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kaypringle's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
This novella has stunning imagery from the cover itself to the mood and scenery described by the author. This being said, it feels as though too much time was dedicated to attempt to establish the typical “five young 20 year olds go off to a haunted area” trop that when it came time to advance the plot, there was so little to work with which resulted in it feeling like a lack luster book. This also caused there to be little room to hypothesize that “no point” could have been the purpose and background of this novella, and it just left me feeling deeply unsatisfied and disappointed. There was an extreme amount of potential for this author but I feel as though this one fell right on its face, which is only furthered by the fact that in the acknowledgments, when the first one states “I like this, but it needs a lot of work” still holds true after it has already been published. Not all horror stories have to be long, drawn out and perfectly suspenseful, but the best are ones that are able to leave someone feeling shocked or thrilled in after seeing the experience of the characters, which was not the case here. I know I may not have caught everything in this first read through and may need to read it again to grasp more, but not very sold on it through this first read through.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Death
Moderate: Blood, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, and Mental illness
Minor: Alcohol and Vomit
gcjay1994's review
dark
mysterious
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? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Violence, Blood, Toxic friendship, Gore, Murder, Toxic relationship, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Mental illness
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts
inkdrinkers's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This book is f*cked up.
Five friends travel to an ancient Japanese home to watch their two friends get married. The home is, of course, incredibly haunted. Body horror, blood, ancient rituals, and Japanese folklore creatures ensue.
This was a rec from a friend and I have to say I enjoyed it far more than I initially expected, especially the audiobook! As a horror novel, I think it's paced well and deals with the mixture of folklore, friends, and interpersonal relationships well. You have a lot of backstory to cover in a short amount of pages between the five main characters and the way they act around each other and how it interacts with their "relationship" with the spirit haunting this house.
I will echo what a lot of other people say, this book is absolutely filled to the brim with flowery writing and if that isn't your thing, you're going to loathe it. There were enough similes and metaphors in here to make a university writing professor curse and set the entire book on fire. These aren't good characters either, they're 20-somethings, selfish, and pretentious. But I think it adds to the fact that all these horrific things happen to them in the span of a few hours. It feels like the equivalent of taking a chance on a low rated horror movie on Netflix. You know you're not getting a masterpiece - but, damn, you're going to be entertained for a few hours.
All over, four stars. I've read a lot of bizarre haunting/possession books but I think this one does it well and has characters that, while insufferable, make the logical decisions. I would recommend this to people who (like me, hi) enjoy watching horror/thriller movies that might not be the best, but are still incredibly entertaining in their own right. Pick the audiobook if you'd like a fast-paced one that makes you turn to your phone in horror when the next gory moment happens!
Five friends travel to an ancient Japanese home to watch their two friends get married. The home is, of course, incredibly haunted. Body horror, blood, ancient rituals, and Japanese folklore creatures ensue.
This was a rec from a friend and I have to say I enjoyed it far more than I initially expected, especially the audiobook! As a horror novel, I think it's paced well and deals with the mixture of folklore, friends, and interpersonal relationships well. You have a lot of backstory to cover in a short amount of pages between the five main characters and the way they act around each other and how it interacts with their "relationship" with the spirit haunting this house.
I will echo what a lot of other people say, this book is absolutely filled to the brim with flowery writing and if that isn't your thing, you're going to loathe it. There were enough similes and metaphors in here to make a university writing professor curse and set the entire book on fire. These aren't good characters either, they're 20-somethings, selfish, and pretentious. But I think it adds to the fact that all these horrific things happen to them in the span of a few hours. It feels like the equivalent of taking a chance on a low rated horror movie on Netflix. You know you're not getting a masterpiece - but, damn, you're going to be entertained for a few hours.
All over, four stars. I've read a lot of bizarre haunting/possession books but I think this one does it well and has characters that, while insufferable, make the logical decisions. I would recommend this to people who (like me, hi) enjoy watching horror/thriller movies that might not be the best, but are still incredibly entertaining in their own right. Pick the audiobook if you'd like a fast-paced one that makes you turn to your phone in horror when the next gory moment happens!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Alcohol, Death, Toxic friendship, Murder, Gore, Vomit, Toxic relationship, and Cursing
viccreadsbooks's review
challenging
dark
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
3.0
There was a lot of description, but I still felt like I didn't completely understand what was going on or why things were happening. The behavior of the characters in the heat of the "scary" moments felt very unrealistic. A lot of back and forth and switching emotions and saying/doing things too calmly. I just feel like the characters did not react realistically. A lot of the decisions made felt rushed and not believable. Otherwise I enjoyed some of the creepiness and the premise of the story, but I also felt like I needed more to truly enjoy it and get the most out of it. This might just be a different writing style that I'm not familiar with however.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
thewereraven's review
dark
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? Yes
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Death, Gore, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Classism, Infidelity, Mental illness, Murder, Alcohol, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, and Cursing
Minor: Excrement
lycheejelly's review
Bad writing and flow of the story
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Mental illness, Alcohol, Bullying, Toxic relationship, and Violence
libraryofdoe's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This is the problem with horror movies:
Everyone knows what’s coming next but actions have momentum, every decision an equal and justified reaction. Just because you know you should, doesn’t mean that you can, stop.
A fantastic novella taking and accepting the horror genre for all it’s clichés and tropes with (some) extremely self aware characters that still manages to be spine-chillingly creepy. I was very glad to find a horror with multiple female-presenting characters and no reference to SA.
While I expected a good spook, I was pleasantly surprised by the cultural knowledge packed into this. Definitely one I would recommend to fans of supernatural horror.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Toxic friendship, Murder, Death, Gore, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Physical abuse
Minor: Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Infidelity, and Toxic relationship
hannanni41's review
dark
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? Yes
1.0
I really thought I would like this based on the description but man, it's just not good at all. The characters are so unlikable and toxic to each other that it really makes you wonder why they're even together in the first place. I usually love Japanese mythology in horror but this started to feel borderline fetishizing, like the author just threw anything Japanese they could think of into it. I also see that this book is tagged as LGBTQIA+, but don't think it has any real representation in it. It's just 2 brief mentions of the main characters sexuality in scenes where someone goes "you can't investigate the ghost! You're bisexual so horror movie rules mean you DIE if you do!!!!" which felt like they just wanted to do the bare minimum to check if that representation box and was also very stupid both times.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Toxic friendship, Cultural appropriation, Violence, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Mental illness
booking_along's review against another edition
dark
tense
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? Yes
3.0
it’s a short little story, mixture of ghost story and horror.
i found the ending a bit disappointing and too simple.
but the writing was good and it’s a very quick spooky read.
i found the ending a bit disappointing and too simple.
but the writing was good and it’s a very quick spooky read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Murder, Violence, and Toxic friendship
andyandnormski's review
dark
reflective
sad
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? Yes
3.0
What I enjoyed: The setting was well done. It felt fairly isolated and ancient, somewhere where you definitely would feel helpless in a dire situation. The imagery for the bride when she made her official appearance was well executed. It felt eerie and surreal. I just wish the bride had a wider impact on the story as it felt she was hardly in it for being on the cover.
What I didn't enjoy: The characters needed more time to develop. I had a rough idea of personalities but I felt like there needed to be more detail on why some of them hated each other so much. There needed to be more reasoning why everyone but Cat, the main character, was so quick to pure rage. And when I say quick, I mean quick. They would change their emotions and disposition towards each on a whim, sometimes within the same sentence and with no reason other than "this person makes me irrationally angry just because." I feel like a lot of the issues I had with the characters could have benefited from the story being longer.
I'm glad I read this. It was recommended on booktok. That being said, I'm not sure if I'll keep my copy or not. It's a decent story, but it left me wanting more detail and more scares.
What I didn't enjoy: The characters needed more time to develop. I had a rough idea of personalities but I felt like there needed to be more detail on why some of them hated each other so much. There needed to be more reasoning why everyone but Cat, the main character, was so quick to pure rage. And when I say quick, I mean quick. They would change their emotions and disposition towards each on a whim, sometimes within the same sentence and with no reason other than "this person makes me irrationally angry just because." I feel like a lot of the issues I had with the characters could have benefited from the story being longer.
I'm glad I read this. It was recommended on booktok. That being said, I'm not sure if I'll keep my copy or not. It's a decent story, but it left me wanting more detail and more scares.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Gore, Murder, Violence, and Self harm
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Gaslighting
Minor: Grief