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mentat_stem 's review for:

The Schatten by Ashley Greathouse
2.75
dark medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

There's a lot of chaos in a narrative that can be excused when it becomes clear that your viewpoint character is insane.  

Most of the action in this book takes place off-screen. It's recounted 3rd hand in a journal or heard from another room or glimpsed in pieces in unreliable memories.

The structure of the story reflects the bonkers elements it's trying to weave together - murder mystery, family secrets, larger mysteries and secrets, experiments, thugs, time, memory, etc. The narrative is non-linear and the narrator thinks in circles a bit. In the end, it's a rather coherent mess. Ultimately this earns the label horror, but there's way too much of everything else before the well-earned on-screen violence commences.

I'm glad that I read this. It's clear that the author was having a TON of fun weaving a dark tale.