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reed_faster 's review for:
Daphne
by Josh Malerman
What happens when you combine a slasher, a ghost story, and the struggle with anxiety? This book.
After hearing the urban legend about a 7-foot-tall metal-head who had been murdered by basketball players from the high school (depending on who tells the story), Kit start to think about her constantly. Which is, as the legend goes, the worst thing you can do, because it summons her.
To make it worse, Kit suffers from anxiety and feels a lot of shame about it. (SO FREAKING RELATABLE). Despite being a star basketball player and a good student, the one thing she struggles with is ANXIETY. While she isn't the only person to get this ghost story out of her head, she definitely feels responsible for everything that happens because she can't.
This novel was an excellent representation of how anxiety can affect every aspect of your life and the shame some people experience when they aren't able to control their thoughts/body responses. It is the underlying theme for the whole story.
People are dying.
Specifically, female basketball players are dying.
They are being killed by a mysterious weapon that leaves no trace (bare hands).
The adults in this story struggle to believe it could be anyone but a male, because what female could have that kind of strength? Or could be that brutal?
But DAPHNE does.
And she is coming, in her KISS makeup and her denim jacket. She's worse than Jason. She's more like Freddy, as adults can't seem to see her and she gets her power from being in people's thoughts.
When you have anxiety, DAPHNE becomes all you can think about, even when you try not to.
This novel was a pretty brilliant way of combining mental health, a ghost story, and real life consequences of obsession. Definitely recommend for anyone who has ever experienced a panic attack or intrusive thoughts, OR if you love slashers that really do have a good twist.
After hearing the urban legend about a 7-foot-tall metal-head who had been murdered by basketball players from the high school (depending on who tells the story), Kit start to think about her constantly. Which is, as the legend goes, the worst thing you can do, because it summons her.
To make it worse, Kit suffers from anxiety and feels a lot of shame about it. (SO FREAKING RELATABLE). Despite being a star basketball player and a good student, the one thing she struggles with is ANXIETY. While she isn't the only person to get this ghost story out of her head, she definitely feels responsible for everything that happens because she can't.
This novel was an excellent representation of how anxiety can affect every aspect of your life and the shame some people experience when they aren't able to control their thoughts/body responses. It is the underlying theme for the whole story.
People are dying.
Specifically, female basketball players are dying.
They are being killed by a mysterious weapon that leaves no trace (bare hands).
The adults in this story struggle to believe it could be anyone but a male, because what female could have that kind of strength? Or could be that brutal?
But DAPHNE does.
And she is coming, in her KISS makeup and her denim jacket. She's worse than Jason. She's more like Freddy, as adults can't seem to see her and she gets her power from being in people's thoughts.
When you have anxiety, DAPHNE becomes all you can think about, even when you try not to.
This novel was a pretty brilliant way of combining mental health, a ghost story, and real life consequences of obsession. Definitely recommend for anyone who has ever experienced a panic attack or intrusive thoughts, OR if you love slashers that really do have a good twist.