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A review by hello_kara
What Feasts at Night by T. Kingfisher
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.5
Loved this sequel to “What moves the dead.” Another review compared this book to a “side-quest in the Witcher game,” and while I’ve only watched the show, I think I have to agree! I totally gives off those vibes, however our main character is very practical and thinks the woes that plague them couldn’t possibly be supernatural… could they?
“What happened in that house on the edge of the tarn was unspeakably awful, but there was nothing supernatural about it. Nature creates horrors enough all by itself.”
After their harrowing experience at the Usher house, they return to a small town in Alex’s home country, steeped in superstition. A recent death prompts whispered talk of a creature called a moroi (which is a type of vampiric ghost in Romanian folklore.) The writing was great, and conveyed that eerie sense of wrongness that is easily brushed off by the characters but nevertheless sticks with them. The silence was a character itself in a way;
“The silence didn’t feel peaceful. It felt thick.”
“Practically between one word and the next, the silence rolled over me like a blanket of fog. The bright morning seemed to wash out around me, the sunlight leaching away. All the tiny bones in my ears, the ones that you never think about, suddenly felt individually swathed in wool.“
I also have to say I really appreciated the portrayal of PTSD, or Soldier’s Heart as it’s described in the book. It’s such an important part of Alex’s character and history.
“I sometimes think the fundamental disconnect with civilians is that they think a war is an event, something neatly bounded on either end by dates. What anyone who’s lived through one can tell you is that it’s actually a place. […] And sometimes, for a little while, I slip over into that other place. The war."
“What happened in that house on the edge of the tarn was unspeakably awful, but there was nothing supernatural about it. Nature creates horrors enough all by itself.”
After their harrowing experience at the Usher house, they return to a small town in Alex’s home country, steeped in superstition. A recent death prompts whispered talk of a creature called a moroi (which is a type of vampiric ghost in Romanian folklore.) The writing was great, and conveyed that eerie sense of wrongness that is easily brushed off by the characters but nevertheless sticks with them. The silence was a character itself in a way;
“The silence didn’t feel peaceful. It felt thick.”
“Practically between one word and the next, the silence rolled over me like a blanket of fog. The bright morning seemed to wash out around me, the sunlight leaching away. All the tiny bones in my ears, the ones that you never think about, suddenly felt individually swathed in wool.“
I also have to say I really appreciated the portrayal of PTSD, or Soldier’s Heart as it’s described in the book. It’s such an important part of Alex’s character and history.
“I sometimes think the fundamental disconnect with civilians is that they think a war is an event, something neatly bounded on either end by dates. What anyone who’s lived through one can tell you is that it’s actually a place. […] And sometimes, for a little while, I slip over into that other place. The war."
Content Warnings
Moderate: War