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sheriffrockyraccoon's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
After hearing about this book online from a few influencers, I was intrigued by the plot. It is definitely bizarre and darkly hilarious with a beautiful message at the end.
I did find the antagonist, Patrick Grant, to be a bit 2-dimensional, so the kills didn’t feel as scary as one could expect as you were generally cheering for the monster. While that can be great for some, I definitely enjoy more intriguing bad guys.
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in indie horror or Scottish folk tales. There is also some great dark humor.
I did find the antagonist, Patrick Grant, to be a bit 2-dimensional, so the kills didn’t feel as scary as one could expect as you were generally cheering for the monster. While that can be great for some, I definitely enjoy more intriguing bad guys.
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in indie horror or Scottish folk tales. There is also some great dark humor.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Self harm, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Gun violence, Physical abuse, and Classism
Anything you may expect from a gory slasher film is likely described here.urlocalsleepparalysisdemon's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
(I'm going to ramble, so TLDR at the bottom.)
I should really stop taking book recommendations from TikTok.
Here's what really sucked:
Maybe I'm a cold-hearted bitch, but I couldn't feel more distant from Muriel, who, you know, I should care about as the protagonist. Which is a total shame cause I started out really vibing with her, yet she became so one-note to me that I couldn't sympathize with her anymore. I would rather have read about her being totally delusional about her situation/her going mad than whatever middle state she's in.
Avalon sucks as a monster. The weird iridescent sea blob shapeshifter could have been cool in concept, but he's either useless or seemingly overpowered and immune to harm. He's not scary; he's a plot device to get rid of the "bad" guys, and he's never a threat to Muriel, so who cares? Also, I don't need to know that he has a dick and Muriel had sex with him. Just why...
The "bad" guys are my other big issue because WHO wants to read about such flatly monstrous human beings, whom the story will so obviously punish and who will predictably be defeated by the end. None of them are believable at all, just how it's not believable that Muriel is a "good" person and that she would NEVER want Avalon to harm someone "innocent." But of course, the people Avalon harms are BAD. At least the story goes to huge lengths to convince you so, making the characters cartoonishly evil rather than flawed, greedy human beings that you could still find sympathy for.
For some reason, I hoped that this would turn out to be better. But it didn't get me in my feels, so to speak; the characters didn't charm me; even the body horror underwhelmed me, so there's not much left for me to like here. I'm sorry (not really).
TLDR:
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror
Moderate: Torture
Minor: Animal death and Sexual content
jaedia's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
This book was great. We follow a lovely old Scottish lady called Muriel who is being harrassed by the Grant Organisation, a company own by an American billionaire who has bought out most of Muriel's little home village by the sea to destroy the landscape and build a golf course. He's your basic Trump/Musk/Murdoch guy who thinks money can buy him everything. Nasty piece of work. All Muriel wants to do is live out the rest of her life in peace, but the machines changing her landscape run day and night and it seems every day, another friend takes the money and leaves. Muriel refuses. And then one day she makes an odd discovery that set the wheels of change into motion...
The Haar is a beautiful story with a lot of gore. It's intense, wondrous, and the perfect length. I will have to check out who of Sodergren's stuff!
The Haar is a beautiful story with a lot of gore. It's intense, wondrous, and the perfect length. I will have to check out who of Sodergren's stuff!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, and Classism
Minor: Bullying, Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, and Excrement
wolfism's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
3.75
I'm glad I went into this without knowing what was to come, it was a total random choice for me. Good story! A grievance I have is that the antagonists felt a little too cartoonish in their douchebaggery for my taste. Its strength definitely lied elsewhere and I can't really speak of it without spoiling, but it made for an unexpected light-heartedness and bittersweetness among the body horror - and man am I ever weak for bittersweetness. I sure wish I had someone to talk to about this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Grief and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Animal death and Sexual content
inkdrinkers's review against another edition
dark
funny
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
"Was she all that remained, the last page of the scrapbook, waiting to be filed away for future generations to ignore?"
Muriel Margaret McAuley, a young woman of only 84, refuses to sell her cottage on the Scottish coast. It's the home where she had her children, where she waited for her fisherman husband to come home each evening from the sea - and she will not see it razed to build a golf course. But when she stumbles upon a creature in the fog one evening, she discovers a way to revisit her past and seal her future.
This was nothing short of incredible. I picked this up on a whim because I needed a palette cleanser and heard that it was body horror + gore + monster romance. It's definitely not the monster romance that is currently trending, but it was so impeccably done I'm in a little bit of a stupor after binge reading it in one sitting. There were so many truly wonderful aspects to this novella and I think I might be forever changed by Muriel and Avalon's story.
I don't want to give anything away about this plot. It's the kind of book I'd encourage you go in blind to. I will say - do NOT pick this up if you don't have a strong stomach. It's absolutely packed full of gore, body horror, description of death and bodies and dismemberment, and contains uncomfortable scenes. BUT I would HIGHLY recommend this for fans of Guillermo Del Toro (Shape of Water especially) and classic horror. It's just so well crafted, cozy and bloody.
Content warnings: Violence, Body horror (so SO MUCH. Do not read this if you cannot tolerate blood and viscera), Death, Gore, Torture, Forced institutionalization (threat of, doesn't happen), Animal cruelty/Animal death (chickens are murdered), Sexual content (vague/one scene where consent is blurry/toes the line of sexual violence)
Muriel Margaret McAuley, a young woman of only 84, refuses to sell her cottage on the Scottish coast. It's the home where she had her children, where she waited for her fisherman husband to come home each evening from the sea - and she will not see it razed to build a golf course. But when she stumbles upon a creature in the fog one evening, she discovers a way to revisit her past and seal her future.
This was nothing short of incredible. I picked this up on a whim because I needed a palette cleanser and heard that it was body horror + gore + monster romance. It's definitely not the monster romance that is currently trending, but it was so impeccably done I'm in a little bit of a stupor after binge reading it in one sitting. There were so many truly wonderful aspects to this novella and I think I might be forever changed by Muriel and Avalon's story.
I don't want to give anything away about this plot. It's the kind of book I'd encourage you go in blind to. I will say - do NOT pick this up if you don't have a strong stomach. It's absolutely packed full of gore, body horror, description of death and bodies and dismemberment, and contains uncomfortable scenes. BUT I would HIGHLY recommend this for fans of Guillermo Del Toro (Shape of Water especially) and classic horror. It's just so well crafted, cozy and bloody.
Content warnings: Violence, Body horror (so SO MUCH. Do not read this if you cannot tolerate blood and viscera), Death, Gore, Torture, Forced institutionalization (threat of, doesn't happen), Animal cruelty/Animal death (chickens are murdered), Sexual content (vague/one scene where consent is blurry/toes the line of sexual violence)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Torture
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Sexual content, and Forced institutionalization
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