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motherhorror 's review for:
Unbury Carol
by Josh Malerman
Thank you to the publisher for an Advanced Reader's Copy for all seven of the Night Worms review group in exchange for honest reviews. This book is out on April 10th.
Of course, after reading Bird Box, I put Josh Malerman in the group of "authors that write books I want to read." Malerman's female protagonist in Bird Box exists in an apocalyptic state of events with a major physical handicap. In this book, Unbury Carol, our protagonist Carol is in a "wild, wild west" setting and also suffers from a major, physical handicap.
But the emphasis really isn't on Carol--it's on the cast of male characters introduced to us through their involvement with her and her strange condition.
I feel like the first 25% of this book was a very slow burn. I figured early on that this wasn't going to be a scary story--this is not horror. So my push here is to make sure horror fans and Bird Box fans, know that.
In the beginning, there is lots of build-up and stage setting, traveling, planning, character building but very little actually happening. There were some phrases or words planted so many times that I actually wondered if there was a hidden treasure map or message of some sort tugging for attention (I don't need to highlight those words, you'll see for yourself).
But hang in there!
The last 75% of the book makes it all worth while.
The tension begins to build, you start becoming very invested in the villains of the story rather than our damsel in distress. The beauty of this tale is that it is so unique and strange it almost feels like it could have come from the mind of Neil Gaiman--like a dark, whimsical fantasy and I kept reminding myself that this came from the same author of Bird Box, so I was pretty impressed with Malerman's versatility. Not to mention, he treats this plot with an attention to detail and a seriousness that makes the book stand by itself, outside any genre-normative stereotypes. This isn't horror, it's not a fantasy, it's not a Western, it's just it's own style and it deserves to be read by fans of just about anything. I also want to say that during the dialog I had with fellow Night Worms and also having read some early reviews (I didn't want to read them but I kind of had to-long story) I kept seeing people talk about how Carol's situation is just another misogynistic plot trope but my argument to that is: Carol's housekeeper, Farrah, evens out the scales and the two women, Farrah and Carol can almost be considered as one--Carol's mind and Farrah's physical execution-to which, she (the two characters) make one, complete and pretty bad ass character. (without getting too spoilery)
My final thoughts: If you are a fan of Malerman, this is one for the collection. It shows his range and his knack for out of the box, imaginative stories. He's writes great characters and brilliant dialog. I'm looking forward to reading Black Mad Wheel and Goblin next. I want a full Malerman collection at the end of the day.
Of course, after reading Bird Box, I put Josh Malerman in the group of "authors that write books I want to read." Malerman's female protagonist in Bird Box exists in an apocalyptic state of events with a major physical handicap. In this book, Unbury Carol, our protagonist Carol is in a "wild, wild west" setting and also suffers from a major, physical handicap.
But the emphasis really isn't on Carol--it's on the cast of male characters introduced to us through their involvement with her and her strange condition.
I feel like the first 25% of this book was a very slow burn. I figured early on that this wasn't going to be a scary story--this is not horror. So my push here is to make sure horror fans and Bird Box fans, know that.
In the beginning, there is lots of build-up and stage setting, traveling, planning, character building but very little actually happening. There were some phrases or words planted so many times that I actually wondered if there was a hidden treasure map or message of some sort tugging for attention (I don't need to highlight those words, you'll see for yourself).
But hang in there!
The last 75% of the book makes it all worth while.
The tension begins to build, you start becoming very invested in the villains of the story rather than our damsel in distress. The beauty of this tale is that it is so unique and strange it almost feels like it could have come from the mind of Neil Gaiman--like a dark, whimsical fantasy and I kept reminding myself that this came from the same author of Bird Box, so I was pretty impressed with Malerman's versatility. Not to mention, he treats this plot with an attention to detail and a seriousness that makes the book stand by itself, outside any genre-normative stereotypes. This isn't horror, it's not a fantasy, it's not a Western, it's just it's own style and it deserves to be read by fans of just about anything. I also want to say that during the dialog I had with fellow Night Worms and also having read some early reviews (I didn't want to read them but I kind of had to-long story) I kept seeing people talk about how Carol's situation is just another misogynistic plot trope but my argument to that is: Carol's housekeeper, Farrah, evens out the scales and the two women, Farrah and Carol can almost be considered as one--Carol's mind and Farrah's physical execution-to which, she (the two characters) make one, complete and pretty bad ass character. (without getting too spoilery)
My final thoughts: If you are a fan of Malerman, this is one for the collection. It shows his range and his knack for out of the box, imaginative stories. He's writes great characters and brilliant dialog. I'm looking forward to reading Black Mad Wheel and Goblin next. I want a full Malerman collection at the end of the day.