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Graphic: Body horror, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Blood, Lesbophobia
This book was slow to hook me, and I found some of the middle portion unbearably slow to advance, but as with her other book, Van Veen really nailed the gothic aura. Whereas that enhanced the last novel, I find that it almost distracted me in this one. Maybe not distracted, but it felt like the ambiance and gothic themes were turned up to 11 whereas the plot and character development (mostly for Lucy) was at a 6. By the last 50 pages I was pretty resigned to there being no real climax to this story- the misogyny just led to its natural end in a way that felt predictable
One thing I did like is Van Veen’s affinity for writing from the perspective of people that can be and often are wrong. Lucy is… very twisted and male-centered and pathetic;mostly as a product of her shit upbringing and dependency on a dominant figure, Sarah is incredibly mean and demanding only PARTLY because of the same shit upbringing,.. I could go on. I disliked nearly everyone in this book to varying degrees, but that just made everything more interesting. It feels refreshing to read truly morally grey people. None of them made the “right” choices because there weren’t any. Me cheering when [redacted] died was because it was just desserts & deeply satisfying, not because it was a pure heroic triumph.
This ranks lower than Dreadful Thing for me personally, but it was still a good read and very nice to finish while waiting many hours in an airport
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, Murder, Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Murder
Minor: Torture
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Forced institutionalization
Read it. Add it to your spooky season tbr lists
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, Murder, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting
Moderate: Incest
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting
Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Cannibalism, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child death, Cursing, Drug use, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Grief, Medical trauma, Lesbophobia
Gripping, horrible, macabre, gruesome, lovely, dark, monstrous, and some of the most infuriating and relatable characters I've ever read.
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Cannibalism, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Mental illness, Violence
Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Murder
Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Medical content, Cannibalism
Minor: Animal cruelty, Child death, Infidelity, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail
First, for the things I loved: The concept is so interesting! This book draws heavily on the vampire tradition but doesn't only limit itself to the obvious (Dracula, Carmilla). There's some cool revenant folk lore and science influences as well, all grounded in a pretty convincing historical setting. There's sapphics (so many sapphics, guys!!) and having just finished Hungerstone, a Carmilla retelling, I was so happy to get not one but two sapphic vampire stories within the same month! What a wonderful surprise.
For things that I didn't enjoy: the writing wasn't as evocative as I would have liked. For a gothic, I have pretty high expectations when it comes to atmosphere and the creeping sense of dread as the mystery unfolds but this book unfortunately fell on the weaker end of the spectrum. Also, there was a heavy dose of bigotry voiced through many side characters, and while I do believe that it was meant to make a point (about the times, womanhood, etc), I personally found it made the reading experience a little less enjoyable, since it was just too heavy-handed for my taste.
All in all, I do recommend this though. The story offers a fresh approach to a very old topic, the ending felt very well deserved and I am looking forward to whatever the author writes next.
Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail