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thesefragments's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty
Moderate: Child death and Fatphobia
jhyns's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
hrlukz's review against another edition
2.0
2.5
« It’s just a local tradition, » Mally explained, referring to a tradition that is certainly not local, and is in fact common and well documented across all of Europe.
Honestly though this isn’t BAD as such it’s just so slow burn and true to its genre that you’re pretty much begging it to surprise you and do something new. It doesn’t. Also…. we get that it’s meant to be scary….the blurb tells us as much…you don’t need to keep reminding us the kid has a clown doll lmao
« It’s just a local tradition, » Mally explained, referring to a tradition that is certainly not local, and is in fact common and well documented across all of Europe.
Honestly though this isn’t BAD as such it’s just so slow burn and true to its genre that you’re pretty much begging it to surprise you and do something new. It doesn’t. Also…. we get that it’s meant to be scary….the blurb tells us as much…you don’t need to keep reminding us the kid has a clown doll lmao
booksnpunks's review against another edition
2.0
I received an ARC of this book from the publisher, Dead Ink, who are a small UK based company publishing off-the-wall, innovative, and intelligent works of fiction. I requested this because it was marketed as a Shirley Jackson-esque, coming-of-age novel set in the 1970s, which ticked the boxes of things that I love in fiction.
The novel opens with our main character, Nif, riding in the backseat of her family car, cradling a head in her lap. And it's a head that isn't attached to a body. This opening image immediately sets the tone for a novel which takes cues from the surreal, village-horror of writers like Shirley Jackson and Eudora Welty. Nif moves with her family to Wales for short while during the heatwave of the summer, where they are trying to escape a devastating family tragedy which has turned her mother into a recluse.
What I really liked about this novel was the degree to which Hardy had gone to channel the history of folk-horror. The horror in this book was very subtley done through the suggestion of whichcraft, incantation, village secrets and murder. Instead, I felt that the focus of the book was Nif's coming-of-age story where the horror aspects lay in the background. I enjoyed seeing Nif confront both her family and herself as she comes to terms with the tragedy that has changed them. She has fights with the local village teenagers, befriends the basketcase, Mally, and has her first sexual experiences. We also learn about the 'Creed' which is something that Nif uses to keep positive and negative energy around her at balance. The coming-of-age aspects, combined with her being the new girl in a small village where her family isn't really welcome really gave it an American horror sort of vibe.
I'm ultimately giving this three stars however, because there were parts that I felt needed more development. I would've loved to have found out more about the 'Creed' and where it had come from, what it actually was and how it all worked. Like I said before, the horror here was subtle but at times it felt like it was almost too subtle. There were plot points about the head I mentioned at the start which weren't really answered by the end of the novel, and characters such as Mally's mother and Nif's mother who were really important to the story, but seemed to be just forgotten in favour for a revelation regarding Nif at the very end.
Unfortunately I felt that the end and it's reveal was also very rushed, and would've liked a bigger build up, more explanation, more about the villagers and the potions, just a little more to make the whole story a lot more tied together instead of ending with a lot of loose ends. I think this is what ultimately let the book down which was a shame, because the atmosphere of this novel was brilliant, along with the setting and the premise.
This was a really fascinating book to read, and I ended really loving the characters and the general vibe, yet felt there was some elements to it that let it down. Nevertheless, this couldn't stop me from enjoying it and I was really sucked into the lives that had been created. If Hardy continues to write stories following in this fashion I would love to read them. I can only hope that her writing continues to develop so that she can more write novels that look back to the horror we know and love today.
The novel opens with our main character, Nif, riding in the backseat of her family car, cradling a head in her lap. And it's a head that isn't attached to a body. This opening image immediately sets the tone for a novel which takes cues from the surreal, village-horror of writers like Shirley Jackson and Eudora Welty. Nif moves with her family to Wales for short while during the heatwave of the summer, where they are trying to escape a devastating family tragedy which has turned her mother into a recluse.
What I really liked about this novel was the degree to which Hardy had gone to channel the history of folk-horror. The horror in this book was very subtley done through the suggestion of whichcraft, incantation, village secrets and murder. Instead, I felt that the focus of the book was Nif's coming-of-age story where the horror aspects lay in the background. I enjoyed seeing Nif confront both her family and herself as she comes to terms with the tragedy that has changed them. She has fights with the local village teenagers, befriends the basketcase, Mally, and has her first sexual experiences. We also learn about the 'Creed' which is something that Nif uses to keep positive and negative energy around her at balance. The coming-of-age aspects, combined with her being the new girl in a small village where her family isn't really welcome really gave it an American horror sort of vibe.
I'm ultimately giving this three stars however, because there were parts that I felt needed more development. I would've loved to have found out more about the 'Creed' and where it had come from, what it actually was and how it all worked. Like I said before, the horror here was subtle but at times it felt like it was almost too subtle. There were plot points about the head I mentioned at the start which weren't really answered by the end of the novel, and characters such as Mally's mother and Nif's mother who were really important to the story, but seemed to be just forgotten in favour for a revelation regarding Nif at the very end.
Unfortunately I felt that the end and it's reveal was also very rushed, and would've liked a bigger build up, more explanation, more about the villagers and the potions, just a little more to make the whole story a lot more tied together instead of ending with a lot of loose ends. I think this is what ultimately let the book down which was a shame, because the atmosphere of this novel was brilliant, along with the setting and the premise.
This was a really fascinating book to read, and I ended really loving the characters and the general vibe, yet felt there was some elements to it that let it down. Nevertheless, this couldn't stop me from enjoying it and I was really sucked into the lives that had been created. If Hardy continues to write stories following in this fashion I would love to read them. I can only hope that her writing continues to develop so that she can more write novels that look back to the horror we know and love today.
routergirl's review against another edition
3.0
What a strange book. Atmospheric, spooky, twisted, and pokes you in the gut. Good, though.
mostlyreadinghorror's review against another edition
5.0
ᴛʜɪꜱ ʙᴏᴏᴋ ᴡᴀꜱ ᴡᴇɪʀᴅ, ᴜɴꜱᴇᴛᴛʟɪɴɢ, ᴅᴀʀᴋ, ʙɪᴢᴀʀʀᴇ, ᴀᴛᴍᴏꜱᴘʜᴇʀɪᴄ.
I don’t hear much talk about this book which is sort of surprising to me. Especially with the current popularity of books featuring “weird and unhinged girlies”. This was published in 2019 so it is possible that there was more talk around the time of its release.
This story follows our main character Nif, a teenage girl vacationing with her family for the summer at a cottage in the Welsh countryside. We quickly learn that the family has recently experienced a tragedy that has dismantled them. The mother is almost in a catatonic state, chain smoking and is no longer capable of caring for her children. Nif’s younger brother Lorrie barely communicates anymore, and the father is hardly keeping it together trying to maintain this facade of normalcy to keep the family in good spirits.
There is apparent dysfunction and readers are in Nif’s head the entire time, which is absolute mind torture for the reader. She has turned to performing weird rituals involving birds and incantations.
There’s a lot more going on in the story that is best left for readers to experience all on their own. This is a definite slow burn, but the tension is built on each page. It was so compulsive, despite its slow pace I did not want to stop reading I just had to know what was going to happen.
The atmosphere in this book was on point. The heat felt like a character in, lending this stagnant, stifling, “boiling over” kind of vibe that is happening. After reading this and searching for more of this authors work, I’ve seen comparisons to Shirley Jackson, and I would have to agree. Mind you I’ve only ever read “We Have Always Lived in the Castle”, but this book definitely has similar vibes. There is also a folky horror kind of thing going on. I can’t categorize it as folk horror exactly , but it’s definitely got the vibe.
I would highly recommend to readers who enjoy weird books that explore themes of grief, teen angst, depression, isolation, religion, and feelings of loneliness.
I don’t hear much talk about this book which is sort of surprising to me. Especially with the current popularity of books featuring “weird and unhinged girlies”. This was published in 2019 so it is possible that there was more talk around the time of its release.
This story follows our main character Nif, a teenage girl vacationing with her family for the summer at a cottage in the Welsh countryside. We quickly learn that the family has recently experienced a tragedy that has dismantled them. The mother is almost in a catatonic state, chain smoking and is no longer capable of caring for her children. Nif’s younger brother Lorrie barely communicates anymore, and the father is hardly keeping it together trying to maintain this facade of normalcy to keep the family in good spirits.
There is apparent dysfunction and readers are in Nif’s head the entire time, which is absolute mind torture for the reader. She has turned to performing weird rituals involving birds and incantations.
There’s a lot more going on in the story that is best left for readers to experience all on their own. This is a definite slow burn, but the tension is built on each page. It was so compulsive, despite its slow pace I did not want to stop reading I just had to know what was going to happen.
The atmosphere in this book was on point. The heat felt like a character in, lending this stagnant, stifling, “boiling over” kind of vibe that is happening. After reading this and searching for more of this authors work, I’ve seen comparisons to Shirley Jackson, and I would have to agree. Mind you I’ve only ever read “We Have Always Lived in the Castle”, but this book definitely has similar vibes. There is also a folky horror kind of thing going on. I can’t categorize it as folk horror exactly , but it’s definitely got the vibe.
I would highly recommend to readers who enjoy weird books that explore themes of grief, teen angst, depression, isolation, religion, and feelings of loneliness.
doobyus's review against another edition
2.0
I’m not sure about this. It’s well written, but I don’t feel it really went anywhere. There were a few well worn horror tropes: bereaved mother and father, weird religious group, sexy neighbour witch, weird knowing boy, adolescent girl with ‘problems’… but they didn’t fully connect or click for me.
If I hadn’t been 16 in the summer of 1976 and had. Holiday in wales during the heatwave I don’t know if I’d have lasted the whole book.
The writer has some promise, I hope she grows
If I hadn’t been 16 in the summer of 1976 and had. Holiday in wales during the heatwave I don’t know if I’d have lasted the whole book.
The writer has some promise, I hope she grows
katcic's review against another edition
5.0
Like the weird progeny of The Wasp Factory and the Wicker Man, roasted under the heat of the hottest summer on record and filtered through an isolated Welsh valley.
lesleylovestea's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0