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doomham'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
2.0
Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, and Child abuse
Moderate: Incest, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, and Child death
Minor: Animal death
blacksphinx's review
- 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
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.
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 butheathenbun'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? It's complicated
5.0
My Darling Dreadful Thing is lovely and beautiful and makes you just feel sad.
The writing is beautiful and I though you know things don't end well at the beginning, you are still hoping things will turn out ok.
I could not put this book down!
Thank you Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for sending me the ARC for this beautiful book.
Moderate: Animal death
datewithathriller's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual violence, Racism, and Mental illness
Minor: Homophobia and Animal death
emily_journals's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
I really enjoyed the inter-character relationships going on in this book and I really loved the world-building. You can tell that the author really took time to develop the relationships in this book, especially those between Roos and Ruth and between Roos and Agnes. The ghost/spirit lore established in this book was so intriguing and unique. The level of intricacy in this lore of relating not only how someone dies, but where their body resides to how a spirit comes to be and has to be reawakened was really brilliantly done.
As typically expected when reading a debut novel, there were some craft issues with this book. While I did really love the inter-character relationships in this book, I did think that the character development of singular characters could have been explored more. I also thought that the pacing of this book was a bit off, this book felt very slow and drawn out for the level of plot and character development that were happening within this book, but I think learning when to draw out or condense parts of a story typically come with practice so I'm usually a little more forgiving of debut authors on pacing. My biggest complaint about this book is that even though it was a horror novel and there was a level of anticipation as certain points, I felt that this book was greatly lacking in suspense. For me, the interview framing device was taking suspense out of this story rather than adding to it and I wish that the framing had been done a little differently so that I still felt suspense going through this story.
Overall, this was a very strong debut and the character relationships and lore building generally outweighed the craft issues for me.
ARC provided by NetGalley.
Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Body horror
Moderate: Abandonment, Forced institutionalization, Cursing, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Torture, Self harm, Murder, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Incest, Medical content, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Cannibalism, Child death, and Racism
Minor: Colonisation, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Eating disorder, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Animal death, Classism, and Drug use
natlren's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
My Darling Dreadful Thing is a visceral, haunting, and bloody novel rich with gothic themes and a sapphic romance that is equal parts bitter and sweet. I really enjoyed how the story within this one developed, especially as Roos' reliability as a narrator is called into question.
What this book really succeeds at is making us second guess ourselves. Is Ruth real? Is Peter? Or were Agnes and Roos mentally ill women abused and traumatized by the men and the other powerful people in their lives? Ultimately, this book explores heavy themes of abuse and trauma and I loved watching Roos get to reclaim her autonomy from the people who have hurt her.
Also worth mentioning is how stunning the prose within this novel is. Each word is as sharp as a shard of glass and I'm looking forward to seeing My Darling Dreadful Thing make its way into the world.
Graphic: Child abuse, Racism, Abandonment, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Sexual assault and Rape
Minor: Animal death