A review by kukucocoreads
What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher

dark funny informative mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

I liked individual components of this book, but it felt a little underwhelming as a whole to me. I went back and forth between giving it 3 stars or 4. I think its sitting somewhere between 3.75 and 4.00. 

I read The Fall of the House of Usher in high school. I remember it vaguely, but believe that I enjoyed it. I did refresh my memory before reading this because I was curious about the changes. 

The book's aesthetic immediately grabbed my attention. The cover art is amazing and the title intrigued me. The end page art on the hardcover is also a plus. 

Despite that, I had a really hard time getting into this one. I carried it around in my purse for an entire month and only made it to the third chapter. I'm not sure if this was due to the book or a reading slump, but I just couldn't find the motivation to read it. But then last night I sat down to read and ended up finishing it in one go. 

I really like the main character. I also enjoyed the exploration of gender, identity, and purpose through Easton, Maddy, and Miss Potter in this 1890 landscape. The use of a fictional country was a great way to introduce those themes, though I do feel as if the explanation of the pronouns at the beginning was a little clunky. Rather than expositing it all in one go, I would have preferred a more subtle introduction (such as in the end when Easton asks
"Why is she referring to a child?" when Madeline uses the va/van pronouns for the tarn
as an example). 

There were several moments that I chuckled or laughed out loud and I enjoyed the inclusion of the humor to lighten things up. While this made the story lose some of its atmospheric tension, it gave the characters a little more depth for me. The American bashing was a little much at times, but ultimately it was in good fun and I found it amusing.

 There were some pretty creepy moments and I enjoyed how the hares and fungi were used in this. Where it was going was a bit predictable, but I still enjoyed the journey there. I appreciated how the ending played out and how the
fungi was compared to rabies and the "its not evil, its alien"
message to describe motivations.
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