Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw

36 reviews

stephanieluxton's review against another edition

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dark
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

This book is about a group of 20 somethings who go to a spooky haunted house and then spooky things happen.

I picked up this book because it's short and I liked the cover.

A lot of people hate this book. It has a reputation. People complain about the strange choice of words. I knew this going into it but I also wanted to see for myself. After reading it, I definitely see where people are coming from.

The use of big words and strange metephors was weird at times and distracting. It's quite over the top. Even if ti was toned down a but to the point where it was just a poetic way of writing, I don't think it works for this book because the complicated prose doesn't align with the way our characters speak.

Our charcacters are all stereotypes. We have the protagonist (humble final girl type), rich preppy guy, the mean hot girl, the nice guy, and the jokester. This book is short so there isn't time to flesh out these characters. I think the smidge of backstory we get is really interesting and I wish it was explored more.

I didn't like this book because the plot was rushed. Group goes to haunted cursed place. Group faces haunted curse. Group wants to leave. Group figures out pretty quickly how curse works from convenient library. Tensions run high as group fractures and there's drama. Suboptimal solution presents itself. Problem kind of solved. The end.

The plot line is typical and basic but it still could have been good with some effort and character development. I think I am extra mad because the way the events unfold and the problem is solved doesn't even bother me that much. I just feel like it lacked proper emotional impact because it was so rushed.

Do I recommend? Not really. Is it totally unreadable? No. The fact that its short is both a blessing and it's downfall. 

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readingmushrooms's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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samanthalw96's review

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tense 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? Yes

2.0


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alexisgarcia's review

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dark tense 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? Yes

3.0


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spadedigsbutts's review

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

A book that was fun to read for the visual language and descriptions, but was much weaker elsewhere. 

The main conflict is essentially a dysfunctional friend group's issues being exacerbated by a ghost haunting when they were already at the breaking point. Like in most horror media, the cast is pretty unlikable and are mainly defined by their relations to each other, without much nuance independently. This is a normal convention for this scenario in the horror genre, but I wish characters had more arcs or at least more detailed interpersonal relations than "x slept with x once" as the few details we do get just don't have much payoff in the book.
Most characters feel like they start and end the same, which may partially be the point considering it's a super toxic friend group, but it does leave you up in the air when it just comes to an end without much of a huge conclusion. If you read it hoping for some sort of character resolutions, you won't get it.

If you came for a cool japanese influenced haunted house story where interpersonal relationships come to a tragic head, you unfortunately really don't get that. I wish we'd had more time to develop things in the book as while the writing style is lush and detailed, the actual set elements and characters are flimsy. A good read for a bus ride or waiting at a doctor's office, but not much out. I doubt I'll ever reread it.  

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davinmotion's review

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

2.0

This is the first book I’ve read by this author and if it’s a good example of her I think I’ll avoid reading another. It’s barely coherent; I frequently lost track of what was happening and every time I tried to like a character they would somehow become worse than before. Why the author bothered mentioning the main character knew Japanese and then refrained from explaining anything alludes me. I can’t remember if she even said what a yokai was besides peppering the word on almost every page near the end. This book would have at least had style if the incoherentness was intentional in the lead up to the desperation of a climax, but it starts just as bad as it ends. This would have been better if it was shorter, more polished/tighter, and part of a collection of other short stories. There’s a fun idea in here but I personally think this was not finished to its full potential. 

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the_books_music_life's review

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

0.75

The premise sounded so good, like a really scary Japanese horror story, but for me, it missed the mark entirely. This book is so short and they is a lot of background with the characters that is important to the story itself, but is glossed over due to how short the book is.

I was confused a lot of the time about many, many different things. I disliked every single character, none had any redeeming qualities.

The whole 'horror/ghost story' aspect of the book wasn't even the main focus. That's right, a horror book where the actual ghost story/horror wasn't the focus. It made no sense!

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traa's review

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

4.0


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aparker89's review

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

3.5

If you are looking for a quick, terrifying read- look no further. You can smell the rot of this haunted tale and the adventure you take, although predictable, is not a disappointment. You can't help but feast upon the evil, the ghosts and the terror. 

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ozreus's review against another edition

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

2.0

Shorter than I would've liked. Less a good ghost story and more a single scene from a horror movie with some closure at the end. WAY too many metaphors, I enjoyed them initially but, like a cake that's more frosting than cake, they got old very fast. Disappointed that it is the way it is and that I thought I was going to like it more.
Very little cultural information included on an Ohaguro-bettari when I'd have liked to know more about them. What I did look up described it more as a trickster type spirit (though not to the extent of having you sacrifice yourself or friends or tricking you to do so) so not sure why it was presented as more sinister but I could be misreading. I only bring this up because two of the characters were supposed to be Japanese and could've provided some background by way of explanation; it wouldn't have even been that shoehorned in as it could've been an explanation to the audience and their white friend at the same time.

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