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dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
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
I don't consider myself a horror reader, but I adored this book. I loved the different philosophical questions it brought up and I felt like it had a really satisfying ending. I also loved how gruesome it is; the depictions of violence were delicious. Lucy was such an interesting main character and the way that the main mystery unfurled was so intriguing.
I don't think I can really talk about this book properly without spoilers, so here we go!I love how the message at the end with Arthur is like "Yes, even that man. A man is a man!" Because yeah. A man is a man. (I do know men that I love and trust, but you could just tell that Arthur was on some patriarchal bullshit.) I also thought the question of whether or not the being was "Sarah" was a really interesting direction to take this story. I liked how it resulted in (almost) all of the women in the story working together and it just felt like a unique take on this type of story.
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.
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.
Content Warnings
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
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thank you, NetGalley, for the chance to read this ARC!
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Cannibalism, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Delicious gothic horror with an almost nauseating erotic tone
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cannibalism, Murder
Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Death, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Blood, Medical trauma
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thanks NetGalley for the arc!
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!
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!
Content Warnings
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
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher
Lucy's twin Sarah has fallen gravely ill and no medical treatment seems to work. Sarah is feverish, incoherent, rejects food, and has grown obsessed with a bog body that was found on the property. Lucy fears that whatever afflicts her sister might not be only physical but mental, with insanity running in their family, and the prospect of sending Sarah to an asylum scares her beyond measure. As Sarah grows weaker, and stranger with dark bloody cravings, Lucy's suspicions turn to the supernatural as she tries her best to help her twin before it's too late.
Absolutely adored this. A different fun take on vampirism that had twists I never saw coming. The ambiance of this book was well managed, it had all the makings of a gothic horror. Specially liked the use of newspaper articles and letters, it made everything seem more real and like a world existed outside of the family state. Lucy and Sarah's toxic sibling relationship was the heart of this story and the author did an excellent job of portraying all the nuances that made their bond so strong and twisted. I hadn't read anything else by this author, but you bet I'm picking up the rest of her works now.
Lucy's twin Sarah has fallen gravely ill and no medical treatment seems to work. Sarah is feverish, incoherent, rejects food, and has grown obsessed with a bog body that was found on the property. Lucy fears that whatever afflicts her sister might not be only physical but mental, with insanity running in their family, and the prospect of sending Sarah to an asylum scares her beyond measure. As Sarah grows weaker, and stranger with dark bloody cravings, Lucy's suspicions turn to the supernatural as she tries her best to help her twin before it's too late.
Absolutely adored this. A different fun take on vampirism that had twists I never saw coming. The ambiance of this book was well managed, it had all the makings of a gothic horror. Specially liked the use of newspaper articles and letters, it made everything seem more real and like a world existed outside of the family state. Lucy and Sarah's toxic sibling relationship was the heart of this story and the author did an excellent job of portraying all the nuances that made their bond so strong and twisted. I hadn't read anything else by this author, but you bet I'm picking up the rest of her works now.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Death, Gore, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Eating disorder, Infidelity, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Vomit
Minor: Child death
dark
tense
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:
Complicated
Plot: 5
Characters: 4.5
Writing: 4.5
Entertainment:5
Overall: 4.75
Method: NetGalley (Thank you to everyone involved for allowing me to read the ARC of this book.)
This book was absolutely haunting. The small details really pushed it over the edge, for me. I’m a very squeamish person, and those gory body horror elements were just the perfect amount to make me uncomfortable and almost nauseous if I let the “movie” play in my mind too much, but they weren’t bad enough that I considered putting the book down. Despite a RAGING headache while reading this (it’s just now occurring to me I probably shouldn’t have read the entire thing on my phone) I powered through and read the entire thing in a day. I cannot remember the last time I read for so long straight. Typically I can only manage a couple hours at most.
This book just had all of the vibes. A creepy gothic manor in a dark spooky bog where they find an unidentifiable body buried in the most hauntingly peculiar fashion. The overall theme of madness set in a time where a woman could be deemed mad for… really anything. The message about the power of sisterhood and exactly how much you would endure for your sister.
On top of that, the characters were just so real. Every one of them were dynamic with clear motivations and different opinions. Even down side to characters like the lady on the train and another doctor who we only saw in a correspondence with one of the main characters. My only complaint isn’t even really a complaint, but I just feel like Lucy gave in to what was happening a hair too easily. She does wrestle with it, but I wanted to see just a little more.
I really could talk about this books for a while, but the last thing I’ll mention is the fact that I really didn’t know where anything in this story was going, and that’s so rare for me. I’m entirely too analytical when I read and it ruins the mysterious elements for me every time. But I actually had the distinct thought while I was reading this that I was having so much fun I didn’t actually WANT to try to guess what was going to happen. And even if I had, I wouldn’t have come up with half of the story. It was just beautifully crafted, and you can tell the author wasn’t just putting down whatever sounded good. She absolutely wrote this with intention.
I had never heard of this author before, though apparently her other work is very popular, so I suppose that’s going to have to go on my TBR for this year!
Characters: 4.5
Writing: 4.5
Entertainment:5
Overall: 4.75
Method: NetGalley (Thank you to everyone involved for allowing me to read the ARC of this book.)
This book was absolutely haunting. The small details really pushed it over the edge, for me. I’m a very squeamish person, and those gory body horror elements were just the perfect amount to make me uncomfortable and almost nauseous if I let the “movie” play in my mind too much, but they weren’t bad enough that I considered putting the book down. Despite a RAGING headache while reading this (it’s just now occurring to me I probably shouldn’t have read the entire thing on my phone) I powered through and read the entire thing in a day. I cannot remember the last time I read for so long straight. Typically I can only manage a couple hours at most.
This book just had all of the vibes. A creepy gothic manor in a dark spooky bog where they find an unidentifiable body buried in the most hauntingly peculiar fashion. The overall theme of madness set in a time where a woman could be deemed mad for… really anything. The message about the power of sisterhood and exactly how much you would endure for your sister.
On top of that, the characters were just so real. Every one of them were dynamic with clear motivations and different opinions. Even down side to characters like the lady on the train and another doctor who we only saw in a correspondence with one of the main characters. My only complaint isn’t even really a complaint, but I just feel like Lucy gave in to what was happening a hair too easily. She does wrestle with it, but I wanted to see just a little more.
I really could talk about this books for a while, but the last thing I’ll mention is the fact that I really didn’t know where anything in this story was going, and that’s so rare for me. I’m entirely too analytical when I read and it ruins the mysterious elements for me every time. But I actually had the distinct thought while I was reading this that I was having so much fun I didn’t actually WANT to try to guess what was going to happen. And even if I had, I wouldn’t have come up with half of the story. It was just beautifully crafted, and you can tell the author wasn’t just putting down whatever sounded good. She absolutely wrote this with intention.
I had never heard of this author before, though apparently her other work is very popular, so I suppose that’s going to have to go on my TBR for this year!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization
Minor: Child death, Death of parent
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Blood on Her Tongue by Johanna Van Veen
“For you, l’d lie and cheat and kill and damn myself straight to hell. I’d do all that and more, again and again and again, as long as it took to ensure you were safe, because you are my twin, my half, my more.”
First off, thank you @poisonedpenpress for the gifted advance reader copy of Blood on her Tongue.
And happy Friday the 13th everyone! I cannot think of a better day to post a review of this beautifully written gothic, horror, novel. Which is ultimately a unique twist on Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher.” Even though it was not advertised as such.
So, let’s get into it:
1. I have read a couple of reimagining of the above mentioned short story, and while I have loved both of them, they essentially had the same premise. Blood on Her Tongue, however, adds an interesting twist to the story in more ways than one, that I thoroughly appreciated.
2. The atmospheric writing and prose were beautifully detailed making it incredibly difficult to choose a quote for this review. (I marked over 20 I wanted to use.)
3. I enjoyed how the author explored the themes of misogyny within the novel as well. This was throughly flushed out both thoughtfully and intentionally.
4. Oh and that ending was so satisfying! Dark and gruesome, but satisfying.
I loved this book and immediately bought the author’s first novel, “My Darling Dreadful Thing” after reading this one. I expect Van Veen to be an auto-buy author moving forward.
If you are a fan of Silvia Moreno-Garcia or T. Kingfisher this is a must read. But just a heads up, there is a considerable amount of body horror and other potential triggers. Fortunately, the author has a detailed explanation at the beginning of what you will find within the pages.
Want to know more? You can swipe for the synopsis!
“For you, l’d lie and cheat and kill and damn myself straight to hell. I’d do all that and more, again and again and again, as long as it took to ensure you were safe, because you are my twin, my half, my more.”
First off, thank you @poisonedpenpress for the gifted advance reader copy of Blood on her Tongue.
And happy Friday the 13th everyone! I cannot think of a better day to post a review of this beautifully written gothic, horror, novel. Which is ultimately a unique twist on Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher.” Even though it was not advertised as such.
So, let’s get into it:
1. I have read a couple of reimagining of the above mentioned short story, and while I have loved both of them, they essentially had the same premise. Blood on Her Tongue, however, adds an interesting twist to the story in more ways than one, that I thoroughly appreciated.
2. The atmospheric writing and prose were beautifully detailed making it incredibly difficult to choose a quote for this review. (I marked over 20 I wanted to use.)
3. I enjoyed how the author explored the themes of misogyny within the novel as well. This was throughly flushed out both thoughtfully and intentionally.
4. Oh and that ending was so satisfying! Dark and gruesome, but satisfying.
I loved this book and immediately bought the author’s first novel, “My Darling Dreadful Thing” after reading this one. I expect Van Veen to be an auto-buy author moving forward.
If you are a fan of Silvia Moreno-Garcia or T. Kingfisher this is a must read. But just a heads up, there is a considerable amount of body horror and other potential triggers. Fortunately, the author has a detailed explanation at the beginning of what you will find within the pages.
Want to know more? You can swipe for the synopsis!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Self harm, Suicide, Blood, Cannibalism
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment
Minor: Animal cruelty, Child death, Forced institutionalization, Abandonment