Reviews with content warning for Suicide - Nothing But Blackened Teeth

I loved the lore that Khaw incorporated into the text and their descriptions are incredibly macabre in a way that invokes terror, disgust, and fascination. I also really enjoyed their interpretation of the haunted mansion trope. I had a hard time following the storylines because it seemed some of the characters were more developed in personality and backstory than others including the protagonist Cat. I think this element was meant to create a sense of confusion and lack of empathy for the friend group. However, for me it just left a lot of unanswered questions for why the Cat decides to embark on this trip in the first place aside from the group’s codependency and the fascination with the supernatural. I honestly felt like the supernatural aspects of the story brought out their worst traits and this is what drove us to the conclusion, but I think there was more room to integrate how their personal demons make them prey to these spirits. Overall though, Khaw’s command of language, the vivid scenes of decay and the plots twists made this novella worth the read.

Content Warnings

teeny's review

Go to review page

dark reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Horror as poetry

Content Warnings

maresuju's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Content Warnings

awaywiththefairies's review

Go to review page

dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.0

Not a good book and certainly not a good horror. It was short. Very little description and little to no suspense.
Its a more like a pre-teen horror.
Wouldnt recommend to anyone over the age of 12

Content Warnings

alyvia_jeane's review

Go to review page

dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

Well written. Morally grey characters. Not much to them but I didn’t mind. Toxic friendships/relationships. Drama and deception. Interesting ending but felt like it needed more to it. A glossary for the terms would have been nice too lol.

Content Warnings

luvey_reads's review

Go to review page

dark mysterious sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

petrichorandcoffee's review

Go to review page

dark sad tense fast-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I felt it was overwritten, way too many similes. Some really beautiful language and wonderful word choice, but it was often excessive and distracting- especially since many of the similes were repetitive. Excellent imagery. Interesting repurposing of old myth/folklore. The characters' actions often had little to no motivations and the setup of the plot didn't really make sense (it was illogical that those invited on the trip would actually have been invited). The commentary on race and gender was accurate and reasonable but repetitive and shoehorned into dialogue in clunky ways. The dialogue was broken up too much and didn't have a natural flow. Overall, I think Khaw is probably a great writer in different mediums but I personally wasn't a huge fan of this book. I do appreciate that I learned some Japanese folklore from it, and there were some really great lines and great descriptions of grotesque imagery.

Content Warnings

mxpringle's review

Go to review page

slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.0

The writing in this book was so bad that it was simply absurd. There were even some lines that weren't even complete sentences. The topics of each sentence jumped around with so little flow that it was nearly impossible to follow what was actually happening. The characters were all incredibly shallow, arguing over decades old arguments yet all for some reason deciding to go on their ex's honeymoons??? This was less of a horror novel and more just a group of people arguing about silly relationship drama from years ago, and then happening to run into a variety of Japanese mythological beasts. The mythology and horror aspects were so poorly researched and explained that they added next to nothing to the story. I was so disappointed in this book because I truly did expect it to be an area of horror that isn't often explored, but it turned out to be one of the most asinine books I've ever read.

Content Warnings

More...