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A review by honnari_hannya
Horrid by Katrina Leno
3.0
3.5 Stars
Generally don't think YA horror is super effective, but this was one of the most effective I've read yet. For fans that enjoyed the mystery of Rory Power's BURN OUR BODIES DOWN, the protagonists of books like SADIE by Courtney Summers and THE FEMALE OF THE SPECIES by Mindy McGinnis, or just the general vibe of Gillian Flynn's SHARP OBJECTS but age-appropriate for an older teen.
The story begins with Jane and her mother, Ruth, leaving sun-soaked California for the bitter cold of Maine after Greer (husband, father, and general impulse-control of the family) dies suddenly. They end up in Ruth's family home, which has been abandoned since Jane's grandmother passed away; Ruth has never been back since she left two decades ago, and Jane has never set foot in her mother's home town. As with all large, creepy houses, strange and inexplicable things begin to happen as dark family secrets slowly get unravelled.
Pros:
- The creepy house is very creepy. I will say that Leno has a very good instinct for writing dread, which absolutely works in her favor when she leans into the horror aspect of this story.
- Jane is such an unlikeable girl and I love that for her. I am always saying that there should be more unlikeable girls—and unlikeable in a not pretty or endearing way—in YA fiction. She is petty, easily angered, kind of standoffish; honestly one of the most believable teenagers I've read in a long while.
- Did I mention creepy house? Well, there are also creepy children.
Cons: To be honest, these are mostly personal pet peeves that other people might not care about but kept me from giving this a 4 star rating.
- The flirting is so cringy... I guess it's believably cringy? I don't know, it wouldn't kill authors to just not have a love interest.
- Leno has a tendency to overemphasize things that she has already made a point of. Whether it's repeating certain phrases, or stating someone's quirks again and again and again. It gets a little bit tiring and I sometimes glazed over it. I felt like if her editor had just cut out those parts, it would take off at least a third of the page count.
- The repetitiveness also had the effect of distancing me from Jane's emotions at times. We kept getting the same phrases and it never felt like her character got much development; her grief was present, but it was flat, which made me less interested overall in her as a character although I still think she counts as a pro of this book.
- A personal thing, but there is something about Leno's writing that I just don't get on with even though I love her ideas. There is always something a little bit off about her pacing for me—its a slow build, which I don't mind and even prefer, but it feels drawn out for no reason for at least half the book. However, I did think the pay off at the end was so much better than the only other book I read from her, which was [b:You Must Not Miss|38446644|You Must Not Miss|Katrina Leno|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1533654006l/38446644._SY75_.jpg|60073699], and she has the potential to become a favorite if only she just pushes her stories just a little bit more to the side of horror. I can tell she wants to.
Mixed feelings on this, but I would definitely pick up another Katrina Leno book if she writes another horror.
Generally don't think YA horror is super effective, but this was one of the most effective I've read yet. For fans that enjoyed the mystery of Rory Power's BURN OUR BODIES DOWN, the protagonists of books like SADIE by Courtney Summers and THE FEMALE OF THE SPECIES by Mindy McGinnis, or just the general vibe of Gillian Flynn's SHARP OBJECTS but age-appropriate for an older teen.
The story begins with Jane and her mother, Ruth, leaving sun-soaked California for the bitter cold of Maine after Greer (husband, father, and general impulse-control of the family) dies suddenly. They end up in Ruth's family home, which has been abandoned since Jane's grandmother passed away; Ruth has never been back since she left two decades ago, and Jane has never set foot in her mother's home town. As with all large, creepy houses, strange and inexplicable things begin to happen as dark family secrets slowly get unravelled.
Pros:
- The creepy house is very creepy. I will say that Leno has a very good instinct for writing dread, which absolutely works in her favor when she leans into the horror aspect of this story.
- Jane is such an unlikeable girl and I love that for her. I am always saying that there should be more unlikeable girls—and unlikeable in a not pretty or endearing way—in YA fiction. She is petty, easily angered, kind of standoffish; honestly one of the most believable teenagers I've read in a long while.
- Did I mention creepy house? Well, there are also creepy children.
Cons: To be honest, these are mostly personal pet peeves that other people might not care about but kept me from giving this a 4 star rating.
- The flirting is so cringy... I guess it's believably cringy? I don't know, it wouldn't kill authors to just not have a love interest.
- Leno has a tendency to overemphasize things that she has already made a point of. Whether it's repeating certain phrases, or stating someone's quirks again and again and again. It gets a little bit tiring and I sometimes glazed over it. I felt like if her editor had just cut out those parts, it would take off at least a third of the page count.
- The repetitiveness also had the effect of distancing me from Jane's emotions at times. We kept getting the same phrases and it never felt like her character got much development; her grief was present, but it was flat, which made me less interested overall in her as a character although I still think she counts as a pro of this book.
- A personal thing, but there is something about Leno's writing that I just don't get on with even though I love her ideas. There is always something a little bit off about her pacing for me—its a slow build, which I don't mind and even prefer, but it feels drawn out for no reason for at least half the book. However, I did think the pay off at the end was so much better than the only other book I read from her, which was [b:You Must Not Miss|38446644|You Must Not Miss|Katrina Leno|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1533654006l/38446644._SY75_.jpg|60073699], and she has the potential to become a favorite if only she just pushes her stories just a little bit more to the side of horror. I can tell she wants to.
Mixed feelings on this, but I would definitely pick up another Katrina Leno book if she writes another horror.