A review by dylwaters
What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I love Poe, and I have multiple collections of his writing — so I was excited to read a reimagining of The Fall of the House of Usher. 

The imagery and descriptions were amazing. Not to mention, the cover is absolutely beautiful. But, everything else fell sort of flat. 

The narrator was a bit pretentious and annoying to read at times. The other characters felt almost hallow. And the creation of a fictitious country, whose military history was jammed in at odd places, felt out of place.

I think the narrator having a separate set of pronouns, and no explicit gender, could have worked, but the way it was done felt like it belonged in a different book. It was very unnecessary to the story. 

It was a decent book that had its faults, but personally, I prefer the original.