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A review by bookishpriest
Narcissus: A Novella by Adam Godfrey
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Narcissus is a modern horror novella using the Greek legend of Narcissus as the prologue for some supernatural horror.
This is a quick read and succeeds in using the myth of Narcissus as a jumping-off-point for a series of creepy events. It definitely takes some inspiration from the Final Destination franchise with the idea of a stalking horror that can't be escaped, only avoided for a time.
There are four main characters who fall into the " overconfident American tourist who gets themselves into trouble in spite of what the locals say" stereotype. These four folks are, sadly, uninteresting people and other than two of them having been lovers in the recent past, there doesn't seem to be anything remarkable about them at all. It's hard to establish deep characters in a novella, but these four felt entirely two dimensional.
For most of the book, the writing is good. Concise sentences contribute to the fast pace and sense of urgency the characters feel as they try to figure out what is happening to them. The first two chapters frequently suffer from writing that seems to be looking for the biggest synonym available for what's being said. There are a few details that don't seem to make sense and were strange enough that I found myself leaving the story to wonder about them.I can't find any reference to catacombs on Mykonos, but there are famous ones in Milos so why not locate the story where it makes sense? The legend of Narcissus has him die staring at his reflection in a river, so why move the location to an isolated underground pool without even a river running into it? Why is a demigod of Greek legend leaving messages for people in Latin, not Greek? There were also a couple of hand-wave details that didn't seem consistent or sensible to me. Why is there a camera with a reflective lens in one police interview room and not the other?
Overall, the novella was an interesting extension of Narcissus's legend into a contemporary horror space. Worth your time if you want to spend an hour or two on a creepy, fun horror romp on a Greek island. Just don't expect to fall in love with the characters or spend a lot of time here once the pages flip past.
This is a quick read and succeeds in using the myth of Narcissus as a jumping-off-point for a series of creepy events. It definitely takes some inspiration from the Final Destination franchise with the idea of a stalking horror that can't be escaped, only avoided for a time.
There are four main characters who fall into the " overconfident American tourist who gets themselves into trouble in spite of what the locals say" stereotype. These four folks are, sadly, uninteresting people and other than two of them having been lovers in the recent past, there doesn't seem to be anything remarkable about them at all. It's hard to establish deep characters in a novella, but these four felt entirely two dimensional.
For most of the book, the writing is good. Concise sentences contribute to the fast pace and sense of urgency the characters feel as they try to figure out what is happening to them. The first two chapters frequently suffer from writing that seems to be looking for the biggest synonym available for what's being said. There are a few details that don't seem to make sense and were strange enough that I found myself leaving the story to wonder about them.
Overall, the novella was an interesting extension of Narcissus's legend into a contemporary horror space. Worth your time if you want to spend an hour or two on a creepy, fun horror romp on a Greek island. Just don't expect to fall in love with the characters or spend a lot of time here once the pages flip past.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, and Stalking