mbrennhofer 's review for:

Below by Laurel Hightower

4.0

dark reflective tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Very interesting conceit. The intersection of feminism and recent divorce is an excellent use case for the horror genre and I like the specific way Hightower uses horror classics like late night car rides, caves, a mysterious man, etc to draw out the underlying themes she’s getting at. I think this actually could have been served by being a bit longer and hitting more pointedly on some of descriptions of what was happening to Addy and her background interest in horror. I also think the Mads background felt slightly disconnected from the main plot themes and some more work there would have better served the story. But I was engrossed and enjoyed it greatly