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Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Confinement, Infidelity, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Classism, Pandemic/Epidemic
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Misogyny, Blood, Murder
Moderate: Child death, Infidelity, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Classism
Minor: Child abuse
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Self harm, Blood, Murder, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Gaslighting, Classism
Minor: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Vomit, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia
Read this right after Hungerstone and was expecting an equally gripping vampire story, but instead I was hit with very flat and unlovable characters. Literally did not like any of them and Michael was almost comically evil. I get it, men can be annoying, but they're not that obvious about it.
One thing that threw me off pretty early was the relationship between Lucy and Sarah.
The bond between twins tends to be strong and sacred, I get that. But they literally kiss each others hands all the time, write letters where they fantasize about holding each other and - what creeped me out the most - cuddle naked with each other. Unless this was intentional, I have many questions for the author. I kept thinking that I must've missed a trigger warning for incest at the beginning of the book.
Also, this book takes place in 1887, not in the 21st century like one might assume when looking at the way this book is written and the characters talk.
1 star because the cover is beautiful. Half a star because I liked the premise.
Graphic: Body horror, Gore
Moderate: Incest, Sexual content
Minor: Child abuse, Sexual assault
Graphic: Child death, Blood, Grief, Murder
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Infidelity, Misogyny
Minor: Forced institutionalization, Grief, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Murder
Moderate: Child death, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Medical content
Minor: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death of parent
4 stars bc i can't really think of a reason why i didn't love it other than vibes and the overall rating shouldn't suffer bc of that
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Violence
Moderate: Suicide attempt
Minor: Child abuse
I hate every single one of these people: they are horrible to each other and they do terrible things. But I really liked the plot - full of details and little things that made me want to keep reading and for a (somehow) "happy" ending. I particularly enjoyed the dynamics between the twin sisters: despite everything they really love each other.
I really want to read other books by this author.
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment
Minor: Animal cruelty, Death of parent
Graphic: Body horror, Blood
Moderate: Child abuse, Infidelity, Forced institutionalization, Cannibalism
The best thing about this book is its atmosphere. You will feel haunted, horrified and at times disgusted but it is done so incredibly well. This book is gothic horror at its best.
At its core this book is about twin sisters and their devotion to each other. The relationship of the sisters feels real even at its most toxic and obsessive. Lucy gets confronted with some really interesting moral and philosophical questions, the most obvious naturally being how far she will go to protect her sister.
As every good Gothic book needs, this book has an ominous estate - Zwartwater, named after the black water in the bog that surrounds it. Needless to say, the setting lends itself to some very chilling moments and atmospheric story telling.
Which brings me to the seriously beautiful prose of this book. The biggest draw of gothic literature is the beautiful descriptions of the utterly macabre and this book nails it in every chapter, every sentence.
If you are a fan of Crimson Peak and Carmilla, you will love this book.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the e-arc
Graphic: Gore, Suicide
Minor: Child abuse, Sexual violence