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ghostieface 's review for:
The Library at Hellebore
by Cassandra Khaw
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I was incredibly excited to read this book... and I am incredibly disappointed. This review contains spoilers!
The imagery is good, but I'm just not scared or feeling tense. I'm bored. The scares come out of nowhere so there's not even build up. Portia, very early onturned into a spider creature but I don't know if it's just her face or if it's her actual body because Alessa just keeps saying spidergirl has mandibles and that she's a "spidercreature".
It very quickly dates itself by referencing pop culture that's probably not relevant to anyone under 25 years old, and instead of making it timeless very clearly sets it in the now. Which very much harms the enjoyment of the piece.
I think I don't like it because Alessa is just...a boring character. I generally like unlikeable female characters but Alessa has no personality outside of being angry. And I understand that the anger is a metaphor forsexual assault stripping away every part of you until anger is all that's left, but the book relies on that for a personality. I couldn't actually tell you anything interesting about Alessa. And I understand a lot of horror uses sexual assault and rape as part of the story but this is Alessa's whole story with nothing else. What doesn't help is every other character is so incredibly interesting that I think the book actually suffers from being a single POV. It would have been vastly improved with POV of others instead of Alessa having to explain about them and having them explain themselves. I would have read forever about Sullivan and Delilah, how Portia spent her time before Hellebore, about Minji and what happened to her. Alessa is so in redibly underdeveloped I have no idea why any character actually likes her.
The narrative pacing also really, REALLY hurts this book; one chapter present, the next past. It cuts the build up and character deaths have no emotional gut punch because you don't actually care about them. You don't KNOW them. It would have been better to have started the book with them being trapped in the library,hear the prophecy and then do all of the before INTO the now, and pick up from the prophecy part. Would have made Portia reveal WAY COOLER.
I will likely not be reading another book by this author.
The imagery is good, but I'm just not scared or feeling tense. I'm bored. The scares come out of nowhere so there's not even build up. Portia, very early on
It very quickly dates itself by referencing pop culture that's probably not relevant to anyone under 25 years old, and instead of making it timeless very clearly sets it in the now. Which very much harms the enjoyment of the piece.
I think I don't like it because Alessa is just...a boring character. I generally like unlikeable female characters but Alessa has no personality outside of being angry. And I understand that the anger is a metaphor for
The narrative pacing also really, REALLY hurts this book; one chapter present, the next past. It cuts the build up and character deaths have no emotional gut punch because you don't actually care about them. You don't KNOW them. It would have been better to have started the book with them being trapped in the library,
I will likely not be reading another book by this author.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Sexual assault, Cannibalism, Sexual harassment