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francescajukes_'s review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
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? It's complicated
3.75
georgina_bawden's review against another edition
4.0
A sort of Shirley Jackson does British folk horror vibe. The seventies setting was fun, with a palpable heat wave adding considerable atmosphere. At times strayed close to purple prose territory. No real creep factor but these things are highly subjective! But I am a scaredy cat who can't read horror before bed and I had no such issues here. Manages to avoid cheesiness and makes clichés of the genre feel natural and intriguing.
crosevail's review against another edition
4.0
Clever writing and the pacing of the book really added to the slow creeping build up.
the_evergrowing_library's review against another edition
4.0
‘When I was younger, I used to see if I could make myself cry by imagining myself dead.’
I had no idea what to expect with this one, but it turns out: an atmospheric retro coming of age story, dealing with loss, grief and a heatwave in the 70s.
This an absolute slowburn. Do not be expecting fast paced action with this one, but at just shy of 260 pages it’s not going to be a hard going read.
The writing in this book is completely sublime. I loved all the little details and the perfect atmospheric tone of both style and substance. Honestly if we forget the parts talking about Nif’s tits, it’s probably the best writing I have read in a while.
It gave me Wasp Factory vibes throughout and I think if you enjoyed that, you’ll like this. The use of self created witchcraft elements without being overly leaned into was interesting and I found there to be a lot of OCD elements to it too.
So, It’s not a perfect book and I do feel like outside of our main cast, the village inhabitants seemed very 2-dimensional and “mob” like, but that would be my biggest gripe really.
Witchy, folky, sweaty.
I had no idea what to expect with this one, but it turns out: an atmospheric retro coming of age story, dealing with loss, grief and a heatwave in the 70s.
This an absolute slowburn. Do not be expecting fast paced action with this one, but at just shy of 260 pages it’s not going to be a hard going read.
The writing in this book is completely sublime. I loved all the little details and the perfect atmospheric tone of both style and substance. Honestly if we forget the parts talking about Nif’s tits, it’s probably the best writing I have read in a while.
It gave me Wasp Factory vibes throughout and I think if you enjoyed that, you’ll like this. The use of self created witchcraft elements without being overly leaned into was interesting and I found there to be a lot of OCD elements to it too.
So, It’s not a perfect book and I do feel like outside of our main cast, the village inhabitants seemed very 2-dimensional and “mob” like, but that would be my biggest gripe really.
Witchy, folky, sweaty.
suzie_woo's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I honestly think this book was good. I think it was well done, although I do think that the ending, the big ‘plot twist’ was predictable. But every single character (except poor baby Lorry) was insufferable, especially the main character and all the animal abuse was hard to read. But there was also something very magnetic about the writing, and the surroundings (p.s. this is not a winter book like I thought, definitely should have read during the summer).
halibut's review against another edition
3.0
I found the writing put a little too much effort into trying to maintain a macabre or sinister tone, often overdoing it.
thebookofdanny's review against another edition
2.0
I'm sorry but this re-telling of Scooby Doo on Zombie Island was just too predictable, unrealised and slightly naff.