Reviews

The writing is really beautiful, truly. But I don’t like how it was only 100 pages. It didn’t feel like there was enough, just a little story which I get was the point. It could have been a masterpiece if there was story building. But the story was good. Love a good horror

maggs852's review

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dark emotional reflective

4.5

ambrose_7's review against another edition

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4.0

This novella could be considered 4.5 stars, it was a banger. Most people who have read "Nothing But Blackened Teeth" said it was not as good as this one, and I can see that. I still enjoyed "Nothing But Blackened Teeth," more so than the average reviewer, but I can concede that I might have been slightly disappointed if I read this first and then "Nothing But Blackened Teeth."

So what made this novella so good? I think there are a couple of reasons that Khaw stands out as an author and really has a voice of her own. I think that she has an incredible vocabulary, I found myself googling words every couple of paragraphs at times, and I liked that aspect. I like learning new words and there was an abundance of them in this story. Next, almost coupled with the last point, is the imagery that Khaw is able to give you because of how diverse her word choice is. Imagery is a huge part of the reading experience for me, as I assume it is with most readers, and Khaw gives you some very vibrant, disturbing, and above all unique imaging. Lastly, I really like the plot, I love the unconventional romance aspect of this book. The ending is sweet in a novella that you don't expect to be in the least bit.

I like what Khaw is doing to the horror genre.

shysheepys's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

A really fascinating, short read. This was so different, in such a wild setting, than what I'm used to. The gore was there, the reasons were there, the way a siren (mermaid?) was taking over the land was there. I just wanted more- but thats the beauty of this, it's just a glimpse into what is happening.

silverfronds's review against another edition

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2.0

This was...something? I actually liked the little prequel chapter at the end more than I liked anything in the main body of the story. This was just really, really bogged down by the author's obsession with using extremely uncommon words. I would never imply that I'm the smartest person with the biggest vocabulary, but there's truly no reason I, as a college-educated adult, should have to look up words every few pages (and words that I've never even seen before at that). It continuously pulled me out of the story, which was already a bit flimsy in my opinion. Sometimes passages were so overwritten and abstract that they were nearly incomprehensible. Some interesting ideas and imagery here but ultimately this didn't work for me.

jz_th9th's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.5

k_sanam's review

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dark emotional mysterious 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

3.5

k_reading's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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