opens, and they come face to face with Runnymeade, himself, a larger than life, human-sized rabbit. He's much older, now, and missing a leg, but he is very much alive and talking. Also present in the house is a frog, Flackwell, who happens to be a gourmet cook, and is preparing a feast for them all to celebrate Barley Day, a "holiday" that is featured in the children's tale.
Everyone else that was on their boat trip to the island also winds up at the house, and they all take part in the feast. Everything is just peach keen. Until it's not. And then the terror begins, as the animals begin hunting the humans.
And that's about as much of the plot as I will give up. There is a totally unexpected (at least by me) plot twist on page 214. This book is amazing. The story is engaging and gripping. I didn't want to put it down. Mr. Durham's writing style is also quite engaging and he really knows how to spin a yarn. This world that he has created is both charming and horrifying all at the same time. How can this be? you may ask. That, I cannot answer. You will have to read it for yourself. At one point, I really liked Finn (Phineas) the Fox. Until I didn't. Again. Read it for yourself.
I highly recommend this book for any lovers of dark fantasy and/or horror. If you like Watership Down, The Wind in the Willows (I hope Mr. Durham does not mind me comparing his tale to that book), and other stories like that, with an added twist of some terrifying horror, you simply must read this book! If you might enjoy the thought of Pooh, Tigger, Rabbit, Kanga, and Eeyore hunting humans through the Hundred Acre Wood, this book is definitely for you!
Imagine if your favorite childhood book/story came to life. Imagine if you got a free trip to visit the estate of its author. Imagine if you discovered what your favorite childhood author was really like and it wasn't at all like you imagined. Imagine if Wind in the Willows was a horror story. Or, even better . . . Winnie the Pooh!!
If you can imagine all of those things, you might have a glimpse of what Winterset Hollow is.
John Eamon Buckley is our hero. He and his two best friends, Mark and Caroline, who are a couple, get a chance to travel to the island estate of Edward Addington, author of Eamon's and Caroline's childhood favorite book, Winterset Hollow. Parts of this book are represented by poems throughout the story. I have to say I really enjoy the meter of the poetry, and the way it tells a tale.
Included in the original tale are Runnymeade Rabbit, Phineas the Fox, Binghamton Bear, and Olivia the Owl. And Flackwell the Frog.
The trip goes fine until our trio find a way through the gate in the fence that surrounds the property, and manage to make their way to Addington's house. Unexpectedly, the door of the house opens, and they come face to face with Runnymeade, himself, a larger than life, human-sized rabbit. He's much older, now, and missing a leg, but he is very much alive and talking. Also present in the house is a frog, Flackwell, who happens to be a gourmet cook, and is preparing a feast for them all to celebrate Barley Day, a "holiday" that is featured in the children's tale.
Everyone else that was on their boat trip to the island also winds up at the house, and they all take part in the feast. Everything is just peach keen. Until it's not. And then the terror begins, as the animals begin hunting the humans.
And that's about as much of the plot as I will give up. There is a totally unexpected (at least by me) plot twist on page 214. This book is amazing. The story is engaging and gripping. I didn't want to put it down. Mr. Durham's writing style is also quite engaging and he really knows how to spin a yarn. This world that he has created is both charming and horrifying all at the same time. How can this be? you may ask. That, I cannot answer. You will have to read it for yourself. At one point, I really liked Finn (Phineas) the Fox. Until I didn't. Again. Read it for yourself.
I highly recommend this book for any lovers of dark fantasy and/or horror. If you like Watership Down, The Wind in the Willows (I hope Mr. Durham does not mind me comparing his tale to that book), and other stories like that, with an added twist of some terrifying horror, you simply must read this book! If you might enjoy the thought of Pooh, Tigger, Rabbit, Kanga, and Eeyore hunting humans through the Hundred Acre Wood, this book is definitely for you!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, and Violence
missdaniellexo's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Animal death, Gun violence, Death, Gore, Body horror, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Self harm
gabography's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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
4.75
wow, what a read. for the first time in years, i finished this book in 36 hours. it was that engrossing to me.
what an honestly bonkers concept turned out to be such a dark, fast paced, and surprisingly moving story written in a lovely prose that i can only imagine comes from the very stories that inspired the ensemble of not-so-cuddly creatures (some reviews did not care for that and some even called it pretentious, but i see what the author was going for and i loved it).
truly the only reason why this book doesn't earn a perfect five is due to the human characters, except for the one girl in the group named caroline who i liked a lot. to keep it as spoiler-free as possible because this book should be read blind, i found the main character to be the male equivalent of a mary sue at times, in the sense that you can tell he was the apple of the author's eye and had to be the most specialest lil guy of all the guys in the story, which felt a bit :/ as the story went on. while he was interesting and you feel for him, it all lining up the way it did just made me wish there was more there than just something that felt very "ope, he was special the whole time! surprise everyone!" like... okay. his male friend was also very one-note, left to be nothing more than the bumbling himbo sidekick who makes the main character look ever so clever and special in comparison. if not for his bravery and care for caroline and their relationship tugging at my heart, i would not care for him at all.
other than that, the world, the animal characters and their plight, the theme of trauma and loss and grief, all of it made for such a unique story that i know is going to stay with me. peter rabbit and friends are already looking a little more suspicious.
what an honestly bonkers concept turned out to be such a dark, fast paced, and surprisingly moving story written in a lovely prose that i can only imagine comes from the very stories that inspired the ensemble of not-so-cuddly creatures (some reviews did not care for that and some even called it pretentious, but i see what the author was going for and i loved it).
truly the only reason why this book doesn't earn a perfect five is due to the human characters, except for the one girl in the group named caroline who i liked a lot. to keep it as spoiler-free as possible because this book should be read blind, i found the main character to be the male equivalent of a mary sue at times, in the sense that you can tell he was the apple of the author's eye and had to be the most specialest lil guy of all the guys in the story, which felt a bit :/ as the story went on. while he was interesting and you feel for him, it all lining up the way it did just made me wish there was more there than just something that felt very "ope, he was special the whole time! surprise everyone!" like... okay. his male friend was also very one-note, left to be nothing more than the bumbling himbo sidekick who makes the main character look ever so clever and special in comparison. if not for his bravery and care for caroline and their relationship tugging at my heart, i would not care for him at all.
other than that, the world, the animal characters and their plight, the theme of trauma and loss and grief, all of it made for such a unique story that i know is going to stay with me. peter rabbit and friends are already looking a little more suspicious.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Murder, Death, Grief, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Confinement, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Self harm, Abandonment, and Kidnapping
ocean_in_a_teardrop's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.5
Flackwell and Runny were lovers and you cannot change my mind on that.
Overall, I loved this book! Even though there were sentences and phrases were hard to understand at times due to their wording, some questions left unanswered that I would have loved answers for, as well as the ability of characters both human and animal to survive the seemingly impossible after graphic injuries that should've killed them, the rest of this book absolutely makes up for these failings.
Overall, I loved this book! Even though there were sentences and phrases were hard to understand at times due to their wording, some questions left unanswered that I would have loved answers for, as well as the ability of characters both human and animal to survive the seemingly impossible after graphic injuries that should've killed them, the rest of this book absolutely makes up for these failings.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Confinement, and Gore
ssummar's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Blood, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Death, Grief, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Murder, Slavery, Torture, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, and Gun violence
Moderate: Abandonment, Colonisation, and Racism
xxthefoolonthehillxx's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Death
gondorgirl's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Genocide, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Blood, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, Confinement, Colonisation, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Stalking, Animal death, Self harm, and Violence
franzys_whip's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Literally beautiful book. Think The Most Dangerous Game but like 10 times better (at least imo). Covers topics of colonialism (in sort of a fictional way but still) and being haunted by your past so well. Lighthearted/funny moments never felt forced or out of place, and there aren't so many of them in the hunt bits to make it lessen the sense of danger. Characters had so much depth and I loved every minute of it.
A teeny tiny bit slow in the beginning. Just a little. Coming from a person who reads pretty fast-paced books most of the time though, it's really not that bad.
#edward addington needs to choke on a bag of rotten horse dicks #olivia did nothing wrong #fuck manifest destiny and all of its consequences
A teeny tiny bit slow in the beginning. Just a little. Coming from a person who reads pretty fast-paced books most of the time though, it's really not that bad.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence
Moderate: Alcohol, Classism, Cursing, Grief, and Gun violence
Minor: Death of parent
deebot's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Colonisation, Blood, Animal death, Violence, Trafficking, Slavery, Animal cruelty, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Murder, Medical trauma, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Cultural appropriation
craftypanda's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Animal death, Violence, Self harm, Murder, and Animal cruelty