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A review by journeywithrosie
Reprieve by James Han Mattson
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Full Contact Haunted House, Courtroom mystery drama, throwback movie and book references, morally grey characters, social commentary, masterful writing... I didn't know what to expect going into this, but this book is going to stay with me for a while.
I wouldn't call this book a "horror" necessarily, and so I can understand why some people might not like it. Perhaps they went in expecting a fast pace thriller horror book. This book is slow and thoughtful, a tense psychological character study. Yes, there are some horror-filled scenes in the haunted house, but the majority of the book is detailing each character's life leading up to the event, their internal struggles and motivations, and ultimately how they all intertwined.
There are multiple timelines - before Quigley house, the court case after Quigley house, and the present day. There are also multiple POVs. That being the case, there are a lot of moving parts. You'll have to pay attention, at least I did! I usually don't like multiple timelines and POVs, but Mattson did an amazing job with it, I was hooked on each part of the story, and each character felt fully realized and developed, even the most heinous ones.
The reason I am rating 4 instead of 5 is that the more I think of it, the more I wish I got a bit more from the ending of the story. There are a lot of things I wished we were able to see that we never got to. Also, although I loved the social commentary aspects of the story, there were some scenes where it felt like it was a bit hand fisted, which made the dialogue feel forced and fake.
I'm a fan of Mattson, really looking forward to seeing what he publishes next.
I wouldn't call this book a "horror" necessarily, and so I can understand why some people might not like it. Perhaps they went in expecting a fast pace thriller horror book. This book is slow and thoughtful, a tense psychological character study. Yes, there are some horror-filled scenes in the haunted house, but the majority of the book is detailing each character's life leading up to the event, their internal struggles and motivations, and ultimately how they all intertwined.
There are multiple timelines - before Quigley house, the court case after Quigley house, and the present day. There are also multiple POVs. That being the case, there are a lot of moving parts. You'll have to pay attention, at least I did! I usually don't like multiple timelines and POVs, but Mattson did an amazing job with it, I was hooked on each part of the story, and each character felt fully realized and developed, even the most heinous ones.
The reason I am rating 4 instead of 5 is that the more I think of it, the more I wish I got a bit more from the ending of the story. There are a lot of things I wished we were able to see that we never got to. Also, although I loved the social commentary aspects of the story, there were some scenes where it felt like it was a bit hand fisted, which made the dialogue feel forced and fake.
I'm a fan of Mattson, really looking forward to seeing what he publishes next.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Murder, Body horror, and Racism