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traa's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Blood, Death, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Slavery, and Violence
Minor: Car accident
provo's review
dark
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Scared the shit out of me in so many ways, but not enough to give me nightmares, as long as I read in daylight.
Would recommend this to people who like the level of horror that „The Blair Witch Project“ has (because there are things-you-can-see-or-maybe-not in the woods).
The first 25% are the horror of having to clean out a hoarders house and, knowing that this is something I will have to deal with some day, ignited a terror of its own.
The next chapters, up to 65%, were the scariest to me because I found the stuff with the diary, the manuscript, those fucking stones and the question if any of this was real at all - until thankfully foxy, skip and tomas showed up - way scarier than the effigies, though they definitely had their own flavor of fucked up. The intrusive thoughts were actually the worst and they are the reason I put a psychosis content warnings in the review. .
The latter half of the book was still scary, but in a more uncanny way and not as psychological draining as the first half.
To me, this book could have been unreadable (because I can not deal that good with horror) - but all the characters are so loveable and it is clear from the start, that Mouse and her dog will make it out alive.
I will definitely check out other books by T. Kingfisher.
Would recommend this to people who like the level of horror that „The Blair Witch Project“ has (because there are things-you-can-see-or-maybe-not in the woods).
The first 25% are the horror of having to clean out a hoarders house and, knowing that this is something I will have to deal with some day, ignited a terror of its own.
The next chapters, up to 65%, were the scariest to me
The latter half of the book was still scary, but in a more uncanny way and not as psychological draining as the first half.
To me, this book could have been unreadable (because I can not deal that good with horror) - but all the characters are so loveable and it is clear from the start, that Mouse and her dog will make it out alive.
I will definitely check out other books by T. Kingfisher.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Body horror
Moderate: Dementia, Pregnancy, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, and Miscarriage
ilaxaria's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy, Animal death, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Dementia, Death, Alcohol, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Death of parent and Suicidal thoughts
trickphoenix's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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? Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Pregnancy, Violence, Stalking, Injury/Injury detail, and Gaslighting
Minor: Xenophobia, Miscarriage, Kidnapping, Body horror, Alcohol, Murder, and Grief
leaffolk's review
adventurous
dark
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Racism, Body horror, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy
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
chloseencounter's review
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
The Twisted Ones was my second novel by T. Kingfisher, my first being What Moves the Dead. Throughout that story I loved the atmosphere and the style of writing but historical fiction of any kind is just not for me, so I was excited to try something else by her and was not dissatisfied.
Even though the first half of the book was a bit slow, I really enjoyed getting to know our main character and her dog, as well as the relationships she forms with the people in town. The writing style was fun and even though I did find some small bits sorta…this is not how people talk but how the author imagines is a hip way to speak, I still thought a lot of the narration was humorous and I liked Mouse as a person. I’d definitely want to grab a coffee with her. Also the ongoing bit about NPR pledge week was hysterical.
I must say I did think some parts of this book where frightening. I am not someone who scares easily but folklore is probably what frightens me the most in books, when the upside down deer head was looking in Mouse’s window while she “slept”, that definitely made me feel anxious.
The ending was where things kinda flipped for me but I didn’t hate it either, some bits where good and some bits felt meh. I think it was hard for me to feel scared of Anna because faceless monsters are much more frightening than what we can put a name and description tomorrow . The uncanny valley element of folklore creatures is what makes them scary to me personally so even though I thought Anna was bad news, I wasn’t frightened by her either. I also feel like there wasn’t enough hints leading up to her reveal as a character, I just would’ve liked a little more there for her instead of some vague moments where she was seen and then all of a sudden you’re supposed to care, or be scared, or feel really much of anything toward her. Now what I did like is that Foxy and Mouse kept up. I thought Foxy was a sweet and lovable character and I was definitely afraid she would be killed. I’m glad she survived and that her and Mouse continue their friendship. I also appreciated the open ending, we don’t really know what happened to Anna so she could still be out there. That’s definitely an unnerving thought to be in the back of your mind.
Overall this was a solid read that I’d recommend to anyone who enjoys folklore, a good mystery, tense but not too scary or gory, and some fun characters with good humor even in the face of horror. I’ll definitely be trying something else by T. Kingfisher in the future.
Even though the first half of the book was a bit slow, I really enjoyed getting to know our main character and her dog, as well as the relationships she forms with the people in town. The writing style was fun and even though I did find some small bits sorta…this is not how people talk but how the author imagines is a hip way to speak, I still thought a lot of the narration was humorous and I liked Mouse as a person. I’d definitely want to grab a coffee with her. Also the ongoing bit about NPR pledge week was hysterical.
I must say I did think some parts of this book where frightening.
The ending was where things kinda flipped for me but I didn’t hate it either, some bits where good and some bits felt meh.
Overall this was a solid read that I’d recommend to anyone who enjoys folklore, a good mystery, tense but not too scary or gory, and some fun characters with good humor even in the face of horror. I’ll definitely be trying something else by T. Kingfisher in the future.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Stalking, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Kidnapping
thekeytotheend's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-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? No
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Body horror, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Blood, Alcohol, Dementia, Emotional abuse, and Pregnancy
Minor: Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Death of parent, Gun violence, Racism, and Torture
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.