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A review by blackcatkai
Mary: An Awakening of Terror by Nat Cassidy
dark
funny
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
CW: blood, animal death, murder, misogyny, sexual violence, ableism (casual and otherwise), demonization of mental illness, cults, gaslighting, bullying, abuse, ageism, gun violence, racism (don't get me started on the only latina character being blamed for things she didn't do), body shaming/fatphobia, fire, forced institutionalization
too long and drawn out.
I NEED people to get fucking abelistic words & such out of their vernacular. stop using words like schizophrenic to describe things. demonizing and minimizing mental illness & the like is gross & annoying af. the horror genre needs to let this shit go, especially from people who don't deal with or do actual research into the things they're writing about, ok? good talk.
feels like a swing and a miss in an attempt to write a novel about ageism & sexism against cis-women in particular. kudos for trying, I guess? could've used a lot of adjusting at least in length and making the story a bit more cohesive. lots of things seemd thrown at the wall in an attempt to make them stick but ultimately come across feeling muddled & incomplete, for me.
personally feel the afterword made it worse. nothing like a male author admitting to having thoughts like a violent misogynistic serial killer to make you go yikes, bro... imma need a bit more specifics there & less vagueness please, cuz that can NOT be what he meant, even if that's exactly what it sounds like.
idk, the more I think about it, the less I like it, and I kinda wish I could get my time back.... I have read worse books, the beginning of Mary & the parts between Mary & Eleanor while working in the hospital basement were decent. some of the cult portions were fun for me. but overall, I just didn't like this one.
too long and drawn out.
I NEED people to get fucking abelistic words & such out of their vernacular. stop using words like schizophrenic to describe things. demonizing and minimizing mental illness & the like is gross & annoying af. the horror genre needs to let this shit go, especially from people who don't deal with or do actual research into the things they're writing about, ok? good talk.
feels like a swing and a miss in an attempt to write a novel about ageism & sexism against cis-women in particular. kudos for trying, I guess? could've used a lot of adjusting at least in length and making the story a bit more cohesive. lots of things seemd thrown at the wall in an attempt to make them stick but ultimately come across feeling muddled & incomplete, for me.
personally feel the afterword made it worse. nothing like a male author admitting to having thoughts like a violent misogynistic serial killer to make you go yikes, bro... imma need a bit more specifics there & less vagueness please, cuz that can NOT be what he meant, even if that's exactly what it sounds like.
idk, the more I think about it, the less I like it, and I kinda wish I could get my time back.... I have read worse books, the beginning of Mary & the parts between Mary & Eleanor while working in the hospital basement were decent. some of the cult portions were fun for me. but overall, I just didn't like this one.