A review by livlamentloathe
Lute by Jennifer Marie Thorne

4.25

Jennifer Thorne does an excellent job introducing main characters who could so easily be unreliable. I won’t say if that exemplifies Nina. But I love how she creates secrets and tensions and allows the narrator to feel like maybe she IS the problem. For us to do the work of deciding. And then after the climactic event, the little traits that we never noticed paint a much more vivid picture. The details are great. And I loved the way Nina thought.

The Day built so well, but the novel never drifted as far into horror as I’d have liked. Also there are no predictions of death a la Final Destination the characters don’t “cheat death” by avoiding a particular fate. It reminded more of The Cabin in the Woods. [spoiler for movie:
The way they bet on who would die and which characters would trigger which events. And basically the conclusion was foregone but how the story played out depended on the individual players
.] But even so, it was very enjoyable. I went in thinking it would be one thing, which it was not. But I really enjoyed the soft ghostly story nonetheless.

Lute was a haunting story about community and resilience and love. About faith and trust and holding onto one another during dark times. And it's also a reminder that you should more fully understand someone before you marry them. Especially a man.

Does the dog die?
NO!! :)


P.S. fuck Hugh.
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