A review by seherina
Someone Else’s Horror Story by Rebecca Crunden

dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

Jace Venable is in the process of doing what we all want to do. Live in an isolated place, eating interesting things grown in his own garden, and is setting up a barn as a rental property so that he can quit his job forever. We don't get a sense that he wants more from life; he wants peace and he's so close to getting it! 

And then Jace discovers a runaway boy seeking refuge in his barn. If Jace had kicked Gabe out, I'm sure a lot of people on the AITA subreddit wouldn't have called him an asshole. They would have pointed out that Jace needs to keep himself safe. Someone on the AITA subreddit would also have called him an idiot for going out of his way for a boy who seems to have bloodstains on his clothes. It's Jace's own kindness that is his downfall! 

The shot story form works in Crunden's favour because she paces the book accordingly. We don't have weird gaps in the timeline; it's set over 2 days and works in those days. And as she writes we get a sense of foreboding; perhaps that's because of the genre or because of the clothes; we know something is very wrong. 

I will say that the reason why I didn't give this book a full 5 stars is because I do feel like Jace was incredibly passive towards the end. I know that the point was to highlight his kindness, but some greater reaction would have magnified the horror of this. To a certain extent he has accepted that he can't drag someone else into this, but he also knows that he is unlikely to escape any other way and is not just here.

I'm also a bit concerned as to how they got partners and I really want to know how their marriages went. I would love to read a full series on this family and the curse and what brought us here!

In short, "Someone Else's Horror Story" is a chilling and thought-provoking read that lingers in the mind long after the final page. As readers we do want more (a series), but that's not a drawback!