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3.96 AVERAGE
3.96 AVERAGE
Nah, trying to normalize a grown adult man spending time in the nude around his 13 year old daughter isn't the vibe. There was absolutely nothing about Luker being nude in those scenes added to the plot yet it was always specifically called out. Soooo was the purpose just that the auther than the author enjoying writing it? Pass.
The tension and anxiety that Michael McDowell was able to carefully, steadily and slowly build in this book is an incredible craft. Do not read alone at night !!!
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A memorizing and unsettling atmosphere with lovable characters, but no real substance.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Genuinely unsure how this book has this many stars. Did we all read the same book?
The beginning was sort of promising, but then it dragged and dragged. I was at about 65-70% and still NOTHING had happened. And when things did happen, they made NO sense; they just happened for the sake of happening. Maybe it was supposed to be creepy and chilling, but to me, it was just lazy and lame writing! The plot? There is no plot. Just a house haunted by sand ghosts.
Don't even get me started on the characters.
Oh my fucking God, the characters. We have a beyond strange father-daughter dynamic with Luker and India... India is supposed to be 13 years old, but her father Luker cusses at her, hangs around her in the nude, and just talks to her like she's one of his idiot gang buddies. Isn't this set in the 1960s or something in Alabama??? Were they not more conservative back then even for someone who lived in New York? What normal adult man tells his PRE-TEEEN daughter "to shut the fuck up" and tells her jokingly that he will "punch her" if she did this or that? Not to mention lets her see him nude and discusses his sex life with her (!!!). I just find this extremely bizarre and unrealistic no matter how nonchalantly and liberal the parent is...
India herself talks and behaves like she's an adult. Don't tell me "she's just mature for her age", because that would be bullshit.
The rest of the characters are just so one-dimensional. Odessa was only defined by her being "black" - mentioning it once or a few times is OK until we get used to who is who, but repeatedly referring to her as "the black woman this" and "her black hand that" is just annoying and serves NO purpose whatsoever. Surely her character is more than just African-American? But that's what I mean, the characters have NOTHING to them; they're just like caricatures or something.
I also did not care at all for the Southern drawl, it made me cringe every time I read the dialogue because of it.
Overall, the book sucked. It started off well, but it stagnated and then went downhill. The book has no plot, no substance. It was also not scary at all. The only thing good about it is the atmosphere and descriptions that set the scene in the beginning, but that's it. I am shocked at its average rating and the glowing positive reviews it has.
The beginning was sort of promising, but then it dragged and dragged. I was at about 65-70% and still NOTHING had happened. And when things did happen, they made NO sense; they just happened for the sake of happening. Maybe it was supposed to be creepy and chilling, but to me, it was just lazy and lame writing! The plot? There is no plot. Just a house haunted by sand ghosts.
Don't even get me started on the characters.
Oh my fucking God, the characters. We have a beyond strange father-daughter dynamic with Luker and India... India is supposed to be 13 years old, but her father Luker cusses at her, hangs around her in the nude, and just talks to her like she's one of his idiot gang buddies. Isn't this set in the 1960s or something in Alabama??? Were they not more conservative back then even for someone who lived in New York? What normal adult man tells his PRE-TEEEN daughter "to shut the fuck up" and tells her jokingly that he will "punch her" if she did this or that? Not to mention lets her see him nude and discusses his sex life with her (!!!). I just find this extremely bizarre and unrealistic no matter how nonchalantly and liberal the parent is...
India herself talks and behaves like she's an adult. Don't tell me "she's just mature for her age", because that would be bullshit.
The rest of the characters are just so one-dimensional. Odessa was only defined by her being "black" - mentioning it once or a few times is OK until we get used to who is who, but repeatedly referring to her as "the black woman this" and "her black hand that" is just annoying and serves NO purpose whatsoever. Surely her character is more than just African-American? But that's what I mean, the characters have NOTHING to them; they're just like caricatures or something.
I also did not care at all for the Southern drawl, it made me cringe every time I read the dialogue because of it.
Overall, the book sucked. It started off well, but it stagnated and then went downhill. The book has no plot, no substance. It was also not scary at all. The only thing good about it is the atmosphere and descriptions that set the scene in the beginning, but that's it. I am shocked at its average rating and the glowing positive reviews it has.