Take a photo of a barcode or cover
2.76 AVERAGE
2.76 AVERAGE
Henley’s Edge is a quiet peaceful town rapidly being consumed by the darkness that lives within the very people that populate it.
I think the writing style above all else is what kept me engaged with this book. There are a couple of stories running parallel to each other and the plot lines connect at the end, but in my opinion they are not woven together in a way that fully explains the “why” for anything. It somehow all felt incomplete.
What stood out to me the most was the topic of the elderly being a forgotten and vulnerable population, I think there is potential to explore a lot of horrific aspects of being an older adult in our society and I love that the author touches on that.
To those who need trigger warnings: Some of the characters go through very traumatic events that could be triggering to other readers such as SA, loss of a loved one and homophobia.
Overall, I would recommend this book to someone who loves prose, magic, social commentary and is maybe just getting into extreme horror.
Thank you to NetGalley and CLASH books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I think the writing style above all else is what kept me engaged with this book. There are a couple of stories running parallel to each other and the plot lines connect at the end, but in my opinion they are not woven together in a way that fully explains the “why” for anything. It somehow all felt incomplete.
What stood out to me the most was the topic of the elderly being a forgotten and vulnerable population, I think there is potential to explore a lot of horrific aspects of being an older adult in our society and I love that the author touches on that.
To those who need trigger warnings: Some of the characters go through very traumatic events that could be triggering to other readers such as SA, loss of a loved one and homophobia.
Overall, I would recommend this book to someone who loves prose, magic, social commentary and is maybe just getting into extreme horror.
Thank you to NetGalley and CLASH books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
dark
medium-paced
dark
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Everything the Darkness Eats. Let's see I was watching The Green Lantern and didn't feel to threatened by this black morass alighting over the space, and Lantern dropped that off at the corner of Sun Rd. Where it burned up in futility. Then I thought well, that's the sun, nothing in the solar system burns brighter or bigger, except this looming black hole. & We still haven't found a better name yet? Anyway darkness is practically everything, light always comes from a source. Darkness is just present, and doesn't need a source. That's why the night covers the earth and the firmament glows her ornaments. And when the sky is blue, the rest of space remains black as pitch. Light always comes from a source and is retained by one, if there are no eyes to see it, it can't be there, and it's just infinite overreaching darkness from end to endlessness. & There's fucking no world apart from this one.
"If the universe could grant your most unreasonable demand what might you ask of it?"
That's a big question. The truth is I would have to think about that, because most everything that I want to achieve (write a few books) depends on me to accomplish it. I couldn't ask for something that didn't belong to my lifetime, or... Anyway I'll just allow for this novel to hang out here in cyber space in mystery. So instead of ruminating, this horror novel tho broke my heart concerning the gay couple Malik and Brett. Ghost bumps into a blind girl whose mother is preoccupied by worshipping this orb of untethered light, a artificial veiny beam of light that's chilling in Mr. Crowley's basement. So the old man needs Ghost because he's not a strong believer, he's in fact very frustrated by this uncaring god, indicative of the author's true feelings I feel ... As horror it was a bit on the pulpy side, there's a big difference between pulp written by a pro or by an amateur and this is the former ... But idk it doesn't feel real enough, can't displace my belief, I don't like novels that are about balls of light. Fleece is a real menace and the true villain of this story, since, what sort of villain is an insentient orb? Mr. Crowley's a hero. Fleece is a prick.
"If the universe could grant your most unreasonable demand what might you ask of it?"
That's a big question. The truth is I would have to think about that, because most everything that I want to achieve (write a few books) depends on me to accomplish it. I couldn't ask for something that didn't belong to my lifetime, or... Anyway I'll just allow for this novel to hang out here in cyber space in mystery. So instead of ruminating, this horror novel tho broke my heart concerning the gay couple Malik and Brett. Ghost bumps into a blind girl whose mother is preoccupied by worshipping this orb of untethered light, a artificial veiny beam of light that's chilling in Mr. Crowley's basement. So the old man needs Ghost because he's not a strong believer, he's in fact very frustrated by this uncaring god, indicative of the author's true feelings I feel ... As horror it was a bit on the pulpy side, there's a big difference between pulp written by a pro or by an amateur and this is the former ... But idk it doesn't feel real enough, can't displace my belief, I don't like novels that are about balls of light. Fleece is a real menace and the true villain of this story, since, what sort of villain is an insentient orb? Mr. Crowley's a hero. Fleece is a prick.
Hab was ganz anderes erwartet, aber das was es war, war richig gut.
ACHTUNG: nichts für schwache Nerven und definitiv die Triggerwarnung vorher checken!
ACHTUNG: nichts für schwache Nerven und definitiv die Triggerwarnung vorher checken!
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I agree with some of the critiques that there was too much flowery language through this novel. Lots of the descriptions felt drawn out without a connecting theme to drive the metaphors and smilies. It feels a bit like the author is still developing their voice in long-form fiction. There was a tension throught between dark, gritty realism and flowery, Gothic romanticism. Thay being said, I am interested to see how LaRocca develops as an author. I really enjoy the dark dream-like quality of their stories.
Tw: Graphic violence, sexual assault.
A disorganized list of my thoughts:
I have a lot of questions... Why did Ghost consider himself a monster? What is Ghost's spirit/protector supposed to represent?
The beginning jumped around between storylines, which was distracting. I almost put the book down in part 1. The two main storylines don't intersect until the very end of the book, and not in a way that seems meaningful. They are too disjointed and don't seem to share any theme except pain and suffering.
Even with elements of magic in the story, I could not suspend disbelief at certain points:
- Ghost and Gemma falling for each other after a single, brief, casual meeting. They are essentially strangers, yet he refers to her as "his beloved" and says that saving her is his most important consideration at Crowley's.
- the whole scene involving abduction and return of the kid via taxicab
- the assailants just dumping Malik (not checking whether he was alive, leaving plenty of DNA evidence, and witnesses)
- Heart walking away from the ritual to answer the doorbell
- Ghost's spirit waiting until the last possible moment to protect him
The religious elements didn't work for me. Granted, I am an atheist so the theme of losing and finding faith again doesn't resonate.
I felt that sexuality and sexual assault were both handled poorly.
I finished it, and the writing wasn't awful. 2 Stars
A disorganized list of my thoughts:
I have a lot of questions... Why did Ghost consider himself a monster? What is Ghost's spirit/protector supposed to represent?
The beginning jumped around between storylines, which was distracting. I almost put the book down in part 1. The two main storylines don't intersect until the very end of the book, and not in a way that seems meaningful. They are too disjointed and don't seem to share any theme except pain and suffering.
Even with elements of magic in the story, I could not suspend disbelief at certain points:
- Ghost and Gemma falling for each other after a single, brief, casual meeting. They are essentially strangers, yet he refers to her as "his beloved" and says that saving her is his most important consideration at Crowley's.
- the whole scene involving abduction and return of the kid via taxicab
- the assailants just dumping Malik (not checking whether he was alive, leaving plenty of DNA evidence, and witnesses)
- Heart walking away from the ritual to answer the doorbell
- Ghost's spirit waiting until the last possible moment to protect him
The religious elements didn't work for me. Granted, I am an atheist so the theme of losing and finding faith again doesn't resonate.
I felt that sexuality and sexual assault were both handled poorly.
I finished it, and the writing wasn't awful. 2 Stars
dark
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I'm a new fan of Eric LaRocca, and what I've read so far has been fun, different, imaginative and a little gory. This book was a great idea, but quite a few things seemed out of place or just plain wrong. If you read a lot of the negative reviews referring to ableism and disabled persons representation, you'll understand the wrongness of much of it; those reviews aren't wrong. One thing LaRocca does very well is LGBTQ+ representation, which is refreshing. I will read more from them but this one was not it.