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A review by lauriereadslohf
Husk: A Contemporary Horror Novel by Dave Zeltserman
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
3.0
I have about 4 old Netgalley titles left on my dash that I need to clear out and I peeked at the reviews of them trying to decide what I wanted to read next. This one had several comments about it being a horror romance. Lots of folks think that is a bad thing and that’s ok because we’re all different. Horror romance blends are one of my favorite things, however! So I went in hoping they weren’t leading me astray.
Charlie Husk tells this story. He’s a young person (creature?) who is tasked with bringing back meat for his clan. You can guess what the meat is, right? He’s equipped with a van and burlap bags and has his routine down until the moment he witnesses a cute blonde - one of <i>them</I> - arguing with a man who ditches her at a rest stop. It should be easy pickin’s for him but he instantly goes all goo-goo eyed over Jill for some reason and instead of throwing her in a bag, he decides to drive her home and even he is confused as to why he does it. During the ride to NY he falls head over heels in the dreaded (if you’re me) insta-love. Ugh, not the insta-love *forever cries in frustration*. I kind of hate it but occasionally it turns out well and I’m able to go with the flow. Unfortunately, the romance part of this story did not work for me because we’re told this story through Charlie’s first person POV only and we never get to know what Jill is thinking at all. In fact, she rarely speaks early on. There is zero chemistry, banter or any of that sweet falling in love sort of feeling that I love to experience. Why is he in love? WHO KNOWS. It’s a little creepy and stalkery even though Charlie’s intentions are sweetly old-fashioned and terribly misguided. So as a romance this was a bit of a dud for me but I’ve read a LOT of romances and I’m super picky about them now.
Anyhow, most of this book is about Charlie trying to fit into Jill’s world. Looking for work in a world that demands a social security number and a birth certificate which he doesn’t have because his clan lives off the grid. This story portrays the struggle of an undocumented person very well and you feel for him because he has skills that he cannot use and has to take a shitty job with a shitty boss who cheats him. It’ll make you a little ragey, most likely. It made me a little ragey but I should probably say that a lot of things make me a little ragey right about now..
I contemplated quitting this book at about the halfway mark because to be honest I was finding it too slow, too mundane and the romance too one-sided but then some things started to happen. I’m not going to tell you about these things because SPOILERS. This is not an over the top gory book by any means but there is a strong sense of menace simmering behind many of the interactions that is done incredibly well. I kept going back to it for that reason and because I did find Charlie strangely endearing. Especially because he is not wrong. Some humans do deserve to be stuffed in the burlap bag 😹!
In the end, I ended up liking this book more than I thought I would after the first half or so. It’s worth a read if you want something a little different.
<i>This is a review of my personal reading experience. Yours may differ. Don't be blaming me if it does!</i>
Charlie Husk tells this story. He’s a young person (creature?) who is tasked with bringing back meat for his clan. You can guess what the meat is, right? He’s equipped with a van and burlap bags and has his routine down until the moment he witnesses a cute blonde - one of <i>them</I> - arguing with a man who ditches her at a rest stop. It should be easy pickin’s for him but he instantly goes all goo-goo eyed over Jill for some reason and instead of throwing her in a bag, he decides to drive her home and even he is confused as to why he does it. During the ride to NY he falls head over heels in the dreaded (if you’re me) insta-love. Ugh, not the insta-love *forever cries in frustration*. I kind of hate it but occasionally it turns out well and I’m able to go with the flow. Unfortunately, the romance part of this story did not work for me because we’re told this story through Charlie’s first person POV only and we never get to know what Jill is thinking at all. In fact, she rarely speaks early on. There is zero chemistry, banter or any of that sweet falling in love sort of feeling that I love to experience. Why is he in love? WHO KNOWS. It’s a little creepy and stalkery even though Charlie’s intentions are sweetly old-fashioned and terribly misguided. So as a romance this was a bit of a dud for me but I’ve read a LOT of romances and I’m super picky about them now.
Anyhow, most of this book is about Charlie trying to fit into Jill’s world. Looking for work in a world that demands a social security number and a birth certificate which he doesn’t have because his clan lives off the grid. This story portrays the struggle of an undocumented person very well and you feel for him because he has skills that he cannot use and has to take a shitty job with a shitty boss who cheats him. It’ll make you a little ragey, most likely. It made me a little ragey but I should probably say that a lot of things make me a little ragey right about now..
I contemplated quitting this book at about the halfway mark because to be honest I was finding it too slow, too mundane and the romance too one-sided but then some things started to happen. I’m not going to tell you about these things because SPOILERS. This is not an over the top gory book by any means but there is a strong sense of menace simmering behind many of the interactions that is done incredibly well. I kept going back to it for that reason and because I did find Charlie strangely endearing. Especially because he is not wrong. Some humans do deserve to be stuffed in the burlap bag 😹!
In the end, I ended up liking this book more than I thought I would after the first half or so. It’s worth a read if you want something a little different.
<i>This is a review of my personal reading experience. Yours may differ. Don't be blaming me if it does!</i>