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ihateprozac 's review for:
And the Trees Crept In
by Dawn Kurtagich
This was a great blend of two things I love in horror: creepy houses and creepy forests. I'd never read any Dawn Kurtagich before and I was pleasantly surprised!
This book has what I term a "fucked up circus funhouse" feel. The characters are trapped in this house where nothing is quite right, but you don't know what the laws of this universe are, and you can't get out of it. As a reader you feel like you're trapped in a bad acid trip, and all you want is for the characters to escape but they become more ensnared by the house by the second.
It's grotesque and unsettling but it creeps up on you slowly and you can't get away!
This book was a weird reading experience in that the first 3/4 had me convinced that it just wasn't well written. It felt like something was missing for me, and the mixed media format was trying too hard to be Night Film or House of Leaves. But then I hit the final act and everything came together perfectly, and the quirks in the writing that I'd perceived as "bad" or "unpolished" suddenly made sense.
That being said - while the ending was well executed I could have used a liiiiiiiiittle more time to sit with these characters. I almost teared up but didn't quite get there. If the ending had been 20 pages longer and more emotive it could have easily bumped this up to 5 stars!
I have [b:The Dead House|22396591|The Dead House (The Dead House #1)|Dawn Kurtagich|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1421353573l/22396591._SY75_.jpg|41818801] on my shelf by this author and now I'm super keen to get to it! There aren't nearly enough YA horrors on the market and it's always such a thrill to find a good one!
CW: child abuse, spousal abuse, suicide
This book has what I term a "fucked up circus funhouse" feel. The characters are trapped in this house where nothing is quite right, but you don't know what the laws of this universe are, and you can't get out of it. As a reader you feel like you're trapped in a bad acid trip, and all you want is for the characters to escape but they become more ensnared by the house by the second.
It's grotesque and unsettling but it creeps up on you slowly and you can't get away!
This book was a weird reading experience in that the first 3/4 had me convinced that it just wasn't well written. It felt like something was missing for me, and the mixed media format was trying too hard to be Night Film or House of Leaves. But then I hit the final act and everything came together perfectly, and the quirks in the writing that I'd perceived as "bad" or "unpolished" suddenly made sense.
That being said - while the ending was well executed I could have used a liiiiiiiiittle more time to sit with these characters. I almost teared up but didn't quite get there. If the ending had been 20 pages longer and more emotive it could have easily bumped this up to 5 stars!
I have [b:The Dead House|22396591|The Dead House (The Dead House #1)|Dawn Kurtagich|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1421353573l/22396591._SY75_.jpg|41818801] on my shelf by this author and now I'm super keen to get to it! There aren't nearly enough YA horrors on the market and it's always such a thrill to find a good one!
CW: child abuse, spousal abuse, suicide