A troubling, yet funny, book about a young girl embarking on her first 'relationship' with a much older man after her family enters a period of chaos.

Swanna was such an enjoyable character to read through the eyes of. Her 1980s life, as an affluent New York teen with eccentric parents, is so fun to read about.

The ending was both abrupt and a relief, Swanna's holiday 'romance' was a page turner I was wishing to end. I thought the family background was interesting, but in my opinion not explored enough.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book! Definitely pick it up if you're a fan of:

Lolita
The Virgin Suicides
The Girls

Content Warnings

Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors

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challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Starve Acre by Andrew Michael Hurley

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dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

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

4.0

When people ask me now, ‘what kind of books do you enjoy reading?’, my answer will now be Starve Acre.

An atmospheric and brooding folk horror, this is the kind of narrative that pulls you in and never fully satiates your desire to know more. And is all the stronger for it.

In combining a 1970s rural setting with Early Modern folklore, Starve Acre creates a landscape that is familiar and disconcerting, the ominous evil that lurks in the book never fully quantified but ever present.

The plot, which started life as a pseudo-historical short story, focuses around a young family who have recently lost their five year old son in abrupt and unprecedented circumstances. As his mother, Juliette, retreats inside herself with grief, his father, Richard, fixates on the folkloric ancient oak that once stood in the grounds of his family house. Their expressions of grief unite as they edge closer and closer to the occult.

This was a fantastic reading experience, one that gently lapped into horror in a way that felt quite natural against the realism of a grieving family. I found the characters, whilst simply written, able to draw me into their world, and the setting of their family home one I wanted to escape and remain in for chapter after chapter.

The book is divided into two narratives, their lives before Ewan’s death and their lives after, and the narrative watches as the two set on a collision course. I found the resurfacing of memories as Richard grieved a perfect way to introduce the complexity of their relationship with Ewan, who was struggling socially in the final months of his life. The descriptions of the landscape, the village, and its culture really built on the tension in the novel, adding a combination of beauty and anticipation as they move closer and closer to Ewan’s death.

I do really feel like the book needed one or two more chapters, as the ending felt a little rushed. That is not to say I didn’t enjoy it, but for me it spilt the rising tension a little early and could have benefitted from implementing the slow pace it had throughout the rest of the novel. I loved the near distance of the characters and their emotions, and would love to have seen more at the close of the story.

This is a book for people who like local history, folklore, English traditions, and understated horror. I am now going to be in a constant search for more books like this, so please recommend them!

Every Exquisite Thing by Laura Steven

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced