3.86 AVERAGE

adventurous dark tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

There are some elements that I feel don't click together, but there's a lot of good stuff here. I especially like how the afterword reframes everything in the book and keeps you questioning.

didn’t love it as much as i wanted to but i liked how it all tied together. can’t say why bc it would be a spoiler but it reminds me haunting of hill house (the show not the book)

linly's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 42%

Jack is presented to us as being a self-centered asshole who thinks himself the only person in the world who sees beyond the bs, but he's not only so annoying that being in his head made this book a drag. He's also deeply, incredibly, painfully boring. His skepticism isn't even a novelty in the face of the events going on, Jack is just that one guy you know whose intentionally contrarian opinions make it so he burns every bridge and blames it on the other person.

The pacing of the story is simultaneously formulaic and terrible, which I found a feat. The book promises to be a deeply haunting story, but it's mostly a collection of random moments strung together by the unifying thread of Maria Corvi's exorcism—a character who is infinitely more interesting due to her unsettling presence. This novel is best summarized as being a generic dump month horror film trying to cash in on the success of better horror films that came before it, except in literary form.
dark fast-paced
slow-paced
dark medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This book was a ride. Never before have I felt so angry at a narrator and their choices while also needing to know what happens next. The story challenges the reader to simultaneously see things from two strongly opposing sides without giving an answer to what is real and what is embellished.