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versmonesprit's reviews
217 reviews
Thus Were Their Faces by Silvina Ocampo
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
0.25
Talk about a nosedive.
I was hyped to start this story collection, and after a frustrating spoiler-filled “introduction” by Helen Oyeyemi which practically copied and pasted every single thing Jorge Luis Borges had already written in his preface, I fell in love with Ocampo as I read her own introduction. Her tone, feminine and mystical and magical and lyrical, reminded me of the best of Clarice Lispector.
And then the first two stories were such a bummer, but I did not let that get to me, as I was determined to keep on loving Ocampo. And I was rewarded with The Impostor and Autobiography of Irene which were truly breathtaking! And then the tragic nosedive began.
Most of the stories are first person narrations, without any single original voice for any of the narrators. This was worsened by the fact that after a short while you notice that the plots or at least the plot points are pretty much a repetition every single time too. If you’ve read 3, you’ve read it all.
I ended up hating this book so much, hating the fact that it wasted so much of my time because I despised the act of reading it to the point I dragged my feet through it. The comparisons of Mariana Enriquez to Ocampo also became apparent very fast, as both writers set up stories that do nothing but end in the most anticlimactic and least exciting, least original, least enthralling ways possible.
Thinking back on this book is giving me a headache all over again, I can feel my blood pressure rising. Avoid at all costs unless you want to torture yourself with a subpar book.
I was hyped to start this story collection, and after a frustrating spoiler-filled “introduction” by Helen Oyeyemi which practically copied and pasted every single thing Jorge Luis Borges had already written in his preface, I fell in love with Ocampo as I read her own introduction. Her tone, feminine and mystical and magical and lyrical, reminded me of the best of Clarice Lispector.
And then the first two stories were such a bummer, but I did not let that get to me, as I was determined to keep on loving Ocampo. And I was rewarded with The Impostor and Autobiography of Irene which were truly breathtaking! And then the tragic nosedive began.
Most of the stories are first person narrations, without any single original voice for any of the narrators. This was worsened by the fact that after a short while you notice that the plots or at least the plot points are pretty much a repetition every single time too. If you’ve read 3, you’ve read it all.
I ended up hating this book so much, hating the fact that it wasted so much of my time because I despised the act of reading it to the point I dragged my feet through it. The comparisons of Mariana Enriquez to Ocampo also became apparent very fast, as both writers set up stories that do nothing but end in the most anticlimactic and least exciting, least original, least enthralling ways possible.
Thinking back on this book is giving me a headache all over again, I can feel my blood pressure rising. Avoid at all costs unless you want to torture yourself with a subpar book.
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk
emotional
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
It can be difficult to get over what you thought the book would be. What’s insurmountable is what the book could be.
DYPOTBOTD starts off in such a special, mesmerising, magical way that I have no clue how to pin it down, how to explain or express it. The slight surrealism brought on by the absurd nicknames, the eccentric narrator/MC, the almost meditative snowy landscape, the slight eeriness of the initial animal encounters… I wish the book had kept on like that.
Instead I found the blurb misleading, as the deaths are far apart and well, unfortunately it is not the animals doing the good deeds. I eventually shook off my disappointment that the book is not what the blurb made it sound, and surely one thing is true: even at the depths of my disappointment, the book was never not enjoyable. I thoroughly loved the book, and almost 2 days later, I still feel sad it had to end and that I can’t forever stay in it. I really do miss Janina (even though she would’ve hated me for using her name).
And yes, that is despite all the astrology stuff I know is putting off many readers. I found myself scoffing at times too, but it was impossible not to see it as an eccentricity of a character as compelling as our narrator. I loved every bit of the environmentalism, even when it was literally just preaching and not really the story being told. Because nothing said was wrong.
What ultimately made me feel the book missed its potential kind of circles back to the blurb. The book could very well be that, the perpetrators could very well be the animals … and it would have been great. I think the book still had some length to go. This book deserved to be Magnificent. This book deserved to be truly philosophical.
DYPOTBOTD starts off in such a special, mesmerising, magical way that I have no clue how to pin it down, how to explain or express it. The slight surrealism brought on by the absurd nicknames, the eccentric narrator/MC, the almost meditative snowy landscape, the slight eeriness of the initial animal encounters… I wish the book had kept on like that.
Instead I found the blurb misleading, as the deaths are far apart and well, unfortunately it is not the animals doing the good deeds. I eventually shook off my disappointment that the book is not what the blurb made it sound, and surely one thing is true: even at the depths of my disappointment, the book was never not enjoyable. I thoroughly loved the book, and almost 2 days later, I still feel sad it had to end and that I can’t forever stay in it. I really do miss Janina (even though she would’ve hated me for using her name).
And yes, that is despite all the astrology stuff I know is putting off many readers. I found myself scoffing at times too, but it was impossible not to see it as an eccentricity of a character as compelling as our narrator. I loved every bit of the environmentalism, even when it was literally just preaching and not really the story being told. Because nothing said was wrong.
What ultimately made me feel the book missed its potential kind of circles back to the blurb. The book could very well be that, the perpetrators could very well be the animals … and it would have been great. I think the book still had some length to go. This book deserved to be Magnificent. This book deserved to be truly philosophical.
New and Selected Poems: 1962-2012 by Charles Simic
slow-paced
1.0
Some good, majority bad, and some others weird in a non-enchanting, non-endearing way… I had a very difficult time, for the most part, trying to figure out what is meant to be so special about these poems. Needless to say I failed. There is also an ongoing theme of violence against animals in these poems, which was especially noticeable and irksome as I read this after Szymborska’s collected poetry, filled with endless love and compassion for animals. I’d say the majority of Simic’s work was off-putting for me for various reasons, and while I did not have a great time going through this book, I’ll admit some of the poems were Really Very Good.
Gourmet Rhapsody by Muriel Barbery
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
0.25
I get hungry from reading menus, that’s how easily triggered my appetite is. So when you consider that throughout an entire book called Gourmet Rhapsody, I did not once—NOT ONCE—feel any desire for the food written upon (which included some of my absolute favourites) that should be enough proof of just how badly written this is. It’s obvious Barbery doesn’t have a real understanding of food, because her descriptions lack the soul and precision of descriptions and critiques made by actual gourmets. There are things you cannot fake in life, and food criticism is one of them. Trying too hard to sound knowledgeable about food only sounds amateurish.
The titular gourmet’s narration is interrupted by one-off “inputs” from far too many other characters, all of which are basically the exact same thing reheated over and over again . . . and none of the narrators have an authentic voice: the bitter concierge, the sorrowful wife, the cat, the chef, the gourmet… they all sound exactly the same. Makes you wonder why Barbery chose first person narration for her book, when she clearly is not capable of writing first person.
I have nothing but profound animosity for this book that has made reading a dreaded experience for me for the past 4 days. Pure garbage.
The titular gourmet’s narration is interrupted by one-off “inputs” from far too many other characters, all of which are basically the exact same thing reheated over and over again . . . and none of the narrators have an authentic voice: the bitter concierge, the sorrowful wife, the cat, the chef, the gourmet… they all sound exactly the same. Makes you wonder why Barbery chose first person narration for her book, when she clearly is not capable of writing first person.
I have nothing but profound animosity for this book that has made reading a dreaded experience for me for the past 4 days. Pure garbage.
Poems New and Collected by Wisława Szymborska
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
This is my first time reading Szymborska, and I’d like to point out my disappointment that this collection does not include her first 2 books. This is a shame, because I found her earlier works miles better!
Szymborska has a beautiful talent for writing cosy, warm, loving, compassionate, emotional poems about nature and animals. I think that’s where she shines the best. Her poems feel like a secure embrace, calming for the soul.
Her later works include more humorous pieces, and much darker ones too. For me, these did not excel as much. This may very well be due to the fact that these are translated, and poetry (more than any other writing) loses almost all its soul in translation. One thing that makes me doubt the credibility of the translation is that at times there are far too many rhymes to be considered coincidental. I don’t speak Polish, but I don’t think it shares as many words with English as does, say, French, which could explain these rhymes. It’s a shame I can’t read any of these as Szymborska intended, as she wrote them, but it’d be a bigger shame if changes were made to her works just for them to rhyme in English.
Szymborska is inventive in her way of looking at the world, and some of her poems strike so hard despite their delicate apparence. One of her poems, Seen from Above, made me cry, and I can’t get it out of my head. She had so much compassion, so much love for the beautiful life we’re blessed to live in. May she rest in peace.
Szymborska has a beautiful talent for writing cosy, warm, loving, compassionate, emotional poems about nature and animals. I think that’s where she shines the best. Her poems feel like a secure embrace, calming for the soul.
Her later works include more humorous pieces, and much darker ones too. For me, these did not excel as much. This may very well be due to the fact that these are translated, and poetry (more than any other writing) loses almost all its soul in translation. One thing that makes me doubt the credibility of the translation is that at times there are far too many rhymes to be considered coincidental. I don’t speak Polish, but I don’t think it shares as many words with English as does, say, French, which could explain these rhymes. It’s a shame I can’t read any of these as Szymborska intended, as she wrote them, but it’d be a bigger shame if changes were made to her works just for them to rhyme in English.
Szymborska is inventive in her way of looking at the world, and some of her poems strike so hard despite their delicate apparence. One of her poems, Seen from Above, made me cry, and I can’t get it out of my head. She had so much compassion, so much love for the beautiful life we’re blessed to live in. May she rest in peace.
The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
0.25
I can’t say this started off great, because it wasn’t the best. But the whole of the first chapter was good, I loved its ending.
And then it all went downhill. The Clive Barker-esque “saints”, the esoteric nature of the hunt and the resurrection… every promising notion introduced in the first chapter was torn down with the uninspired and cliche plotline of “let’s take down the bad guys and free these victims” we’re all familiar from action movies. This comparison to action movies turned out to be all the more apt, as the book is ultimately inconsequential, our “superheroes” with extraordinary characteristics survive time and time again because they’re extraordinary. YAWN. Double yawn because apparently this is a love story. YIKES.
I listened to the audiobook (the narrator was good!) but apparently it lacks a story that’s present in the ebook! I read that story too, and it only made things worse. The narrative tone is completely different than that present throughout the book. It jumps around, it makes the book all the more self-contradictory.
The author and the characters clearly suffer from amnesia, as they do things they’ve previously spoken against, like the doctor who was enraged by the surgeon-saints returning the soul to the reanimated body, but was so happy when revived exactly this way by the narrator-mermaid.
I’d ask “what was the motivation” but the two main characters lack motivation in everything they do anyway. They’re not believable as characters, and their undying love story that somehow develops within 3 days (the additional story tells us they’ve known each other longer, but the point stands) is even more implausible.
Speaking of the doctor, there’s absolutely no reason they’re called a plague doctor, because they’re not??? If the author clearly had no idea what a *plague* doctor is, why didn’t the editor bother checking what it is???
Anyway, as if the ending with the “our protagonist survives because she has magical powers” wasn’t bad enough, there was an epilogue that just cheapened things further down to a clumsy children’s book too. In case you weren’t nauseated enough to discover this was essentially a superhero romance.
There are more issues with the book, such as the mermaid whose tongue was cut off somehow being familiar with the taste of earth spices, and worse yet, the absolute confusion concerning the setting. The setting appears medieval, but we also have modern scientific terms like phenotypes. The French language exists in this universe, and the mermaid is familiar with Ragnarök and Andersen’s little mermaid story. How??? Why???? I doubt the author knows the answers either. This was just clumsy.
I’m so disappointed the book I was delighting in by the end of the first part devolved this cheaply. It could be something great, it could expand upon its feminist stance, it could certainly take the hungry female monster archetype further with more feminist messages. It could be something special. Instead it’s trash. Congrats, I guess? Because such butchering must be a feat in its own right.
P.S. Not to mention the outright cringy parts, like why was a human-eating mermaid talking about trauma???? Such a cheap move to try to bank on trendy words used without real understanding of their meaning as legit medical terms, and quite funny when you consider which character is talking about it (yes, you guessed it, the malevolent monster!)
P.P.S. I forgot to mention that both “proletariat” and “bourgeois” are used in this book. Do either of the author and the editor know what they mean?? Because WHAT on earth were those words doing in this book??? Spoken nonetheless by a flesh eating mermaid??? I’m begging authors to look up words they don’t know specifically, just because Google lists it as a synonym for your layman words doesn’t mean it says what you think it does. Good grief.
And then it all went downhill. The Clive Barker-esque “saints”, the esoteric nature of the hunt and the resurrection… every promising notion introduced in the first chapter was torn down with the uninspired and cliche plotline of “let’s take down the bad guys and free these victims” we’re all familiar from action movies. This comparison to action movies turned out to be all the more apt, as the book is ultimately inconsequential, our “superheroes” with extraordinary characteristics survive time and time again because they’re extraordinary. YAWN. Double yawn because apparently this is a love story. YIKES.
I listened to the audiobook (the narrator was good!) but apparently it lacks a story that’s present in the ebook! I read that story too, and it only made things worse. The narrative tone is completely different than that present throughout the book. It jumps around, it makes the book all the more self-contradictory.
The author and the characters clearly suffer from amnesia, as they do things they’ve previously spoken against, like the doctor who was enraged by the surgeon-saints returning the soul to the reanimated body, but was so happy when revived exactly this way by the narrator-mermaid.
I’d ask “what was the motivation” but the two main characters lack motivation in everything they do anyway. They’re not believable as characters, and their undying love story that somehow develops within 3 days (the additional story tells us they’ve known each other longer, but the point stands) is even more implausible.
Speaking of the doctor, there’s absolutely no reason they’re called a plague doctor, because they’re not??? If the author clearly had no idea what a *plague* doctor is, why didn’t the editor bother checking what it is???
Anyway, as if the ending with the “our protagonist survives because she has magical powers” wasn’t bad enough, there was an epilogue that just cheapened things further down to a clumsy children’s book too. In case you weren’t nauseated enough to discover this was essentially a superhero romance.
There are more issues with the book, such as the mermaid whose tongue was cut off somehow being familiar with the taste of earth spices, and worse yet, the absolute confusion concerning the setting. The setting appears medieval, but we also have modern scientific terms like phenotypes. The French language exists in this universe, and the mermaid is familiar with Ragnarök and Andersen’s little mermaid story. How??? Why???? I doubt the author knows the answers either. This was just clumsy.
I’m so disappointed the book I was delighting in by the end of the first part devolved this cheaply. It could be something great, it could expand upon its feminist stance, it could certainly take the hungry female monster archetype further with more feminist messages. It could be something special. Instead it’s trash. Congrats, I guess? Because such butchering must be a feat in its own right.
P.S. Not to mention the outright cringy parts, like why was a human-eating mermaid talking about trauma???? Such a cheap move to try to bank on trendy words used without real understanding of their meaning as legit medical terms, and quite funny when you consider which character is talking about it (yes, you guessed it, the malevolent monster!)
P.P.S. I forgot to mention that both “proletariat” and “bourgeois” are used in this book. Do either of the author and the editor know what they mean?? Because WHAT on earth were those words doing in this book??? Spoken nonetheless by a flesh eating mermaid??? I’m begging authors to look up words they don’t know specifically, just because Google lists it as a synonym for your layman words doesn’t mean it says what you think it does. Good grief.
Untold Night and Day by Bae Suah
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
0.25
If you need to have a headache for whatever reason, read this book! It’s excruciating! It’s so forced and inorganic in its alleged “magical realism” that it’s nauseating! That’s it, this is my entire manic review! Because just reflecting back on this crap is making me want to drill a hole in my skull!
We Spread by Iain Reid
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
0.25
What happens when a book is misrepresented? This. The worst possible rating.
We Spread is categorised as a psychological thriller, and worse yet, horror. It’s neither. Maybe if someone had the sense to categorise this as literary fiction I might have gone into it with a different set of expectations, might have even liked the book. But I listened to it because I was in the mood for a creepy read, and all along I waited very patiently for the ball to drop, only to realise there was never even a ball.
I’ve started listening to audiobooks more frequently because they help better than music while exercising. I usually stay away from audiobooks because some narrators have a theatre kid complex, and I do not want anyone to yell in my ear. On this front, the audiobook was quite great, as the narrator read calmly.
The book is narrated by Penny, an old woman with dementia, and that’s it. About 20% into the book, she’s finally brought to the care facility the book is said to be set in, and then practically nothing happens.
Upon finishing the book (with the worst opinions) I went around to read reviews on different platforms to see if I could find something to like in the book (which is a thing I do from time to time, I think out of a wish for the book not to have been a complete waste of time) and one user on Reddit (yes I clicked on Reddit, we all do terrible things sometimes, I was just bored of clearly biased “reviews” from newspapers and magazines which are in fact adverts) shared their theory that Penny is a painting. How I loved that premise! How I wish that was the book! Unfortunately it very obviously is not, because any author who could come up with such a clever idea would add clues to suggest it. And instead the conclusion is just tangible human death.
I think the reason people feel unconvinced nothing sinister is happening is because they’re unfamiliar with dementia. Nothing that happens in the book and appears sinister ever ends up anywhere, not even at a suggestion towards anything within the scope of horror. It seems to me people don’t realise just how much dementia patients forget. They forget everything: how much time has elapsed, the order of events, who people around them are at all, who they themselves are. They forget what they like, they forget what they *don’t* like. My grandmother who has Alzheimer’s recently said she’s disgusted by the taste of shrimps… they have always been her favourite food. Before, she drank a whole bottle of beer saying she loves beer… she always hated beer, she never drank anything other than wine and gin. She was hospitalised for COVID, but she’s adamant she has never gotten it and we’re lying when we mention how our entire family eventually caught it. She forgot my father is her son-in-law. She forgets which of her friends she spoke to the second she hangs up the phone. I could go on indefinitely. The point is that yes, people with dementia are as confused and disoriented as Penny is throughout the book. The point is that yes, people with dementia can get paranoid fears, imagine sinister things going on, be distrustful of new people (who would be the caretakers brought in to assist them)…
This book is just the daily life of a woman with dementia. And that could’ve been such a touching premise too, but it’s not done well at all, especially considering this is allegedly a horror novel. The “horror” here is that the employees at care facilities try to keep their elderly patients alive, and as mentally active as possible so they don’t deteriorate faster. That’s all there is. Everything could have been done better — ESPECIALLY the proper categorisation of the book.
We Spread is categorised as a psychological thriller, and worse yet, horror. It’s neither. Maybe if someone had the sense to categorise this as literary fiction I might have gone into it with a different set of expectations, might have even liked the book. But I listened to it because I was in the mood for a creepy read, and all along I waited very patiently for the ball to drop, only to realise there was never even a ball.
I’ve started listening to audiobooks more frequently because they help better than music while exercising. I usually stay away from audiobooks because some narrators have a theatre kid complex, and I do not want anyone to yell in my ear. On this front, the audiobook was quite great, as the narrator read calmly.
The book is narrated by Penny, an old woman with dementia, and that’s it. About 20% into the book, she’s finally brought to the care facility the book is said to be set in, and then practically nothing happens.
Upon finishing the book (with the worst opinions) I went around to read reviews on different platforms to see if I could find something to like in the book (which is a thing I do from time to time, I think out of a wish for the book not to have been a complete waste of time) and one user on Reddit (yes I clicked on Reddit, we all do terrible things sometimes, I was just bored of clearly biased “reviews” from newspapers and magazines which are in fact adverts) shared their theory that Penny is a painting. How I loved that premise! How I wish that was the book! Unfortunately it very obviously is not, because any author who could come up with such a clever idea would add clues to suggest it. And instead the conclusion is just tangible human death.
I think the reason people feel unconvinced nothing sinister is happening is because they’re unfamiliar with dementia. Nothing that happens in the book and appears sinister ever ends up anywhere, not even at a suggestion towards anything within the scope of horror. It seems to me people don’t realise just how much dementia patients forget. They forget everything: how much time has elapsed, the order of events, who people around them are at all, who they themselves are. They forget what they like, they forget what they *don’t* like. My grandmother who has Alzheimer’s recently said she’s disgusted by the taste of shrimps… they have always been her favourite food. Before, she drank a whole bottle of beer saying she loves beer… she always hated beer, she never drank anything other than wine and gin. She was hospitalised for COVID, but she’s adamant she has never gotten it and we’re lying when we mention how our entire family eventually caught it. She forgot my father is her son-in-law. She forgets which of her friends she spoke to the second she hangs up the phone. I could go on indefinitely. The point is that yes, people with dementia are as confused and disoriented as Penny is throughout the book. The point is that yes, people with dementia can get paranoid fears, imagine sinister things going on, be distrustful of new people (who would be the caretakers brought in to assist them)…
This book is just the daily life of a woman with dementia. And that could’ve been such a touching premise too, but it’s not done well at all, especially considering this is allegedly a horror novel. The “horror” here is that the employees at care facilities try to keep their elderly patients alive, and as mentally active as possible so they don’t deteriorate faster. That’s all there is. Everything could have been done better — ESPECIALLY the proper categorisation of the book.
The Passion According to G.H. by Clarice Lispector
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.0
I want to blame the translation, because the thought of not liking something written by Clarice is horrific. And it could very well be the translator’s fault for not conveying her art enough, because the translator Penguin used for this is not the same translator who worked on the marvellous Água Viva.
Don’t get me wrong, The Passion According to G.H. is not entirely devoid of Clarice’s magic: the beginning and the end both sparkle like the most exquisite wine, like the most exquisite waterfall in a fairytale grotto. They’re beautiful. But something happens in the middle, something so banal and artless that I can’t believe it’s written by Clarice, who writes pure magic! It goes on in circles, it’s repetitive to the point I dreaded picking the book up to continue reading, and it feels so stunted because of the way the sentences are chopped and because the narration is an endless series of questions.
Even then her brilliance shines through at moments, and her meditations — nay, straight out philosophy and theology are incredible. Hence my considering The Passion a philosophical novel.
In the end this was still a disappointment. I love transcendental books. I was so sure I would adore this, it was going to be my first Clarice. I’m glad it wasn’t, I might not have picked up another. What makes a transcendental story transcendental is the passion and the fervour, the borderline delirium. The Passion is too sober, too flat.
Still worth a read? Definitely for the beginning and the ending, but I’d suggest not prioritising it. It does not have enough substance, it’s spread too thin in the middle — half the page count, and this might have been another masterpiece.
Don’t get me wrong, The Passion According to G.H. is not entirely devoid of Clarice’s magic: the beginning and the end both sparkle like the most exquisite wine, like the most exquisite waterfall in a fairytale grotto. They’re beautiful. But something happens in the middle, something so banal and artless that I can’t believe it’s written by Clarice, who writes pure magic! It goes on in circles, it’s repetitive to the point I dreaded picking the book up to continue reading, and it feels so stunted because of the way the sentences are chopped and because the narration is an endless series of questions.
Even then her brilliance shines through at moments, and her meditations — nay, straight out philosophy and theology are incredible. Hence my considering The Passion a philosophical novel.
In the end this was still a disappointment. I love transcendental books. I was so sure I would adore this, it was going to be my first Clarice. I’m glad it wasn’t, I might not have picked up another. What makes a transcendental story transcendental is the passion and the fervour, the borderline delirium. The Passion is too sober, too flat.
Still worth a read? Definitely for the beginning and the ending, but I’d suggest not prioritising it. It does not have enough substance, it’s spread too thin in the middle — half the page count, and this might have been another masterpiece.
Whisper of the Woods by Ennun Ana Iurov
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
1.0
I was hoping to love this little graphic novel for its story, even though I wasn’t the biggest fan of the cover art. The plot sounded promising enough as a folk horror, and I’m not a graphic novel person so the illustrations wouldn’t have bothered me.
I was wrong on both parts. The illustration style is a bit too cute for a horror book, especially with the pastel colours. The particular style, I believe, also prevented the depiction of authentic Romanian scenes and textures, which for me took away from the experience because I was expecting folk horror.
At only 96 pages, the book suffers from length, or more so, lack thereof. As it is, it feels like a draft, a storyboard to expand upon. Horror’s effectiveness comes from its build up, from suspense, from creeping terror; everything happened far too fast, far too concisely for anything to have any such effect.
I wish this took much longer to land the folk horror aspect, it would have been an easy 4 stars, and a solid 5 if the illustrations fit the atmosphere better. I did not hate reading this, but I think its shortcomings must be noted for an honest review.
DRC provided by Mad Cave Studios and NetGalley.
I was wrong on both parts. The illustration style is a bit too cute for a horror book, especially with the pastel colours. The particular style, I believe, also prevented the depiction of authentic Romanian scenes and textures, which for me took away from the experience because I was expecting folk horror.
At only 96 pages, the book suffers from length, or more so, lack thereof. As it is, it feels like a draft, a storyboard to expand upon. Horror’s effectiveness comes from its build up, from suspense, from creeping terror; everything happened far too fast, far too concisely for anything to have any such effect.
I wish this took much longer to land the folk horror aspect, it would have been an easy 4 stars, and a solid 5 if the illustrations fit the atmosphere better. I did not hate reading this, but I think its shortcomings must be noted for an honest review.
DRC provided by Mad Cave Studios and NetGalley.