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3.41 AVERAGE
3.41 AVERAGE
This was my first Josh Malerman novel.
It’s the last summer for Kit Lamb: The last summer before college. The last summer with her high school basketball team, and with Dana, her best friend. The last summer before her life begins.
The ghostly aspects are spot on. Scary and suspenseful moments keep readers in the moment and actually scare them (I know I was at times). The anxiety representation was one of the best ones I have seen depicted in a novel. The character's outright denial about Daphne is completely believable. And that is what gives me an 80s slasher movie vibe. Daphne feels like a cult-classic slasher. Maybe we will see this on the screens one day?!
It’s the last summer for Kit Lamb: The last summer before college. The last summer with her high school basketball team, and with Dana, her best friend. The last summer before her life begins.
The ghostly aspects are spot on. Scary and suspenseful moments keep readers in the moment and actually scare them (I know I was at times). The anxiety representation was one of the best ones I have seen depicted in a novel. The character's outright denial about Daphne is completely believable. And that is what gives me an 80s slasher movie vibe. Daphne feels like a cult-classic slasher. Maybe we will see this on the screens one day?!
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
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
when i read a slasher, i expect lots of gore or to at least be unsettled. this gave me neither (i admit i am pretty desensitized though). but the likable cast of characters and interesting premise almost makes up for it.
Told from the perspective of high schoolers so corny at times, did not see the twist coming at the end tho
I have only read one other book by Josh Malerman, The House at the Bottom of a Lake, and I didn't enjoy it, so I went into this book with lower expectations. Honestly, with the structure of the book with not a single chapter, I expected to not continue with the entire book; however, I was surprised. I was considering a 4-star, but it is more like a 4.5 for me. I understand why this book might only be for a certain group of people, and I guess it mostly comes from being relatable to the theme of the story or loving literary horror in general.
The book follows Kit Lamb, who is in the girl's basketball team of her school, and there is this ritual that she and her teammates do during each game. They ask the rim random questions to see if they would come true or not, and there is this town legend about a woman called Daphne who is 7 feet tall, wears unusual makeup and has greasy and oiled hands who kill people. One day, Kit asks the rim if Daphne is real, and then the story starts from there. The story follows mostly from Kit's perspective and her diary entries, where she talks about her constant anxiety and panic attacks, but we also get other POVs as the story continues.
“I’m a good friend. This is true. And I’m brave. Sort of. Brave insomuch as I’m scared all the time but I keep plugging away and so I must be brave. This is mostly true. I do not hide from my biggest enemy. I face it. Mostly. HELLO, enemy of mine, THE NAME IS: ANXIETY”.
At first, I thought, oh, this might be about anxiety, and it literally is. Daphne is like a metaphor for anxiety.
“All over the place people tell you it’s better to talk about it. They say you’ll go mad if you keep it bottled up inside. But here’s the thing: if you’re not freaking out, the last thing you wanna talk about is freaking out. And if you ARE freaking out, well, ha, then the LAST thing you wanna talk about is freaking out”.
The more people tell to not think about Daphne, they can only think about her because that's how the human brain works, and then the whole story contains this constant fear of dying because of Daphne. This is so relevant to anxiety because when you have anxiety, people tell you to try to come out of it, and then it becomes harder because all you can do is overthink it. I also like the fact that Daphne can only be seen by her victims, and she can kill anyone, even in the presence of others. It is how anxiety can also be described because it's not something you can witness like a physical illness, but the one who experiences it can only know how horrifying it can get.
This book is not necessarily scary, but the description of Daphne as this unknown entity is vivid, unsettling and creepy. I was reading this book at night, and I was constantly checking at the foot of my bed. I liked how this book is also very women-centric because all the main characters are women, and I love that so much. As someone who has anxiety and fear of growing up and feeling the need to constantly accomplish things, I could relate to Kit as a character a lot. There is beautiful prose on growing up and the fear of the unknown future and further changes in life.
“I was flooded: if me, why not Mom? Why not Dad? Were they already doing what they wanted with their lives? How about our teachers? Their parents, their friends? All of Samhattan? Was the entire city doing what they wanted with their lives”?
The twist at the end was not something I expected at all, so that was also a surprise. It was all so relatable and gorgeous, and the author’s note made it much more sense why this book feels like it came from a personal experience. I have never been sad before reading a horror book, so extra points to that.
The book follows Kit Lamb, who is in the girl's basketball team of her school, and there is this ritual that she and her teammates do during each game. They ask the rim random questions to see if they would come true or not, and there is this town legend about a woman called Daphne who is 7 feet tall, wears unusual makeup and has greasy and oiled hands who kill people. One day, Kit asks the rim if Daphne is real, and then the story starts from there. The story follows mostly from Kit's perspective and her diary entries, where she talks about her constant anxiety and panic attacks, but we also get other POVs as the story continues.
“I’m a good friend. This is true. And I’m brave. Sort of. Brave insomuch as I’m scared all the time but I keep plugging away and so I must be brave. This is mostly true. I do not hide from my biggest enemy. I face it. Mostly. HELLO, enemy of mine, THE NAME IS: ANXIETY”.
At first, I thought, oh, this might be about anxiety, and it literally is. Daphne is like a metaphor for anxiety.
“All over the place people tell you it’s better to talk about it. They say you’ll go mad if you keep it bottled up inside. But here’s the thing: if you’re not freaking out, the last thing you wanna talk about is freaking out. And if you ARE freaking out, well, ha, then the LAST thing you wanna talk about is freaking out”.
The more people tell to not think about Daphne, they can only think about her because that's how the human brain works, and then the whole story contains this constant fear of dying because of Daphne. This is so relevant to anxiety because when you have anxiety, people tell you to try to come out of it, and then it becomes harder because all you can do is overthink it. I also like the fact that Daphne can only be seen by her victims, and she can kill anyone, even in the presence of others. It is how anxiety can also be described because it's not something you can witness like a physical illness, but the one who experiences it can only know how horrifying it can get.
This book is not necessarily scary, but the description of Daphne as this unknown entity is vivid, unsettling and creepy. I was reading this book at night, and I was constantly checking at the foot of my bed. I liked how this book is also very women-centric because all the main characters are women, and I love that so much. As someone who has anxiety and fear of growing up and feeling the need to constantly accomplish things, I could relate to Kit as a character a lot. There is beautiful prose on growing up and the fear of the unknown future and further changes in life.
“I was flooded: if me, why not Mom? Why not Dad? Were they already doing what they wanted with their lives? How about our teachers? Their parents, their friends? All of Samhattan? Was the entire city doing what they wanted with their lives”?
The twist at the end was not something I expected at all, so that was also a surprise. It was all so relatable and gorgeous, and the author’s note made it much more sense why this book feels like it came from a personal experience. I have never been sad before reading a horror book, so extra points to that.
This was absolutely, undeniably creepy! I was listening to it in the middle of the day, but I was also alone in the woods and I got 100% spooked and had to take a break. Based on the synopsis I did not expect that to happen - but audiobooks always up the scare factor for me over reading with my eyeballs.
Malerman really captured the feeling of anxiety in this story - Kit, our main character, struggles with anxiety and panic attacks as the story progresses and those felt very true to life. If you've never had a panic attack, reading this book will give you a good approximation of what it is like. Daphne herself is sort of a stand in for anxiety and fear - once you start thinking about her, she's coming to get you, and that sort of tracks with my own experience with anxiety.
I didn't absolutely love the ending, mostly because I didn't completely understand what was happening? But it wasn't enough of a problem to ruin the story as a whole.
Malerman really captured the feeling of anxiety in this story - Kit, our main character, struggles with anxiety and panic attacks as the story progresses and those felt very true to life. If you've never had a panic attack, reading this book will give you a good approximation of what it is like. Daphne herself is sort of a stand in for anxiety and fear - once you start thinking about her, she's coming to get you, and that sort of tracks with my own experience with anxiety.
I didn't absolutely love the ending, mostly because I didn't completely understand what was happening? But it wasn't enough of a problem to ruin the story as a whole.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced