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sapphirestars's review against another edition
3.0
The title of this collection is what caught my eye, along with starting the first story. The ones that really stood out to me and I feel were 4 stars: You Go Where It Takes You (serial killer or alien?), Wild Acre (werewolf attack at construction site), The Monsters of Heaven (terrifying humanoid angel creatures + family grieving kidnapped son), and The Good Husband (elderly wife kills herself but comes down to breakfast the next day and is slowly becoming something else---last one in the collection and definitely one of the more eerie ones and probably the strongest).
But that is only 4/9 stories. The rest are really blah, don't have a lot of impact, and taper off. So mostly 2 stars.
For a total of 3 stars collectively. I feel like it was worth the read for me for those four stories.
But that is only 4/9 stories. The rest are really blah, don't have a lot of impact, and taper off. So mostly 2 stars.
For a total of 3 stars collectively. I feel like it was worth the read for me for those four stories.
danielgoldman09's review against another edition
3.0
A mixed bag, some of the short stories were excellent (Sunbleached in particular) but most were just okay. Several of the stories also felt like they ended too early and it felt jarring.
thesvnthsense's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Racism, and Suicide
Moderate: Sexual content
kathryn1193's review against another edition
4.0
I almost gave this book a low rating because it made me uncomfortable, but I quickly realized the whole point of the book was to make readers uncomfortable and the author did a wonderful job.
basilisareads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
thecrookedspine's review against another edition
5.0
I read and watch a lot of horror, and it never gets to me, but this got to me. It took me a while to figure out why, but it’s this - the author, aside from writing good stories and characters extremely well, includes beauty. It’s the beauty that makes the horror in this book so horrible, in exactly inverse proportions. He opens up that tender place in your heart, just so he can stab you in it, and it’s exquisite in its terrible sensation.
Reading this has completely changed my understanding of what good horror can (and maybe should) be, and permanently impacted my perspective on what I personally look for in horror. I was also extremely pleasantly surprised by how much surrealism featured in this book, some stories more than others, but always masterfully done.
I highly recommend this book - the author took real risks here and I left reading this with a legitimate respect for him. This was the first thing I’ve read by him, and I’ll be looking into what else he’s written. Also putting in a plug here for the audiobook version because bloody hell did the narrator do a fan-freaking-tastic job. There were multiple occasions his delivery had me literally laughing out loud or feeling weirdly moved or what-have-you. Just an awesome performance.
Fair warning, there are a couple stories with some brief and not very detailed scenes
of animal suffering which are very necessary to the plots (don’t worry though, this is NOT a Nick Cutter situation) - but I’m really sensitive to animal violence/suffering, and even I was able to tolerate this so it really can’t be too bad.
Reading this has completely changed my understanding of what good horror can (and maybe should) be, and permanently impacted my perspective on what I personally look for in horror. I was also extremely pleasantly surprised by how much surrealism featured in this book, some stories more than others, but always masterfully done.
I highly recommend this book - the author took real risks here and I left reading this with a legitimate respect for him. This was the first thing I’ve read by him, and I’ll be looking into what else he’s written. Also putting in a plug here for the audiobook version because bloody hell did the narrator do a fan-freaking-tastic job. There were multiple occasions his delivery had me literally laughing out loud or feeling weirdly moved or what-have-you. Just an awesome performance.
Fair warning, there are a couple stories with some brief and not very detailed scenes
of animal suffering which are very necessary to the plots (don’t worry though, this is NOT a Nick Cutter situation) - but I’m really sensitive to animal violence/suffering, and even I was able to tolerate this so it really can’t be too bad.
fartsimpson's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
a lot of stuff i liked, and a lot of stuff i didn't like at all. i originally picked this up in the midst of my true detective s1 fever, desperate to find something else that captured the sort of feelings and thoughts that season of television put forth. it did kind of scratch that itch. i appreciated the themes in this, the mundanity of what felt supernatural. it felt like real people lived in this world, and it did a great job of exploring the way their working-class lives were affected by these circumstances often forced upon them. "Wild Acre" felt like a particularly good example of all of the things i really liked about this collection. the prose here is beautiful, and i highlighted a lot of passages.
that being said: there is lots and lots of unnecessary, violent misogyny and racism going on here. i don't necessarily think including these concepts in your story inherently makes it worse -- characters in fiction do not have to be morally righteous, in fact i'm much more interested when they aren't -- but in this work they seemed as if they had no greater point, and were tangential to story being told. which begs the ultimate question when you want to include stuff like this in your work, that being: well, why?
there's so much nuance going on here in the writing that is completely lost when it comes to these more difficult concepts. i wanted to like this so much more. the bones of this short story collection are largely my exact niche and preference for content, but it fumbled a lot for me, especially near the end.
that being said: there is lots and lots of unnecessary, violent misogyny and racism going on here. i don't necessarily think including these concepts in your story inherently makes it worse -- characters in fiction do not have to be morally righteous, in fact i'm much more interested when they aren't -- but in this work they seemed as if they had no greater point, and were tangential to story being told. which begs the ultimate question when you want to include stuff like this in your work, that being: well, why?
there's so much nuance going on here in the writing that is completely lost when it comes to these more difficult concepts. i wanted to like this so much more. the bones of this short story collection are largely my exact niche and preference for content, but it fumbled a lot for me, especially near the end.
earthsflare's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
anuraagl's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0