Reviews with content warning for Child death - Sour Candy

unfortunately Sour Candy was just not totally for me. let me start off with the things I liked about this short novella: the concept - amazing, very spooky. not only does phil end up becoming the parent/haunted by a strange child, everything in his life changes to reflect that. photographs in his house feature the child, his neighbors, friends, coworkers, all know of this child. there seems to be some kind of lore--for lack of a better word--behind this phenomenon, and i would have loved if it was expanded and this was a full-fledged novel.

what i didn't like: the casual first person narration. the unnecessary tasteless language (fortunately not overdone, but definitely could do without). the ending was also kind of ambiguous, not so much in an open-interpretation kind of way but more like there could have been more to it.

i think i'll still give kealan patrick burke's other works a try, he is highly rated and i have a few of his other writings on my tbr list.

Content Warnings

minbyrnes's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Content Warnings

pumpkinpiechey's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark tense fast-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

3.75

Content Warnings

justacowboy's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

I loved this book.
You follow Phil, a man who has never wanted children, who suddenly finds himself a single father with a child he's never seen before in his life. Not only that, everyone around him keeps telling him how he's always had this child and has raised them since the day they were born.
This is a quick read, but is packs a pretty good sized punch. It does very good at building worry and dread. It also had one of my fav scenes I've read in a long time...
"Goodnight, Daddy."
"Goodnight, son."
If you know, then you know.

Content Warnings

keen's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.5

Content Warnings

spookyaurelien's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark mysterious sad 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? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

More...