A review by lilacs_book_bower
What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher

mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

I was looking forward to this re-telling of Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher," but ultimately found it to be just fine.  I think because it is such a short book, the characterization especially suffers.  I didn't find it to be especially tense or scary or sad.  The hares were a bit creepy, though.  I enjoyed there being an answer to the questions in the original short story. (What is happening to Madeline, what is she dying of, what is Roderick's role in all this?) There were a few amusing parts, nearly all from Angus, the servant.  The most interesting part in the whole book to me was what T. Kingfisher does with pronouns, as our narrator's fictional country of origin has something like 8 or 9 pronouns, and it was cool to see TK use those pronouns, which did come into play in the story to a minor extent. The main character also has tinnitus due to exposure to loud weapons during wars as a soldier.  The main reasons I will remember this book are the pronoun usage and
the fact that I keep coming across books with semi-sentient fungi as antagonists
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