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booktrishandmagic's review
This is undoubtedly one of the most anticlimactic and boring books I’ve ever had the displeasure of picking up.
blacksphinx's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This is a really lovely sapphic Gothic that goes some places. I just loved the light epistolary touch - every couple of chapters you'll get a transcribed interview between our protagonist Roos and the doctor hired by the court to determine if she's sane enough to stand accused in a murder trial. I felt the interviews gave a good scaffolding to the book. Normally I hate narration that's like "little did they know that one of them would soon be dead", but knowing the tale we are being told has already occurred and getting flickers of how it ends just built up the dread for me. Some parts of this novel thrilled and chilled me; but at other points, I was stuck by how derivative certain plot elements were. (One character's backstory seemed lifted straight out of a very famous Gothic novel; the author even name-checks that one in the back.)
Overall this is a great novel about the lingering effects of trauma and what that does to those who survive. If you're a goth who is always tweeting about "toxic yuri", open a new tab and buy it now.
Overall this is a great novel about the lingering effects of trauma and what that does to those who survive. If you're a goth who is always tweeting about "toxic yuri", open a new tab and buy it now.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Cannibalism, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Incest, Racism, Terminal illness, Child abuse, Confinement, and Death
Moderate: Self harm, Infertility, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, and Physical abuse
Minor: Abortion, Pregnancy, Animal death, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Trafficking
It's a massive spoiler butsimonlorden's review against another edition
4.5
I received an ARC through NetGalley and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
A sapphic horror that manages to be soft and romantic as well as horrifying. The description of rotting dead bodies is definitely horroristic, but it's not really scary, and in fact often done with love.
Roos is an abused child with a spirit companion that only she can see, at least until she meets the widowed Agnes, who has her own spirit companion. The two of them cling to each other and slowly begin a relationship, but Agnes's relationship with her husband still haunts them. You sort of know from the beginning that it's going to end horribly, but you still can't really blame Roos, because she did what she thought was best for Agnes and her love.
Overall, a horrifying but still emotional and hopeful story that focuses a lot on death and abuse and trauma, as well as racism.
A sapphic horror that manages to be soft and romantic as well as horrifying. The description of rotting dead bodies is definitely horroristic, but it's not really scary, and in fact often done with love.
Roos is an abused child with a spirit companion that only she can see, at least until she meets the widowed Agnes, who has her own spirit companion. The two of them cling to each other and slowly begin a relationship, but Agnes's relationship with her husband still haunts them. You sort of know from the beginning that it's going to end horribly, but you still can't really blame Roos, because she did what she thought was best for Agnes and her love.
Overall, a horrifying but still emotional and hopeful story that focuses a lot on death and abuse and trauma, as well as racism.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Incest
horroritygirl's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
kindlebabe's review
5.0
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ //5
My Darling Dreadful Thing
by: Johanna van Veen
THOUGHTS:
I want to thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for giving me the opportunity to read an e-arc in exchange for my honest review.
Do you love a book that is:
-dark
-gothic
-horror
-psychological
This will be for you and it has even more within!
Literally take all my dreaded stars—really take them all and all my love. This book was so good. I ate it up and didn’t take a second to break from it until it was done. I adored the writing style, the world and character development, plot/setting—ALL of it. I am always excited and in the mood to read a dark horror type read and this fed me just that. This books cover is just the icing on this. The way that Johanna feeds you this horrific terror on a platter was beautiful. I do not want to go too much into this book because I believe this is a perfect book to curl up with blindly on a cold day with a hot drink and warm blanket and get lost within it’s pages. I cannot wait to share this book with everybody that I know!
My Darling Dreadful Thing
by: Johanna van Veen
THOUGHTS:
I want to thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for giving me the opportunity to read an e-arc in exchange for my honest review.
Do you love a book that is:
-dark
-gothic
-horror
-psychological
This will be for you and it has even more within!
Literally take all my dreaded stars—really take them all and all my love. This book was so good. I ate it up and didn’t take a second to break from it until it was done. I adored the writing style, the world and character development, plot/setting—ALL of it. I am always excited and in the mood to read a dark horror type read and this fed me just that. This books cover is just the icing on this. The way that Johanna feeds you this horrific terror on a platter was beautiful. I do not want to go too much into this book because I believe this is a perfect book to curl up with blindly on a cold day with a hot drink and warm blanket and get lost within it’s pages. I cannot wait to share this book with everybody that I know!
chelsaat's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.0
misha_ali's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I don't think I've seen this kind of symbiotic relationship between a person and the spirit that is bound to them in gothic horror before. Roos is an abused and undernourished 21-year-old who has been raised by "Mama", who forces her to fake seances to communicate with dead spirits. Roos, however, has a spirit bound to her already: her constant companion and beloved Ruth. What follows is an interesting story about the line between schizophrenia and actual spirits possessing someone. Roos is an interesting character to follow for this journey but I wish we had a bit more point of view content from Agnes as well, who seems a particularly interesting character as a half-Cambodian widow of a wealthy man seeking to connect with spirits for her own reasons.
The pace slows down considerably in the second half until the final act, which weakened the book for me overall, but it is a very easy read and an interesting relationship between the living and the dead.
The pace slows down considerably in the second half until the final act, which weakened the book for me overall, but it is a very easy read and an interesting relationship between the living and the dead.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse and Sexual assault
Minor: Cannibalism
oliviagwynne's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
My Darling Dreadful thing reminds me of House of Hollow and Juniper and Thorn in tone, and that is high praise. Gothic, a bit grotesque at times, pretty word choices.
Set in post WWII Netherlands, you don’t explore the setting too much and instead spend most of your time exploring Roos and her spirit companion. I felt the first person narration style really worked for this. I enjoyed Roos’ voice and character.
I will say that even though it is set in the 50’s, it felt more like the 20’s to me so that is what I was picturing in my head.
It is a start at the end kind of story, where the narrator tells you how you got to where you start.
I loved the device of the sessions with the doctor and how they kept pace with the story. I wasn’t sold on them at first but they grew on me.
I liked Agnes right away. She seems cheeky, like a character who has gumption. And growing up mixed race (Indonesian) in this time period and as a bastard child of a rich man had to have helped harden her shell.
It is a slower paced novel, using that to build up tension and intrigue for the reader. The spirit companions and the comfort of menace they can bring was a great tool to examine the human characters’ failings.
Overall, I really enjoyed myself.