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A review by furaleii
My Darling Dreadful Thing by Johanna van Veen
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Really enjoyable read. The author says she considers it a love story, but I found the romance in it to defintitely be in the background. Not a bad thing, but if you're reading it expecting it to be a sapphic romance first, mystery horror second, you may be slightly disappointed. That being said, the writing, imagery and scenery, and treatment of the characters was beautiful. I thought the idea that spirits only stay as spirits if they're in a bog or moat, or at least otherwise unable to decompose. The use of bogs was a wonderful addition to a gothic story that I thought was very interesting to learn about.
There were a couple of creepy moments throughout the book, but it wasn't a scary read. The main spirits in the story, Ruth and Peter, are adorable and so love-able; at times, I disliked every single character in the book except for Ruth and Peter, and I adored them. Especially Peter-- he could literally do no wrong. This book made me want my own spirit companion, purely from how sweet Peter was. Willemijn, the older lady who was (I think?) supposed to be made creepy and unsettling, was mostly just hilarious. Her racist comments were rude and annoying, but everything else she said was reminiscent of a grouchy old lady that knows she's all bark and no bite, and I thought her comments were hilarious. She was kind of the comic relief character for me, though she did have her moments that made her less amusing and more disturbing.
Both Agnes and Roos went through so much shit, had so much trauma, that I'm glad they were able to find happiness in each other. The story ended on a bit of a cliffhanger, but I refuse to have a bad ending so I'm automatically assuming it ended in the positive route.
There were a couple of creepy moments throughout the book, but it wasn't a scary read. The main spirits in the story, Ruth and Peter, are adorable and so love-able; at times, I disliked every single character in the book except for Ruth and Peter, and I adored them. Especially Peter-- he could literally do no wrong. This book made me want my own spirit companion, purely from how sweet Peter was. Willemijn, the older lady who was (I think?) supposed to be made creepy and unsettling, was mostly just hilarious. Her racist comments were rude and annoying, but everything else she said was reminiscent of a grouchy old lady that knows she's all bark and no bite, and I thought her comments were hilarious. She was kind of the comic relief character for me, though she did have her moments that made her less amusing and more disturbing.
Both Agnes and Roos went through so much shit, had so much trauma, that I'm glad they were able to find happiness in each other. The story ended on a bit of a cliffhanger, but I refuse to have a bad ending so I'm automatically assuming it ended in the positive route.