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A review by twicomb
The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling
2.0
Stockholm syndrome while literally going in circles
People use the word “literally” when they mean “metaphorically” all the time, but this is not one of those times. These are literal circles that this main character is going in, and not in an interesting way.
This was recommended on a new Goodreads horror list, and why, I do not know. I spent most of the book (1) waiting for an explanation of the “strange things” that kept happening (one never came); (2) watching the main character develop a weird version of Stockholm syndrome (pro tip: it’s not less creepy just because a woman’s developing it toward another woman instead of a man); (3) knowing that at some point there would have to be a face-off with the Chekhov’s gun of a monster (it came at exactly the expected point with exactly the resulting lack of surprise, and ended with a whimper that had no bang); and (4) hoping against hope that continuing to read on would result in a stunning reveal or twist that brought together all the increasingly random “plot points” in a way that made me go 180 on my growing irritation with the book (this did not occur).
Word to the aspiring horror writer: tossing in random spooky elements like figures in the dark and weird glowing spores doesn’t make a story scary, if those elements never have any reason for their inclusion beyond just being there to be spooky.
This is the second book in a row I’ve finished from that particular GR horror list, the first being Silver Nitrate. That book was 3 stars, so it wasn’t great either, but this one was even worse. I had been excited about several of the other titles on the list based on their descriptions, but now that excitement is giving way to a sinking dread that those titles are going to let me down too. I’ll give one more title a try and see if the list can redeem itself.
TL;DR: save your time and read something else. Even if you came here from that GR horror list. Especially if you came here from that list.
People use the word “literally” when they mean “metaphorically” all the time, but this is not one of those times. These are literal circles that this main character is going in, and not in an interesting way.
This was recommended on a new Goodreads horror list, and why, I do not know. I spent most of the book (1) waiting for an explanation of the “strange things” that kept happening (one never came); (2) watching the main character develop a weird version of Stockholm syndrome (pro tip: it’s not less creepy just because a woman’s developing it toward another woman instead of a man); (3) knowing that at some point there would have to be a face-off with the Chekhov’s gun of a monster (it came at exactly the expected point with exactly the resulting lack of surprise, and ended with a whimper that had no bang); and (4) hoping against hope that continuing to read on would result in a stunning reveal or twist that brought together all the increasingly random “plot points” in a way that made me go 180 on my growing irritation with the book (this did not occur).
Word to the aspiring horror writer: tossing in random spooky elements like figures in the dark and weird glowing spores doesn’t make a story scary, if those elements never have any reason for their inclusion beyond just being there to be spooky.
This is the second book in a row I’ve finished from that particular GR horror list, the first being Silver Nitrate. That book was 3 stars, so it wasn’t great either, but this one was even worse. I had been excited about several of the other titles on the list based on their descriptions, but now that excitement is giving way to a sinking dread that those titles are going to let me down too. I’ll give one more title a try and see if the list can redeem itself.
TL;DR: save your time and read something else. Even if you came here from that GR horror list. Especially if you came here from that list.