sjj169's review
4.0
A Rorschach of electromagnetic waves, nothing more than than pareidolia despite their determination to resolve into faces, into whispers, Raudive voices riding the electronic spectrum. And if she stared long enough, she could almost see....
Not that one. Please, not that.
This was a freaky little book. It's unbelievable how much the author packed into just a few short pages!
It reminded me of the tone of the Ring movie but it's completely fresh and new.
One thing though, don't read it at night when you are home by yourself! Note to self...that was dumb.
I received an arc copy of this book from Netgalley/DarkFuse in exchange for an honest review.
Not that one. Please, not that.
This was a freaky little book. It's unbelievable how much the author packed into just a few short pages!
It reminded me of the tone of the Ring movie but it's completely fresh and new.
One thing though, don't read it at night when you are home by yourself! Note to self...that was dumb.
I received an arc copy of this book from Netgalley/DarkFuse in exchange for an honest review.
paulataua's review
3.0
I enjoyed reading it. The story was interesting enough, and the author managed to create an eerie atmosphere at times. It was good, nearly very good, but not quite there. The ending nearly came off, but just wasn’t powerful enough. Having said that, I enjoyed it and will read more of her work in the future.
thatsciencedad's review
5.0
An extremely well written novella.
Dark, rich, engaging and some beautiful language.
A fantastic read.
Dark, rich, engaging and some beautiful language.
A fantastic read.
jamie_loveahorror's review
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
dtaylorbooks's review against another edition
3.0
Another novella from DarkFuse, I ended up liking CONDUITS more than I did BLOODEYE but it was a lot of angst to wade through before anything got interesting. And it only really started to get interesting when the Japanese lore came into play, where a person would basically absorb all the pain of the village into herself by cutting it into her and then the final release would be suicide. So yeah, SUPER trigger warning for this one. Mara cuts herself a lot and then the lore is about a cutting, suicidal martyr. And there’s that.
I like it when an author gets psychological and makes life just as confusing for the reader as it is for the main character. If it’s 100% crazy and it’s obvious that it’s all crazy then there isn’t any fun in that. But with Mara, it was difficult trying to differentiate reality from insanity and it kept me guessing as to whose views of life were real or not.. It keeps me invested in the story. Give it all to me up front and why would I want to keep reading?
It starts super angsty and Mara is all depressed about her dead boyfriend and then ghosts start talking to her except she can’t tell if it’s real or not. When she starts getting really invested in what they’re saying is when she starts to slip and people start to get worried, namely her roommate. It gets more and more difficult to determine what events happened and which Mara dreamed up and that continues to break Mara even more. Even people around her become difficult to discern and the illusion of her world shatters.
What really kept me reading was the lore and the intermittent memories that Mara had of her grandfather and visiting him in Japan. The cultural aspect was far more intriguing than anything else and I liked seeing this heinously dark but sad event unfold. I did feel that the events with Mara’s sister were a bit nonsensical and were thrown in there for added angst but it is what it is. I think if that were to be removed entirely it wouldn’t have made a difference in the grander story.
CONDUITS is an okay book. Major trigger warning on it and I found it far more depressing than scary but I think Loring wove the cultural lore into it pretty well and it made what could have been just a wanking angst fest into something with a bit more meaning and a bit more relevance and it had a purpose to the story instead of SHOCK CUTTING. It wasn’t an issue book. That much was very clear and I liked that. But I don’t think this is horror. Dark, yes. But not really scary.
3
I like it when an author gets psychological and makes life just as confusing for the reader as it is for the main character. If it’s 100% crazy and it’s obvious that it’s all crazy then there isn’t any fun in that. But with Mara, it was difficult trying to differentiate reality from insanity and it kept me guessing as to whose views of life were real or not.. It keeps me invested in the story. Give it all to me up front and why would I want to keep reading?
It starts super angsty and Mara is all depressed about her dead boyfriend and then ghosts start talking to her except she can’t tell if it’s real or not. When she starts getting really invested in what they’re saying is when she starts to slip and people start to get worried, namely her roommate. It gets more and more difficult to determine what events happened and which Mara dreamed up and that continues to break Mara even more. Even people around her become difficult to discern and the illusion of her world shatters.
What really kept me reading was the lore and the intermittent memories that Mara had of her grandfather and visiting him in Japan. The cultural aspect was far more intriguing than anything else and I liked seeing this heinously dark but sad event unfold. I did feel that the events with Mara’s sister were a bit nonsensical and were thrown in there for added angst but it is what it is. I think if that were to be removed entirely it wouldn’t have made a difference in the grander story.
CONDUITS is an okay book. Major trigger warning on it and I found it far more depressing than scary but I think Loring wove the cultural lore into it pretty well and it made what could have been just a wanking angst fest into something with a bit more meaning and a bit more relevance and it had a purpose to the story instead of SHOCK CUTTING. It wasn’t an issue book. That much was very clear and I liked that. But I don’t think this is horror. Dark, yes. But not really scary.
3
inkychaotics's review against another edition
4.0
Intriguing and haunting -- Loring's beautiful command of prose conjures up a poignant novella that will quickly suck you into its world where reality may not be all it seems.
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