aspirin's review
3.0
The epistolary format/collection of fictitious primary sources really worked for me. It felt like a fast-paced way to tell the story and examine the situation from a number of angles. The distinct voices in some of the sources helped me differentiate the characters and enjoy spending time with them individually. Every scene has some degree of conflict or helpful piece of information, and this shunted me through the story very quickly, since I consistently felt rewarded. However, it never really arcs into something. It never meaningfully confronts the questions it sets up or leaves us with even a moderately satisfying resolution. For the long swaths of time we spend with these characters, it wraps up incredibly quickly and not very believably. It feels like it never really knew where it intended to end or what it wanted to tell us about the possibility of a haunting. Perhaps this was for the sake of realism, but it didn’t ultimately work for me.
neilsb's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
slpysnek's review
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
paperwitches's review
4.0
The story of smithy is so well crafted, it instilled a sense of rare terror and sadness in me: mostly because I am sensitive to the plight of animals, and know of many sad stories of human owned chimps.
There are different ways the book tells a story, through letters and transcripts. It is fleshed out spooky story, one that actually scared me and made me uncomfortable which is rare. I would suggest this to those who are more accustomed to serious horror, with little humor and more darkness.
I want to thank Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me an ARC to read, I will be buying this book when it releases!
There are different ways the book tells a story, through letters and transcripts. It is fleshed out spooky story, one that actually scared me and made me uncomfortable which is rare. I would suggest this to those who are more accustomed to serious horror, with little humor and more darkness.
I want to thank Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me an ARC to read, I will be buying this book when it releases!
sorrymyscheduleisbooked's review
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
rikkitikki's review
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
vampirehelpdesk's review
4.0
Definitely an amazing idea, but perhaps not the best execution. This book is rather large, yet not much takes place. I really wish there was more dread to this story, but the concept was worth the read. I’m also a fan of found footage horror, and this did a decent job. Just needed more spooks!!
raforall's review
5.0
STAR review in the April 2021 issue of Library Journal: https://www.libraryjournal.com/?reviewDetail=smithy-2110199
And on the blog [blog link live 4/5/21]: https://raforall.blogspot.com/2021/04/what-im-reading-april-horror-reviews.html
Three Words That Describe This Book: epistolary, extreme unease, realistic frame
Draft review:
The year is 1974 and a group of students join their infamous psychology professor for a groundbreaking study to see if Smithy, a chimp can be taught to have spontaneous communication through sign-language. Housed in a run down mansion in otherwise glamorous Newport, RI, the crew is focused but isolated. When strange and dangerous things start happening, is it that house is haunted by nefarious ghosts who only Smithy can see or are the humans paying a price for the consequences of their animal experimentation? Told in an extremely effective, epistolary style that allows multiple points of view and formats to deliver the details, Smithy begins at a place of extreme unease and never allows the reader to get comfortable, even before a supernatural possibility is revealed. A realistic and unsettling frame, combined with a perfect horror ending that resolves the conflict but leaves the fear open enough that it spills out of the pages of the novel and follows the reader after completion, this is a debut novel that demands attention.
Verdict: An original haunted house tale that confidently moves from uneasy to creepy to all out, “keep the lights blaring” terror with an utterly unique plot and compelling and vivid characters. For fans of the space where true crime, paranormal phenomenons and Horror overlap like in the fiction of Clay McLeodd Chapman and Emily M. Danforth.
Notes:
Great haunted house story with a unique frame-- the Chimp in the study can see the ghost. Starts creepy and unsettlingly and gets all out terrifying by the end.
Promising debut!
The epistolary style never allows the reader to be comfortable even before the supernatural threat comes. Also the whole experiment on a animal from the 1970s is super uneasy to readers today. Well employed frame.
Great overlap for readers who like parapsychology and even true stories of haunted places.
Three Words That Describe This Book: epistolary, extreme unease, realistic frame
And on the blog [blog link live 4/5/21]: https://raforall.blogspot.com/2021/04/what-im-reading-april-horror-reviews.html
Three Words That Describe This Book: epistolary, extreme unease, realistic frame
Draft review:
The year is 1974 and a group of students join their infamous psychology professor for a groundbreaking study to see if Smithy, a chimp can be taught to have spontaneous communication through sign-language. Housed in a run down mansion in otherwise glamorous Newport, RI, the crew is focused but isolated. When strange and dangerous things start happening, is it that house is haunted by nefarious ghosts who only Smithy can see or are the humans paying a price for the consequences of their animal experimentation? Told in an extremely effective, epistolary style that allows multiple points of view and formats to deliver the details, Smithy begins at a place of extreme unease and never allows the reader to get comfortable, even before a supernatural possibility is revealed. A realistic and unsettling frame, combined with a perfect horror ending that resolves the conflict but leaves the fear open enough that it spills out of the pages of the novel and follows the reader after completion, this is a debut novel that demands attention.
Verdict: An original haunted house tale that confidently moves from uneasy to creepy to all out, “keep the lights blaring” terror with an utterly unique plot and compelling and vivid characters. For fans of the space where true crime, paranormal phenomenons and Horror overlap like in the fiction of Clay McLeodd Chapman and Emily M. Danforth.
Notes:
Great haunted house story with a unique frame-- the Chimp in the study can see the ghost. Starts creepy and unsettlingly and gets all out terrifying by the end.
Promising debut!
The epistolary style never allows the reader to be comfortable even before the supernatural threat comes. Also the whole experiment on a animal from the 1970s is super uneasy to readers today. Well employed frame.
Great overlap for readers who like parapsychology and even true stories of haunted places.
Three Words That Describe This Book: epistolary, extreme unease, realistic frame
laurenbookwitchbitch's review
1.0
The idea seemed spooky my enough, a group of researchers set out to teach a baby chimp language in hopes he will communicate w them. They choose to raise him in a big old manor in New Port RI that the school has rented in order to conduct the study and raise the chimp, “Smithy,” as close to a human infant as possible. The book is set up as a series of diary entries, letters, recordings, video footage and interviews after the incident occurs. I was intrigued.
This book could have been should have been 300pgs shorter. My lord is thus pacing poor. I like a slow burn horror but this pace is molasses, reading pages and pages of the different characters backstories and the backstory of the study and the science, we don’t even get the backstory of the mansion until pg 350+ when it is randomly info dumped.
I did like the slowly growing creepiness at first w Smithy signing “woman,” and pointing and the researchers are all confused assuming he is messing up instead of trying to warn them from the true danger, but all of a sudden around the 400th page or so everyone just accepts that “Oh the house is haunted by the Dark Lady Ghost” and “Oh Smithy is either a medium…or possessed.” I straight up laughed. You mean to tell me I read through all this scientifically minded empirical data research stuff only to have the characters throw that to the wind? The book finally culminates w Smithy attacking the researchers one by one, the project is shut down and the animal is forcibly handed over to another lab.
I think it’s supposed to be a mystery about if the ghost was real and Smithy was protecting his caregivers or if Smithy just got older and more aggressive and attacked people outright. Honestly at that point I didn’t even care. A number of ploy lines went nowhere, (for example it’s hinted early on that the main Dr. In charge of the study hires pretty young woman in his undergrad classes to be researcher assistants and then hits on them. This is brought up in one character’s journal entry where he makes advances on her and then is never brought up again), none of the characters are likable, things are way too drawn out and if felt like a chore to read.
This book is also formatted so there are no separate lines for dialogue. It just all runs together in huge paragraphs that are single space. Found it hard to read and kept loosing my place on the page. Not sure why they chose that format.
Honestly just rewatch Planet of the Apes. You’ll have a much better time.
This book could have been should have been 300pgs shorter. My lord is thus pacing poor. I like a slow burn horror but this pace is molasses, reading pages and pages of the different characters backstories and the backstory of the study and the science, we don’t even get the backstory of the mansion until pg 350+ when it is randomly info dumped.
I did like the slowly growing creepiness at first w Smithy signing “woman,” and pointing and the researchers are all confused assuming he is messing up instead of trying to warn them from the true danger, but all of a sudden around the 400th page or so everyone just accepts that “Oh the house is haunted by the Dark Lady Ghost” and “Oh Smithy is either a medium…or possessed.” I straight up laughed. You mean to tell me I read through all this scientifically minded empirical data research stuff only to have the characters throw that to the wind? The book finally culminates w Smithy attacking the researchers one by one, the project is shut down and the animal is forcibly handed over to another lab.
I think it’s supposed to be a mystery about if the ghost was real and Smithy was protecting his caregivers or if Smithy just got older and more aggressive and attacked people outright. Honestly at that point I didn’t even care. A number of ploy lines went nowhere, (for example it’s hinted early on that the main Dr. In charge of the study hires pretty young woman in his undergrad classes to be researcher assistants and then hits on them. This is brought up in one character’s journal entry where he makes advances on her and then is never brought up again), none of the characters are likable, things are way too drawn out and if felt like a chore to read.
This book is also formatted so there are no separate lines for dialogue. It just all runs together in huge paragraphs that are single space. Found it hard to read and kept loosing my place on the page. Not sure why they chose that format.
Honestly just rewatch Planet of the Apes. You’ll have a much better time.
spooky_librarian's review
4.0
I am so glad Inkshares reached out and sent me a copy of this book. When I’d been informed that SMITHY by Amanda Desiree was going to be an epistolary haunted house novel starring a lovable chimpanzee, there was no way in hell I was going to pass on the opportunity to read it.
Our story is set in Newport, Rhode Island 1972 and six collegiate researchers have joined a very important study to teach a chimpanzee by the name of Webster/Smithy to communicate through American Sign Language. However, they are unaware that Trevor Hall, the home they’ve rented for the study, is haunted. Even more disturbing, Smithy is catching on to something dark and unsettling hiding in shadow, lurking in empty corners, something his human charges can’t seem to see with their skeptical human eyes.
This was such a unique haunted house story! Slow-simmering, creepy, and compelling. While some might become frustrated with the pages of study records outnumbering the accounts of paranormal activity, I was fascinated by both as a person who is intrigued by language acquisition and a lover of all things haunted. I personally appreciated getting acquainted with the young researchers as characters and having a chance to grow comfortable with the bonds formed amongst themselves.
I absolutely loved Smithy and readers will find themselves getting into a habit of anthropomorphizing him as if he were a sweet child. The fact that he was constantly frightened by chilling occurrences throughout this OBVIOUSLY haunted house, only to be chastised by his disbelieving owners was frustrating! (Pay attention to your animals when they start acting weird in creepy houses, people)!
Amanda Desiree succeeded in writing a story that was one of a kind and sure to capture animal-loving audiences with an equal love for the paranormal.
(Thank you so much to Inkshares and Amanda Desiree for this beautiful review copy!)
Our story is set in Newport, Rhode Island 1972 and six collegiate researchers have joined a very important study to teach a chimpanzee by the name of Webster/Smithy to communicate through American Sign Language. However, they are unaware that Trevor Hall, the home they’ve rented for the study, is haunted. Even more disturbing, Smithy is catching on to something dark and unsettling hiding in shadow, lurking in empty corners, something his human charges can’t seem to see with their skeptical human eyes.
This was such a unique haunted house story! Slow-simmering, creepy, and compelling. While some might become frustrated with the pages of study records outnumbering the accounts of paranormal activity, I was fascinated by both as a person who is intrigued by language acquisition and a lover of all things haunted. I personally appreciated getting acquainted with the young researchers as characters and having a chance to grow comfortable with the bonds formed amongst themselves.
I absolutely loved Smithy and readers will find themselves getting into a habit of anthropomorphizing him as if he were a sweet child. The fact that he was constantly frightened by chilling occurrences throughout this OBVIOUSLY haunted house, only to be chastised by his disbelieving owners was frustrating! (Pay attention to your animals when they start acting weird in creepy houses, people)!
Amanda Desiree succeeded in writing a story that was one of a kind and sure to capture animal-loving audiences with an equal love for the paranormal.
(Thank you so much to Inkshares and Amanda Desiree for this beautiful review copy!)