Reviews

The Worm and His Kings by Hailey Piper

kayleyc's review against another edition

dark emotional tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

gabi15's review against another edition

3.0

3.5/5

s_sheppard18's review against another edition

3.0

A thought provoking, wild ride, like good cosmic horror should be. Would have been 4 stars if there hadn't been quite so much repetition.

Edited to add: the audiobook performance was EXCELLENT and really added to the disquieting cultish atmosphere, 100% recommend it if you enjoy audiobooks. I listened with my Scribd subscription.

greyreads's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

bonafidefaygo's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious slow-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? No

3.25

Monique is homeless in NYC and searching for her missing partner Donna. What she discovers is a world underneath NYC and a cult that praises a cosmic deity.

The cosmic horror of this is impeccable. Ancient evils, parallel worlds, blackened crystalline cities, and  a cult who has seen beyond our veil and has no choice but to try and usher in a new era. Truly fascinating and I loved learning about the Worm and the cult.

Where the novella loses me is that I felt a real detachment from our protagonist. Like I never really felt immersed in the moment, instead I felt like a voyeur. Nor did I ever feel Monique's fear which I think is necessary for a cosmic horror to actually be scary. And I think part of this has to do with how short the book is. Just over a hundred pages I'm not sure there's enough character building put in before the plot gets going and certainly not enough to get us to care about her relationship with Donna which then undermines the whole plot of her risking literally everything for her.

I see that this is a part of a series and I'm not sure I would continue, but I would read from Hailey Piper again.

Also the trans sub-plot I thought was actually really well done and very well paced. 

stephenizer's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

3.0

nigellicus's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense

5.0

A homeless woman follows a person-snatching monster hoping to track down her missing partner, and discovers a strange and terrifying underground cult centred around the worship of a cosmic worm who once went back and changed the distant past on a whim, wiping out a whole world and replacing it with ours, and is ready to do so again at any moment, possibly when someone finds it a worthy bride. Through horrors and betrayal, this builds to a vision of cosmic transcendence, all in a compact hundred or so pages. Remarkable, and moving, particularly Monique's survival of a botched back-street surgery and attempted kidney harvesting with the help of the then-indomitable Donna, leaving her scarred and traumatised but somehow stronger and willing to defy that darn ol' cosmic worm.

kylionsfan's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

netslummer's review against another edition

4.0

This was quite an interesting read. It takes a little oomph to get going and hook you but, once it does, it really hooks you.

I'm not going to bother writing a plot summary of the book; read the blurb. If it seems interesting its best to go into it relatively blind to the rest. Its definitely worth the read.

Monique is a very sympathetic lead and you really root for her and hope everything works out for her.

I was worried that the queer storyline would BE the horror rather than just part of it. I'm really happy with how the queer plot points are handled and its really cool to see this type of representation in horror.

ros_yikes's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

5.0