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A review by tifftastic87
My Darling Dreadful Thing by Johanna van Veen
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Alone and afraid Roosje has called to a spirit and bound it to her. Ruth will do anything to protect Roos from any perceived harm. When an older woman offers to take Roos away from her abusive Mama, Ruth is wary and protective, but Roos has never felt safer.
Mostly, I was bored after the first 60 pages. Things happened very slowly which doesnt always bother me but I found tedious here. We spent a lot of time with the characters but I never felt attached to them. Roos is immature and hyper reactive to negative emotions, both things that make sense with her character but do not make for fun reading. She's constantly seeking validation and that combined with the age gap, power dynamic, and emotional maturity of the two characters made it very hard for me to find the love in the story that the author wants us to find. It seemed more like Roos went from an abusive mother to an inappropriate relationship and we capped it off with an abusive relationship with the spirit, Ruth.
The incest was unneeded to make Thomas a bad man, the racism and abuse did that well enough. It started to feel rather gratuitous.
The tension was very low for a gothic horror and everyone just kind of felt exhausting.
Mostly, I was bored after the first 60 pages. Things happened very slowly which doesnt always bother me but I found tedious here. We spent a lot of time with the characters but I never felt attached to them. Roos is immature and hyper reactive to negative emotions, both things that make sense with her character but do not make for fun reading. She's constantly seeking validation and that combined with the age gap, power dynamic, and emotional maturity of the two characters made it very hard for me to find the love in the story that the author wants us to find. It seemed more like Roos went from an abusive mother to an inappropriate relationship and we capped it off with an abusive relationship with the spirit, Ruth.
The incest was unneeded to make Thomas a bad man, the racism and abuse did that well enough. It started to feel rather gratuitous.
The tension was very low for a gothic horror and everyone just kind of felt exhausting.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Death, Blood, Child abuse, Racial slurs, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Racism, and Violence
Moderate: Incest, Infertility, Xenophobia, and Homophobia