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Graphic: Biphobia, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting
Moderate: Sexual content, Death of parent
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Mental illness, Suicide, Cannibalism, Medical trauma
Moderate: Child death, Infidelity, Forced institutionalization
Graphic: Child death, Gore, Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Lesbophobia
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
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
I don't think I can really talk about this book properly without spoilers, so here we go!
Overall, I just really liked this book and I think that as long as you're not squeamish, you'll really like it, too.
Thank you to Sourcebooks and Poisoned Pen Press for the free finished copy.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, Murder, Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury
This is Johanna van Veen's second published novel that took her five years to write, and it is so incredibly good. It's dark and gory and twisted, but also witty and sweet and unique.
There are parts that made me uncomfortable with how descriptive they were, and parts that I reread 3-4 times for how beautifully they were written.
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Cannibalism, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail
Read this one if you love The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe, Dracula, T. Kingfishers works and books like Leech by Hiron Ennes.
Summary:
Sarah, Lucys twin sister, discovers a bog body on the grounds of her estate. Fascinated by the morbid and in love with with science, she becomes obsessed with the "bog woman", watching her autopsy and mentioning her frantically in writing to her sister. Two weeks later, Lucy receives a letter letting her know that her sister is plagues by a sickness - similar to a burst "insanity" that has befallen her once before.
After the commitment of their aunt to a mental asylum, Sarah and Lucy are deathly afraid of the same future awaiting Sarah.
Lucy rushes to Sarahs sickbed, but it becomes more and more clear that some kinds of sickness cannot be healed - if you could even call Sarahs state of mind a sickness...
This one was fabulous. Lovely writing fitting for a novel set in the 19th century, a moody atmosphere found in the wetlands of the Netherlands, enticing, yet not always likeable characters and a healthy heap of eeriness made this book a lovely blend of everything slightly unsettling. I would not say this book is gruesome psycho horror, but it is definitely not for the faint of mind (or stomach.)
Between the chapters, we often find letters or articles giving us more insight in the characters and their surroundings. Whilst the twins were generally very loving towards each other, they both had huge flaws which made the book even more believable and interesting. Intersected with thoughts of the pull between whats wrong and what feels right, mostly our main characters have a lot of depth. Be warned that men, especially in the nineteenth century, were awful, so if you feel uncomfortable reading about a man thinking of an independent woman as unnatural, maybe skip this one (but remember that this also entails reading about badass independen.
I loved this slightly different interpretation of vampirism and enjoyed discovering every piece of information we could get our hands on.
This book was moody, eerie, fascinating and creepy - and I loved all of it!
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder
Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Following classic gothic horror tropes, you will find a big mansion, pathetic fallacies, a foggy atmosphere, mad women, and bad husbands. But I was ultimately disappointed with what I was given. Every trope I should like is there but it fell short on the delivery. The story is a good one, you are given the keys to make out the twists before they happen if you want to figure them out. The themes are compelling, the characters are all distinct from one another and have different motivations and backstory. And yet I feel like the execution was liking. It could totally be a me thing don't get me wrong. Lucy, the main character, was just unlikable to me, she was not smart and was strung along by everyone else in the novel. I wish Sarah's and Katje's characters would have been more fleshed out because their relationship was interesting. The ending felt a bit too neat but it's also very "good for her" so maybe you will like it.
All in all it was a fine novel but I don't think I will remember it in the long run.
There were some gruesome descriptions about eye damage so be warned.
If you want to read a novel about (twin) sisters, what you would do for a loved one, someone coming back wrong, fighting the patriarchy, etc. This might just be the novel for you.
Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of the book.
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Cannibalism, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
the second half, however, felt almost like a different book to me. the dialogue seemed much more modern, and once the mystery of the bog body was revealed, a lot of the suspense dissipated. still, it's a worthwhile read for anyone looking for a new take on vampires.
Graphic: Child death, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Blood
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Infidelity, Sexual content, Medical content, Murder, Injury/Injury detail