A review by ashcrash
Devil House by John Darnielle

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

maybe it’s just because i’ve been up darnielle’s ass since i was like 13, but i Loved this book. it’s a lil opaque and confusing and the sentences run on forever, sure, but i feel like u get a really good look into chandler’s brain and how jumbled everything gets as the plot progresses. there were definitely parts where i thought maybe i wasn’t smart enough to be getting the message or just that the message was convoluted, but i think it works itself out by the end and leaves lots of room for thought. i really ended up caring about the characters too and loved the white witch passages especially. second person isn’t normally my bag but it worked super well here. i think darnielle’s writing style either works for you or doesn’t, but it really worked for me.

tagging this as a spoiler just in case but my main complaint is that i spent most of the stylized Song of Gorbonian chapter trying to figure out the font. i like the idea of it, but it was really hard to read that script. as far as the ending goes, i think it was about how he can’t tell the real true story anyway, because as jana’s letter showed he can only show one side of the coin, so he gave us the archetypes true crime types want instead. it was so easy to fall into derrick, seth, alex, and angela because they’re exactly the kind of characters we want and are supposed to root for, in a sort of doomed way.
 

soooooo many thoughts about story and true crime and archetypes and the meanings we make from all of them. definitely not the horror i was expecting from the cover but so so good nonetheless, will definitely be eating my brain for the foreseeable future
Expand filter menu Content Warnings