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A review by kaitie_reads
The Library at Hellebore by Cassandra Khaw
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
๐ Pitch Black Academia
๐ฉธ Social Critique
๐ Beautiful Body Horror
๐ฉธ Fever Dream Feel
๐ Seriously, WTF is happening
Audiobook Read.
I enjoyed this... but I also don't know wtf I read. All I know is that my ears were peeled open and the story had a grotesque and beautiful fever-dreamlike quality.
I think that perhaps the people looking for a typical dark academia story that unfolds from point A to point B will be disappointed. However, the people who are looking for a story that is enveloped by Khaw's immersive prose with stunning visceral horror will eat this up.
I think personally I would have benefited from reading this with my eyeballs, so for that reason I would like to reread. The story is beautifully narrated, however, I did experience some confusion through the time jumps and exposure to a rather large cast of characters. I like how the plot progressed overall, and there is definitely this overwhelming feeling of dread throughout, but at times I found myself going.... "wait... what?!"
I can't explain what I loved about this book, but the visceral horror is stunning, the pages are drenched in societal critique and as a fan of Khaw's prose, it just worked for me.
๐ฃ๐ฑ๐ช๐ท๐ด ๐๐ธ๐พ ๐ฝ๐ธ ๐๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฐ๐ช๐ต๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ช๐ท๐ญ ๐๐ช๐ฌ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ต๐ต๐ช๐ท ๐๐พ๐ญ๐ฒ๐ธ ๐ฏ๐ธ๐ป ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฎ ๐๐๐ ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ผ ๐ซ๐ธ๐ธ๐ด. ๐๐ต๐ต ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ธ๐พ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฝ๐ผ ๐ช๐ท๐ญ ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ซ๐ช๐ฌ๐ด ๐ฌ๐ธ๐ท๐ฝ๐ช๐ฒ๐ท๐ฎ๐ญ ๐๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ท ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ผ ๐ป๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ ๐ช๐ป๐ฎ ๐ถ๐ ๐ธ๐๐ท.
๐ฉธ Social Critique
๐ Beautiful Body Horror
๐ฉธ Fever Dream Feel
๐ Seriously, WTF is happening
Audiobook Read.
I enjoyed this... but I also don't know wtf I read. All I know is that my ears were peeled open and the story had a grotesque and beautiful fever-dreamlike quality.
I think that perhaps the people looking for a typical dark academia story that unfolds from point A to point B will be disappointed. However, the people who are looking for a story that is enveloped by Khaw's immersive prose with stunning visceral horror will eat this up.
I think personally I would have benefited from reading this with my eyeballs, so for that reason I would like to reread. The story is beautifully narrated, however, I did experience some confusion through the time jumps and exposure to a rather large cast of characters. I like how the plot progressed overall, and there is definitely this overwhelming feeling of dread throughout, but at times I found myself going.... "wait... what?!"
I can't explain what I loved about this book, but the visceral horror is stunning, the pages are drenched in societal critique and as a fan of Khaw's prose, it just worked for me.
๐ฃ๐ฑ๐ช๐ท๐ด ๐๐ธ๐พ ๐ฝ๐ธ ๐๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฐ๐ช๐ต๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ช๐ท๐ญ ๐๐ช๐ฌ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ต๐ต๐ช๐ท ๐๐พ๐ญ๐ฒ๐ธ ๐ฏ๐ธ๐ป ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฎ ๐๐๐ ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ผ ๐ซ๐ธ๐ธ๐ด. ๐๐ต๐ต ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ธ๐พ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฝ๐ผ ๐ช๐ท๐ญ ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ซ๐ช๐ฌ๐ด ๐ฌ๐ธ๐ท๐ฝ๐ช๐ฒ๐ท๐ฎ๐ญ ๐๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ท ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ผ ๐ป๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ ๐ช๐ป๐ฎ ๐ถ๐ ๐ธ๐๐ท.