Review by babyfacedoldsoul - The Staircase in the Woods

babyfacedoldsoul 's review for:

The Staircase in the Woods by Chuck Wendig

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Some of my favourite tropes that I see fumbled often are unlikable but engaging characters. Wendig absolutely nails the trope in this book. He creates very human characters in truly chilling and claustrophobic situations. This book has a lot of trigger warnings so be sure to check them out. I appreciate that even when he's writing about some truly vile human behaviors he does so in a sensitive way and doesn't keep the focus on the topic any longer than necessary. Some of the scenes in this book are truly gruesome. I thought he was going to slip into lazy tropes a couple times but the writing always arched back around to solid narratives and a plot I couldn't step away from. If you've also read Black River Orchard there will be some fun Easter eggs in this book for you.

Content Warnings