Scan barcode
meganpbell's review
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
This is a downright disturbing and deliciously atmospheric work of folkhorror, from hoarderβs house to haunted woods, narrated with unexpected humor by a woman who just wants to keep her dumb dog safe. What I didnβt know until the very end is that this book is inspired by a 1904 classic horror short story by Arthur Machen, and while you can definitely enjoy this book without knowing the story, I felt like I was missing something once I knew!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Gore
Moderate: Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, and Confinement
Minor: Blood, Murder, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Child death, Infertility, Racism, Death of parent, and Dementia
zachisreading's review
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
The Twisted Ones is a book that does a lot of things right. You'll find yourself propelled forward by the main character's wit into a curious mystery that becomes more and more strange the further in you go. The haunting refrain of her step grandfather's journal, from which the book takes it's name, will stick with you between readings. It is a hard book to put down, and even harder to stay away from.
Then, in the last handful of chapters, I felt the book fumbled the dismount. Too much was revealed too fast and too completely. Significant parts of the mystery wind up tossed to the curb in the fantastical reveals. The monsters wind up being too human, largely discarding the eldritch horror that fueled the book up to this point. The unknowable becomes known, at least in part, and that removes some of the terror.
Still, it's not a book to be left unread. It's creeping horror is a lovely, well-crafted thing that could easily have felt dated if not for the protagonist's thoroughly modern voice. Plus, there's a dog. And everyone needs more dogs in their lives. Even fictional ones.
Then, in the last handful of chapters, I felt the book fumbled the dismount. Too much was revealed too fast and too completely. Significant parts of the mystery wind up tossed to the curb in the fantastical reveals. The monsters wind up being too human, largely discarding the eldritch horror that fueled the book up to this point. The unknowable becomes known, at least in part, and that removes some of the terror.
Still, it's not a book to be left unread. It's creeping horror is a lovely, well-crafted thing that could easily have felt dated if not for the protagonist's thoroughly modern voice. Plus, there's a dog. And everyone needs more dogs in their lives. Even fictional ones.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, and Infertility
Minor: Body horror, Car accident, Child abuse, Violence, Blood, Stalking, and Racism
ghostams's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Absolutely loved this book! It was an insanely amazing mix of folklore, family history, isolating energy, small town vibes, and childhood-level fear. Definitely a book I wish I could forget, just to read again, even though it was terrifying in the best way. Plus, the characters are so unique while being regular folk. Also, the dog doesn't die and is arguably the hero!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore
Moderate: Mental illness and Grief
Minor: Racism, Emotional abuse, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Infertility, Confinement, Child death, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Domestic abuse, and Death
kimberlyswalters's review
adventurous
funny
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I started off reading about 60 pages and then finished the rest of the book the following evening, so it is pretty fast paced and fun to read. It gets pretty wild and outlandish, but it doesn't make the story seem dumb or unbelievable. Mouse even talks about how the trauma of the experience is causing issues and that her Aunt has even mentioned that she may need therapy, but Mouse can't talk to a therapist about how she wondered into another world with creatures made of roadkill, earth, and garbage and was almost trapped there to breed for an eternity, so y'know.... It builds up the crazy at a good pace and the characters are written well, so it's fun to imagine them going through this scenerio in heeled boots and pink lipstick like Foxy does.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content, Miscarriage, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, and Infertility
Minor: Death, Dementia, Domestic abuse, and Body horror
There isn't a tag for stillbirth that I see, so I did tag miscarriages as a content warning instead, but they were likely stillbirths. It doesn't go into explicit detail about the births, but the deaths are mentioned briefly._thelitlibrarian's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
4.25 stars
-
TW: Body Horror, Animal Death, Fire/Fire Injury, Death, Confinement, Toxic Relationship, Child Death, Infertility, Racism.
-
A modern folklore-horror take on a classic, this was a good retelling with loads of spooks, sprinkled with a dash of humour. I opted to listen to this via audio and let me tell you, I was constantly looking around to make sure I was alone! After the death of her grandmother Mouse is tasked with returning back to her home in hopes of cleaning and selling the home, at first it doesn't sound like a bad deal but we soon discover that grandma was a hoarder. As Mouse cleans she starts to uncover sinister secrets about the things in the woods. Mouse starts to realize her mistake in coming back - and wonders if sticking around is even worth it.
Although the plot is filled with impossibilities, the level of terror I felt was unreal. Just when I felt like I had things figured out something was thrown into the loop to throw us offguard. I really enjoyed the surrounding cast of characters including Foxy (a neighbour from the surrounding area), and her guard dog Bongo. The added presence of 'safe' characters was what Mouse needed, and also allowed the author to include humourous moments/dialogue in such a serious story. I will say that the 'horror' element (monster) was a tad far-fetched and out of this world, had it been something that could possibly happen in life I would have been a bit more scared! The book has a large buildup that left me a little let down at the end, I feel like the ending was a bit rushed and could have been more action-packed.
Overall this was a great horror read, that kept me captivated until the final moments.
-
TW: Body Horror, Animal Death, Fire/Fire Injury, Death, Confinement, Toxic Relationship, Child Death, Infertility, Racism.
-
A modern folklore-horror take on a classic, this was a good retelling with loads of spooks, sprinkled with a dash of humour. I opted to listen to this via audio and let me tell you, I was constantly looking around to make sure I was alone! After the death of her grandmother Mouse is tasked with returning back to her home in hopes of cleaning and selling the home, at first it doesn't sound like a bad deal but we soon discover that grandma was a hoarder. As Mouse cleans she starts to uncover sinister secrets about the things in the woods. Mouse starts to realize her mistake in coming back - and wonders if sticking around is even worth it.
Although the plot is filled with impossibilities, the level of terror I felt was unreal. Just when I felt like I had things figured out something was thrown into the loop to throw us offguard. I really enjoyed the surrounding cast of characters including Foxy (a neighbour from the surrounding area), and her guard dog Bongo. The added presence of 'safe' characters was what Mouse needed, and also allowed the author to include humourous moments/dialogue in such a serious story. I will say that the 'horror' element (monster) was a tad far-fetched and out of this world, had it been something that could possibly happen in life I would have been a bit more scared! The book has a large buildup that left me a little let down at the end, I feel like the ending was a bit rushed and could have been more action-packed.
Overall this was a great horror read, that kept me captivated until the final moments.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, Body horror, Animal death, Toxic relationship, Infertility, Death, Child death, and Racism
madarauchiha's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.0
β€οΈ 𧑠π π π π my about / byf / CW info carrd: uchiha-madara π π π π 𧑠β€οΈ
I didn't like the tone of it. It was very quirky white girl with the ramona flowers hair who only exists in r/STDH forums. I had no idea it was supposed to feel tense or horrific until I read other reviews. I thought the MC was pretty much a character out of the Scooby Doo universe.
It didn't feel like much happened. MC cleaned the house, went on a hike or two,read a diary, lost a dog, found the dog, and uhh got kidnapped? And then everything was resolved within a day. I think more could've been added like investigative scenes of going to the local library to study missing people near her grandmother's home. Or have a few chapters edited out because it was a bit repetitive. The eldritch horrors didn't feature that much to me.
The surrounding characters just kinda... exist. The writing was passable. It's rather dry horror. It's a slow build, that's for sure. Ok so it turns out it's based off Arther Machen's story 'The White People' which explains the slow building, I think. Those ye olde fuckers sure like taking the long of writing stories.
I think what kinda irritates me is that Foxy gets a name but the Black barista doesn't. Granted the goth barista doesn't either but hm. Suspect to me. ... fake edit: ok so goth barista gets a name. Enid. still waiting on a name for the one Black character. Literally before they even appear the cop gets named but the Black character doesn't. ok... Spoilers he is immediately forgotten after that one scene. Well.
content warnings:
Minor: ableist c slur, animal hunting, anti indigenous racism, burns fire death, child abuse, eating disorders, insects, menstruation, murder, pregnancy, q slur in historical context multiple times, sexual content, snakes, spiders, stillbirth, vomit
Medium: toxic relationships, religion catholicism,
Major: unsanitary hoarding situation, animal death, gore, police, body horror, confinement, prison, murder, fire, arson, demolition, dogs,
I didn't like the tone of it. It was very quirky white girl with the ramona flowers hair who only exists in r/STDH forums. I had no idea it was supposed to feel tense or horrific until I read other reviews. I thought the MC was pretty much a character out of the Scooby Doo universe.
It didn't feel like much happened. MC cleaned the house, went on a hike or two,
The surrounding characters just kinda... exist. The writing was passable. It's rather dry horror. It's a slow build, that's for sure. Ok so it turns out it's based off Arther Machen's story 'The White People' which explains the slow building, I think. Those ye olde fuckers sure like taking the long of writing stories.
I think what kinda irritates me is that Foxy gets a name but the Black barista doesn't. Granted the goth barista doesn't either but hm. Suspect to me. ... fake edit: ok so goth barista gets a name. Enid. still waiting on a name for the one Black character. Literally before they even appear the cop gets named but the Black character doesn't. ok... Spoilers he is immediately forgotten after that one scene. Well.
content warnings:
Minor: ableist c slur, animal hunting, anti indigenous racism, burns fire death, child abuse, eating disorders, insects, menstruation, murder, pregnancy, q slur in historical context multiple times, sexual content, snakes, spiders, stillbirth, vomit
Medium: toxic relationships, religion catholicism,
Major: unsanitary hoarding situation, animal death, gore, police, body horror, confinement, prison, murder, fire, arson, demolition, dogs,
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Gore, Body horror, Confinement, Infertility, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Toxic friendship
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Vomit, and Rape
ju_shi's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Body horror, Cancer, Death of parent, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Infertility, and Miscarriage
keenanmaree's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship
Moderate: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, and Violence
Minor: Animal death, Chronic illness, Dementia, Infertility, Kidnapping, and Racism
More...