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A review by bearwhocanreadbecauseofmagic
Ghost Story by Peter Straub
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-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? No
3.5
Many of the events in this book feel sporadic and disconnected. There are a lot of moving parts, and for a majority of the reading experience, that makes the story feel over-encumbered. These moving parts begin to fall together in a very satisfying way in the last quarter or so of the book, but I felt that not enough rewarding pieces are fed to the reader throughout the whole of the book to hold attention through anything but willpower.
I wasn’t particularly charmed by any of the protagonists, and the most interesting characters were completely unlikeable. The character work felt a bit flat to me.
I think if you can push through the general character flatness and the stark lack of clues into the seemingly disjointed supernatural events of this story for a large bulk of your time reading, the way it’s all tied together in the end still makes Ghost Story a worthwhile read. It’s rare that a horror gets more horrifying the more you begin to understand.
On a more fully positive note, there were a few truly unsettling horror scenes that were described with all the chilling nuance a horror fan craves that are another selling point for the book.The scene with the bodies in the morgue moving a little whenever the sheriff isn’t looking gave me chills
I wasn’t particularly charmed by any of the protagonists, and the most interesting characters were completely unlikeable. The character work felt a bit flat to me.
I think if you can push through the general character flatness and the stark lack of clues into the seemingly disjointed supernatural events of this story for a large bulk of your time reading, the way it’s all tied together in the end still makes Ghost Story a worthwhile read. It’s rare that a horror gets more horrifying the more you begin to understand.
On a more fully positive note, there were a few truly unsettling horror scenes that were described with all the chilling nuance a horror fan craves that are another selling point for the book.
Moderate: Racism and Suicide
Minor: Violence and Rape