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challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It wasn't bad, but I don't think it was my cup of tea. It felt like the characters were sort of just thrown at me and none of their decisions really made much sense. But in that way it also felt nice to engage with reading that I wasn't 100% on board with 100% of the time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Cannibalism
dark
mysterious
tense
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Violence, Murder
Moderate: Infidelity, Sexism, Cannibalism
Minor: Child death, Domestic abuse
dark
mysterious
reflective
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
Blood on Her Tongue was one of the most anticipated reads of the year and I can say that it did not disappoint me.
I REALLY liked the atmosphere and the author's writing in this book. Apart from the part about the asylums, which is not entirely true to period the story is on (but the author made this very clear in one of her interviews), I think that van Heen managed to perfectly convey the gothic and disgusting tone of the time.
And all the credit goes to Johanna's writing, which managed to capture so well the small details that paint a vivid picture of the time and the sinister world that the characters find themselves in. All the descriptions of smells, feelings and textures are rich enough to keep you hooked on the story, but without embellishments that make the reading exhausting with the speech of the time.
I can see the criticism when some people say that the characters serve specific roles and seem to have no other desires, but I honestly didn't mind that.
I find the discussion of the role of women when we talk about their feelings and madness extremely interesting.
It was very interesting for me to see the dynamics between the four main characters.
We have Sarah, the sister with a dominant role, the determined woman, smarter than many men and also a sapphic woman. Three things that are not well regarded by society at the time.
Lucy, the submissive, quiet sister, but no less observant than her twin.
Michael, Sarah's husband, the typical misogynist.
Arthur, the doctor who is the twins' childhood friend, but who belittles their feelings when they are placed above his own.
I think it's cool how the author decided to treat the sisters' relationship, as well as that of the men.
Lucy doesn't live much beyond the self-imposed role of Sarah's shadow. The author comments in an interview that it is intentional the way Lucy becomes a completely different person when she sees her life and dynamic with Sarah threatened by other people. Having lived with twin cousins, I understand the relationship.
The dynamic between Michael and Arthur was also interesting to me. Arthur supposedly hates Michael, but they get together whenever they feel their masculinity is affected. Michael feels that the suffering of others is actually less than his, and Arthur puts his wishes above others, even if it means the detriment of the twins' feelings.
The part that I like most about these relationships is the way that anger and feminine feelings are confused with insanity throughout the reading.
The twins' aunt was put in a mental institution when her girlfriend left and she felt the weight of loneliness. The sapphic role in the book is not the focus, but it is another of the things that was not tolerated at the time.
The parts that stuck with me the most are those in which Lucy's opinions are treated with condescension.
Even when she commits crimes at the end, it is impossible for the characters to understand that it was not Sarah, the more assertive sister, who committed them.
This is a topic discussed in Tori Telfer's "Lady Killers", which opens up discussions about how several female serial killers managed to go unnoticed for so long precisely because the people around them did not believe in the type of planning that women calculate, and not only because of their feelings.
Female rage as hysteria and the inability to see their sinister words as a marker for their future actions.
In addition to these discussions, the supernatural side of the book is a delight. I LOVED the way the author talks about the mystery of bog bodies here and how she portrays vampirism more as a parasitic relationship than a supernatural one. Sarah doesn't act like a regular vampire and I was super intrigued by everything she did. The way she acts and how the parasite behaves are super interesting.
I really like the direction of the story, despite it being predictable.
With all this, I would already be satisfied with the book, but I think my favorite part is the same thing that fascinated me so much in Soma, the 2015 horror game.
The way of dealing with existence is very similar in both works and I'm completely crazy about this portrayal of existential dread. In the game, the characters live on an uninhabitable Earth and in order to be transported to space, they need to make copies of themselves, often leaving their past selves behind.
In Blood on Her Tongue, the parasite's relationship with Sarah is almost the same.She dies and the parasite takes over, even though it still has Sarah's memories and feelings.
The question of "if you were copied (and in this book, taken over by another living being), would you still be you?" is one of the questions I love to debate the most.
I can never find a definitive answer and I find this subject extremely complex.
If a parasite takes over your body, but still has your memories and feelings, are you the parasite or do you no longer exist? If it takes over your brain, is it still yours, even with your past self in it? If our memories make us us, what happens if another being takes over our memories and acts like us, inside our own bodies? If we are no longer ourselves, what exactly died so we can say that we no longer exist?
The main character of Soma, Simon, at a certain point in the game (it is not the end of the game!) copies himself into another body and has to let his other self die, just as Sarah exists even after she dies.
This brief moment when there are two versions of a single person is very fascinating to me. I still can't find the line between what makes a person who they are when there is a "before" and an "after" coexisting.
I could talk about this subject for HOURS. The book is extremely well written and I would have enjoyed it anyway, but it also happened to have one of my favorite subjects.
For those who like a book with family relationships, a gothic atmosphere, vampires, lots of gore and writing that transports you back in time, I highly recommend Blood on Her Tongue. For those who like to wonder about our existence the book also sprinkles some of this debate in the mix.
I REALLY liked the atmosphere and the author's writing in this book. Apart from the part about the asylums, which is not entirely true to period the story is on (but the author made this very clear in one of her interviews), I think that van Heen managed to perfectly convey the gothic and disgusting tone of the time.
And all the credit goes to Johanna's writing, which managed to capture so well the small details that paint a vivid picture of the time and the sinister world that the characters find themselves in. All the descriptions of smells, feelings and textures are rich enough to keep you hooked on the story, but without embellishments that make the reading exhausting with the speech of the time.
I can see the criticism when some people say that the characters serve specific roles and seem to have no other desires, but I honestly didn't mind that.
I find the discussion of the role of women when we talk about their feelings and madness extremely interesting.
It was very interesting for me to see the dynamics between the four main characters.
We have Sarah, the sister with a dominant role, the determined woman, smarter than many men and also a sapphic woman. Three things that are not well regarded by society at the time.
Lucy, the submissive, quiet sister, but no less observant than her twin.
Michael, Sarah's husband, the typical misogynist.
Arthur, the doctor who is the twins' childhood friend, but who belittles their feelings when they are placed above his own.
I think it's cool how the author decided to treat the sisters' relationship, as well as that of the men.
Lucy doesn't live much beyond the self-imposed role of Sarah's shadow. The author comments in an interview that it is intentional the way Lucy becomes a completely different person when she sees her life and dynamic with Sarah threatened by other people. Having lived with twin cousins, I understand the relationship.
The dynamic between Michael and Arthur was also interesting to me. Arthur supposedly hates Michael, but they get together whenever they feel their masculinity is affected. Michael feels that the suffering of others is actually less than his, and Arthur puts his wishes above others, even if it means the detriment of the twins' feelings.
The part that I like most about these relationships is the way that anger and feminine feelings are confused with insanity throughout the reading.
The twins' aunt was put in a mental institution when her girlfriend left and she felt the weight of loneliness. The sapphic role in the book is not the focus, but it is another of the things that was not tolerated at the time.
The parts that stuck with me the most are those in which Lucy's opinions are treated with condescension.
Even when she commits crimes at the end, it is impossible for the characters to understand that it was not Sarah, the more assertive sister, who committed them.
This is a topic discussed in Tori Telfer's "Lady Killers", which opens up discussions about how several female serial killers managed to go unnoticed for so long precisely because the people around them did not believe in the type of planning that women calculate, and not only because of their feelings.
Female rage as hysteria and the inability to see their sinister words as a marker for their future actions.
In addition to these discussions, the supernatural side of the book is a delight. I LOVED the way the author talks about the mystery of bog bodies here and how she portrays vampirism more as a parasitic relationship than a supernatural one. Sarah doesn't act like a regular vampire and I was super intrigued by everything she did. The way she acts and how the parasite behaves are super interesting.
I really like the direction of the story, despite it being predictable.
With all this, I would already be satisfied with the book, but I think my favorite part is the same thing that fascinated me so much in Soma, the 2015 horror game.
The way of dealing with existence is very similar in both works and I'm completely crazy about this portrayal of existential dread. In the game, the characters live on an uninhabitable Earth and in order to be transported to space, they need to make copies of themselves, often leaving their past selves behind.
In Blood on Her Tongue, the parasite's relationship with Sarah is almost the same.
The question of "if you were copied (and in this book, taken over by another living being), would you still be you?" is one of the questions I love to debate the most.
I can never find a definitive answer and I find this subject extremely complex.
If a parasite takes over your body, but still has your memories and feelings, are you the parasite or do you no longer exist? If it takes over your brain, is it still yours, even with your past self in it? If our memories make us us, what happens if another being takes over our memories and acts like us, inside our own bodies? If we are no longer ourselves, what exactly died so we can say that we no longer exist?
The main character of Soma, Simon, at a certain point in the game (it is not the end of the game!) copies himself into another body and has to let his other self die, just as Sarah exists even after she dies.
This brief moment when there are two versions of a single person is very fascinating to me. I still can't find the line between what makes a person who they are when there is a "before" and an "after" coexisting.
I could talk about this subject for HOURS. The book is extremely well written and I would have enjoyed it anyway, but it also happened to have one of my favorite subjects.
For those who like a book with family relationships, a gothic atmosphere, vampires, lots of gore and writing that transports you back in time, I highly recommend Blood on Her Tongue. For those who like to wonder about our existence the book also sprinkles some of this debate in the mix.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Suicide, Vomit, Medical content
Minor: Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Classism
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I loved this book. A Gothic horror that truely had my stomach churning, left me having to put it down to process how horrified I felt, while drawing me back in to keep reading. I love Johanna Van Veens way of placing another story within a Gothic horror. The blood on her tongue is a story of the unshakeable bond of two sisters, placed within a terrifying predicament. I walked away from this book feeling horrified, vindicated, angry, sad, and excited all at once. Incredible writing, story, and characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Sexism, Terminal illness, Violence, Murder
Minor: Sexual content
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The characters are hardly that lovable, but you can’t help but root for them in the very end. I admit the last part of the book made me like them a little more, but just barely so. Either way I adore the ending and the entire journey was dark, eerie, and disturbing. It was a fantastic ride, and a great take on vampirism.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Self harm, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Domestic abuse
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
About as female gothic as you can get. Also a much better take on lesbian vampires that also managed to include Doppelgänger and possession. I liked the setting of dreary, rural netherlands. The plot is mostly there to scrutinize the sister relationship which was really interesting. The characters' behaviour didn't always make sense to me though (not in a "this is not what I would have done" way, which is also true but I didn't mind, more in a "this is not what people do when they are put in that situation" way) and some of the conflicts of monologues about issues felt a bit forced and not fitting the situation they happened in.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Lesbophobia
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Classism
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the eARC!
I was immediately pulled in by the story and enjoyed even more than her debut novel. This is a creepy, Disturbing, and gross more than scary horror novel! There were times that the imagery made me nauseous but despite that I “enjoyed” the horror aspects and unique story.
I also appreciated that the author includes content warnings in the beginning.
I was immediately pulled in by the story and enjoyed even more than her debut novel. This is a creepy, Disturbing, and gross more than scary horror novel! There were times that the imagery made me nauseous but despite that I “enjoyed” the horror aspects and unique story.
I also appreciated that the author includes content warnings in the beginning.
I loved the atmospheric, historical setting. The story takes place in Drenthe which is one province over from me which I found really cool!! There was also a mention of my home state, Michigan 😍
Enjoying the mixing of the story as told by Lucy as well as newspaper articles, letters, and diary entries. You really get to know the characters who are flawed and well written! I had a lot of mixed feelings for them throughout the book.
The novel as a whole was well paced throughout and had a great ending. My best read of March so far and makes Van Veen an auto read author for me now!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Murder
Moderate: Child death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Sexual content, Suicide
Minor: Sexual violence, Lesbophobia