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aparker89's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Absolutely fantastic writing!
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, Hate crime, Murder, Abandonment, Bullying, Gaslighting, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Blood, Gore, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Misogyny, Stalking, Terminal illness, Violence, Chronic illness, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, and Toxic relationship
tifftastic87's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Mostly, I was bored after the first 60 pages. Things happened very slowly which doesnt always bother me but I found tedious here. We spent a lot of time with the characters but I never felt attached to them. Roos is immature and hyper reactive to negative emotions, both things that make sense with her character but do not make for fun reading. She's constantly seeking validation and that combined with the age gap, power dynamic, and emotional maturity of the two characters made it very hard for me to find the love in the story that the author wants us to find. It seemed more like Roos went from an abusive mother to an inappropriate relationship and we capped it off with an abusive relationship with the spirit, Ruth.
The incest was unneeded to make Thomas a bad man, the racism and abuse did that well enough. It started to feel rather gratuitous.
The tension was very low for a gothic horror and everyone just kind of felt exhausting.
Graphic: Eating disorder, Death, Blood, Child abuse, Racial slurs, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Racism, and Violence
Moderate: Incest, Infertility, Xenophobia, and Homophobia
bookeduntil's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Rape, Toxic relationship, Violence, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Body horror, Sexism, Sexual violence, Racial slurs, Toxic friendship, Blood, Chronic illness, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Sexual assault, Death, and Gore
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Child death, Suicide, Lesbophobia, Abandonment, Incest, Cannibalism, Classism, Infertility, and Infidelity
bookedbymadeline's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Racism, Mental illness, Child abuse, Self harm, Vomit, Terminal illness, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Child death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual violence, Incest, Medical trauma, Sexual content, and Homophobia
Minor: Suicide attempt
sunsetsyd's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Child abuse, and Mental illness
Moderate: Racial slurs, Sexual assault, and Racism
Minor: Incest
love_and_lilacs's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Death, Incest, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, and Violence
Moderate: Racism, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, and Vomit
This is a gothic horror book and it is entirely about horrible and horrific things happening. Your definition of graphic may be different than mine. Please be advised that I may not have remembered every content warning, but I tried to remember the big ones.kristinareadz's review against another edition
- 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? No
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Bullying, Blood, Violence, Murder, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Dementia, Terminal illness, Self harm, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Vomit, Cultural appropriation, Racial slurs, and Gore
Minor: Sexual assault
bookishmillennial's review
- 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? It's complicated
Thank you to Sourcebooks for the ARC (pub date: May 14, 2024) — I am providing an honest review on my own accord.
This was a fantastic piece of historical horror! Roosje practices seances with her Mama to get by, and when the widow Agnes Knoop attends one, she becomes enamored by Roos. Little does anyone know, Roos and her mama have simply conjured up a little ~*~ruse~*~ (ha ha GET IT?!) & their seances are not real. Roos instead lets her spirit friend Ruth inhabit her body, and they put on a performance of others’ loved ones visiting them for their patrons. Agnes becomes interested in 21-year-old Roos and pays Mama for Roos to come live with her. I won’t give away too much else, as I don’t want to spoil it, but the story moves down surprising and dark paths after this!
There are interview transcripts in between every few chapters between Roosje and a doctor, who clearly believe Roos is schizophrenic and does not entertain the presence of the spirit Ruth. They are short, but eventually unravel what has happened and why Roos is even being interviewed (and seemingly investigated/being accused) by a doctor. I thought this was so clever and it built up so much curiosity and intensity for me as the reader!
In the beginning, Van Veen mentions that though there are incredibly darker contents in this book, at the core, it is a love story and that absolutely rings true. I was fascinated by the dynamic between Roos and Ruth, as well as the dynamic between Ruth and Agnes. Regardless of what you believe (whether Ruth is real/spirits are real or if Roos has made her up as a coping mechanism for her traumatic childhood), you can feel the fierce protection, care, and possessiveness of Ruth when it comes to Roos. Additionally, the beliefs that Roos and Agnes share deeply connect them, as well as their painful pasts, and it’s so lovely to see them finally find solace and hope in the other.
Honorable mention to the ending doctor/litigator & how he presents his patients’ experiences. I sometimes stan cishet men doing the bare minimum, what can I say? 😭
The sexual content is not particularly explicit or smutty btw. Not a bad or good thing, I just like to note the steaminess of any sexual content in books to help level others’ expectations 🫶🏽
see content warnings below & take care while reading (the author does include a few in the beginning of the book)
Overall, I highly recommend this gothic horror & I will read anything JVV writes in the future!
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Rape, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Incest, Homophobia, Sexism, Child death, Medical content, Gore, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Vomit, Child abuse, Murder, Racism, Racial slurs, Death, and Abandonment