A review by yellowbinge
Little Neck by Darcie Dennigan

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

 
Publishing date: 09.09.2025 (DD/MM/YYYY) 
Thank you to NetGalley and Fonograf Editions for the ARC. My opinions are my own. 

TLDR: A lyrical exploration of familial trauma. Eerie, flowery, and highly confusing. 2 stars. 


Disclaimer: DNF at 60%

We follow a mute narrator who has been moved from family to family before landing in her current "home" with two gravestone carvers. Now she is part of their "business" and also carves gravestones. All the while she is discovering and/or remembering her past. 

I found the characters to be very distressing. Just written in a way that made my fight or flight go into full fight. I can't put my finger on why, but they gave off bad vibes all around. I also found them to be a little shallow ... Sadly. They do have backstories and personalities, but I didn't find it intriguing enough. 

The story is confusing. I also think the story is described in a misleading way. While yes there is grief, and it follows the business that the characters are in, I do not think our narrator is grieving in that way. She is dealing with a trauma of some kind. Familial trauma. 

Now I have to talk about my biggest problem with this book, and the reason behind my DNF: the writing. I can appreciate some experimental writing. I do enjoy poetry and lyrical works. But the way it was written here? Not for me. The sentences were short and repetitive, and it read like pulling thoughts out of someone slightøly delusional. Could not get into this at all because of this. 

But the vibes from everything else is good. 

Overall, I think this book had potential, but would definitely benefit from a "demo read" with just the first few pages so I could know that it was so harshly condenses into "block pages" and written repetitively and disjointedly. 

Giving this 2 stars, not for me, maybe for you 
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