Reviews with content warning for Medical content - This Thing Between Us

I've come to really love & appreciate the horror genre, and This Thing Between Us is a perfect example as to why: the best stories in the genre are ultimately concerned with the mundane, universal experiences of humanity. Grief, guilt, loneliness, hate...by depicting these things in the extreme, at their most otherworldly and horrific, authors like Moreno interrogate the ways these very basic human emotions can takeover our lives.

Moreno is a beautiful writer, and you can feel him wrestling with his own grief as he walks us through Thiago's. The book is written like a love letter, or a confession, which means our understanding of events in the book are limited to what Thiago understands. It makes things a bit confusing at times, but the underlying messages of the story still come through.

This Thing Between Us is a really powerful examination of grief, loss, race, belonging. There's gore and eeriness, horrific circumstances and plenty of tear-jerking moments, but it's all framed by genuine empathy. A really challenging and breathtaking book.

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mondovertigo's review

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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archaicrobin's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I’m really mixed after reading this. Did I enjoy it? Yes absolutely, but would I ever read it again? No! This is one of those novels where the narrator isn’t always trustworthy and you never really get a solid answer at the end, so go in knowing that there really isn’t much closure here.

This Thing Between Us is a slow burn horror novel told from the perspective of Thiago to his recently deceased wife Vera. After moving into a new condo strange things start to happen, eventually leading to a series of events that results in a freak accident involving Vera, Thiago’s wife. Vera eventually dies from complications of the accident and Thiago is left alone with a large sum of money and an evil entity that won’t seem to leave him or his loved ones alone.

This novel is hard to read, it’s an excellent in depth look at grief and what is left behind when a loved one passes and it’s heart wrenching. Even before getting to the crazy horror that occurs in this novel, just reading about Thiago’s devastation is hard! It reminds me of Tender is the Flesh, due to its stark bleakness.

Along with this grief stricken outlook, the novel is also VERY gruesome. Once Thiago leaves for Colorado the paranormal side of the book picks up and barrels ahead. Also a huge warning for animal death, there is a several scenes with a dog that were very violent and I would suggest keeping this in mind as well. I skipped ahead on my audiobook it was that gruesome.

Overall if you’re looking for something different, especially a horror novel that will stick with you and unsettle you, I’d suggest This Thing Between Us. It’s a short read and it leaves you thinking about a lot. Maybe too much.

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racl's review

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I'm still fairly new to the genre, but this was the first horror to pull a genuine fear reaction from me the way something more audio-visual would be able to do with a jump scare. It takes a good hundred pages to get into the thick of the horror plot, and at the time, I found it superfluous. Having finished it, the setup helped tremendously and made the pace of the second half feel even more breakneck. Very compelling read!

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