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A review by pseudoliterature
Horrid by Katrina Leno
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
4.5
If there is one thing I'd like to highlight is Katrina Leno's writing, and her ability to write atmospheres and moods in her books. Each of her stories have such a distinctive feeling to them, her magical realism feels mundane in the best way possible, creating these worlds that you feel you might find just around the corner.
However, this book doesn't get the full 5 stars for one reason in particular, and that is the amount of gaslighting in it. This is a completely personal reading taste situation, where this topic in particular is very triggering for me as an individual, it built such a level of anxiety that there where parts of the book that I just couldn't enjoy, even if thought they were well written and did work as important parts of the story as a whole. I can understand the decision she made, story wise, and the anxiety she purposefully creates is part of the mood she builds with this story, it work for the content of the book, and if you don't have troubles reading some motherly gaslighting then I don't think this is going to be something that sours your experience.
Besides that, this is a great book, highly inspired by Agatha Christie (in a not so subtle way) and her frustration building techniques. I'm really excited to see what she writes next
However, this book doesn't get the full 5 stars for one reason in particular, and that is the amount of gaslighting in it. This is a completely personal reading taste situation, where this topic in particular is very triggering for me as an individual, it built such a level of anxiety that there where parts of the book that I just couldn't enjoy, even if thought they were well written and did work as important parts of the story as a whole. I can understand the decision she made, story wise, and the anxiety she purposefully creates is part of the mood she builds with this story, it work for the content of the book, and if you don't have troubles reading some motherly gaslighting then I don't think this is going to be something that sours your experience.
Besides that, this is a great book, highly inspired by Agatha Christie (in a not so subtle way) and her frustration building techniques. I'm really excited to see what she writes next
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Grief
Minor: Emotional abuse