Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
medium-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:
Complicated
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
not bad. felt like it dragged a little bit but overall interesting and i liked the way things were intoduced!
dark
reflective
tense
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
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Somewhere between 3-4 stars.
I’ve seen a few reviews touting this as “one of the most scary horror books out there” … and .. it just isn’t. It’s not a bad book, but it’s not very scary. If this book gives you the chills, I would say you’ve probably not read too much horror, or you have a lighter taste when it comes to being afraid (which is absolutely fine! But does not make this book actually scary for anyone that’s more than an occasional horror reader). Malfi fixates on physical descriptions and character study; the tension is sort of non-existent.
I’d give it a decent boilerplate horror/thriller grade. It's fine! It was a fun read and I’ll absolutely read more of his work (which is good because I just received a gorgeous copy of Senseless from Abominable Book Club .
I am however sceptical of the effusive reviews, I expected to be scared but I never was- we were lead down a dark carnival ride that dropped us off hard on the scare meter after the initial few chapters. It falls into the somewhat common trap with horror where it describes the horrible lives that the characters have experience, but forgets levity, comedy and the gut wrenching, bowel shaking scares and emotional carnage that are needed to prop up a well fleshed out spookfest.
Some key points I loved:
✔️ difficult characters with problematic backgrounds.
✔️ uncommon disability rep.
✔️ found family.
✔️ abstinence rep.
✔️ folk horror.
Things to be aware of:
Animal abuse
Child death
Alcoholism depiction
Abuse
Difficult characters with problematic backgrounds
I’ve seen a few reviews touting this as “one of the most scary horror books out there” … and .. it just isn’t. It’s not a bad book, but it’s not very scary. If this book gives you the chills, I would say you’ve probably not read too much horror, or you have a lighter taste when it comes to being afraid (which is absolutely fine! But does not make this book actually scary for anyone that’s more than an occasional horror reader). Malfi fixates on physical descriptions and character study; the tension is sort of non-existent.
I’d give it a decent boilerplate horror/thriller grade. It's fine! It was a fun read and I’ll absolutely read more of his work (which is good because I just received a gorgeous copy of Senseless from Abominable Book Club .
I am however sceptical of the effusive reviews, I expected to be scared but I never was- we were lead down a dark carnival ride that dropped us off hard on the scare meter after the initial few chapters. It falls into the somewhat common trap with horror where it describes the horrible lives that the characters have experience, but forgets levity, comedy and the gut wrenching, bowel shaking scares and emotional carnage that are needed to prop up a well fleshed out spookfest.
Some key points I loved:
✔️ difficult characters with problematic backgrounds.
✔️ uncommon disability rep.
✔️ found family.
✔️ abstinence rep.
✔️ folk horror.
Things to be aware of:
Animal abuse
Child death
Alcoholism depiction
Abuse
Difficult characters with problematic backgrounds
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Body horror, Body shaming, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
dark
tense
slow-paced
I found the story to be long and drawn out at times, which made it a bit of a slog. While there were moments when I felt bored, I do think the overall premise has a lot of potential. I listened to the audiobook version, and I can't help but wonder if that affected my experience and rating. Overall, it's a decent story, but it could have been tighter and more engaging.