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cwerber's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Damn.
1. I should not have finished reading this so late at night.
2. I am *really* unnerved right now.
3. That was a really an excellent and scary book.
1. I should not have finished reading this so late at night.
2. I am *really* unnerved right now.
3. That was a really an excellent and scary book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Death
Minor: Body horror and Violence
gondorgirl's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol, Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Panic attacks/disorders
There is a LOT of taxidermy.tarfishy's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Torture, Infidelity, Body horror, and Gore
bookphilos's review
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail and Body horror
Minor: Vomit and Animal death
speakingspirit's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Violence, Murder, and Gore
tays_books's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Death, and Gore
Moderate: Alcohol, Animal death, and Child death
Minor: Vomit, Blood, Infidelity, Mental illness, and Self harm
aylasultana's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Drug use and Infidelity
akallabeth's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
another 3.5, maybe. weirdly enough, the horror in this worked better for me than <i>the twisted ones</i>, but the non-horror stuff worked worse.
the actual horror novel plot setup (based on algernon blackwood's <i>the willows</i>, this time) was really interesting and unsettling, and the scares felt better distributed throughout the story. you're still left with some unanswered questions, but it works with the nature of the plot. and while this won't be keeping me up at night, there were definitely scenes that made me shudder.
i just didn't care for any of the characters much, and the humour just didn't gel with the rest of the story for me. i don't mind humour and horror being mixed - it can definitely work if all the elements are right - but here... just didn't work for me. too pop-culture referential, maybe. i haven't had this issue with kingfisher's works that aren't set in 'our' world. i will say that this bothered me much more in the first like, quarter of the story - once the plot kicked in more, i noticed it less. but i noticed it.
(i will also admit that there was one petty-ish thing that drove me nutsss - carrot, the protagonist, is mind-numblingly slow on the uptake regarding one particular plot element, and every time it came up i wanted to tear my hair out. i didn't find her to be a dumbass <i>overall</i> but this one thing is SO clearly signposted to the reader SO early on, and she doesn't figure it out until like fully 80% into the story.)
no regrets on reading this and i would say it's worth checking out if the premise appeals - whatever its faults i found it very readable, much like <i>the twisted ones</i>. i do think i may go back to kingfisher's purer Fantasy stuff for a bit, though.
the actual horror novel plot setup (based on algernon blackwood's <i>the willows</i>, this time) was really interesting and unsettling, and the scares felt better distributed throughout the story. you're still left with some unanswered questions, but it works with the nature of the plot. and while this won't be keeping me up at night, there were definitely scenes that made me shudder.
i just didn't care for any of the characters much, and the humour just didn't gel with the rest of the story for me. i don't mind humour and horror being mixed - it can definitely work if all the elements are right - but here... just didn't work for me. too pop-culture referential, maybe. i haven't had this issue with kingfisher's works that aren't set in 'our' world. i will say that this bothered me much more in the first like, quarter of the story - once the plot kicked in more, i noticed it less. but i noticed it.
(i will also admit that there was one petty-ish thing that drove me nutsss - carrot, the protagonist, is mind-numblingly slow on the uptake regarding one particular plot element, and every time it came up i wanted to tear my hair out. i didn't find her to be a dumbass <i>overall</i> but this one thing is SO clearly signposted to the reader SO early on, and she doesn't figure it out until like fully 80% into the story.)
no regrets on reading this and i would say it's worth checking out if the premise appeals - whatever its faults i found it very readable, much like <i>the twisted ones</i>. i do think i may go back to kingfisher's purer Fantasy stuff for a bit, though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Body horror, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
bdingz's review against another edition
dark
funny
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Creepy and fun at the same time—just what I so often want out of horror.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death
Minor: Infidelity and Animal death
schnaucl's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
I didn't like this one as much as some other books by the author but I loved Cara, Simon, Uncle Earl and the museum. The other world was deeply unsettling, as it was supposed to be.
I'm not really sure why this one didn't appeal to me more.After all, I love the concept of well loved things coming to life to defend the people who loved them and I think the items from other worlds were absolutely fascinating. It was well written, as her books always are.
I'm not really sure why this one didn't appeal to me more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Gore, and Death