jaydoncornell's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
ghost_story's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
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
3.75
haunted_atoms's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Eh. I liked the narrator and therefore the way the story was told, I just was not that into the actual story. It seems like something I should definitely enjoy but I just never got hooked. Actually I lost the thread too often to even be hooked. Not a waste of time, but I didn't love it by any stretch.
kleeble's review against another edition
5.0
This is the best book I've read all year and I've read a lot of really good books.
geofroggatt's review against another edition
2.0
Former film critic turned teacher Lois Cairns is caught in a depressive downward spiral, convinced she's a failure who's spent half her adult life writing about other people's dreams without ever seeing any of her own come true. One night Lois attends a program of experimental film and emerges convinced she's seen something no one else has - a sampled piece of silver nitrate silent film footage whose existence might prove that an eccentric early 20th-century socialite who disappeared under mysterious circumstances was also one of Canada's first female movie-makers. Though it raises her spirits and revitalizes her creatively, Lois's headlong quest to discover the truth about Mrs. A. Macalla Whitcomb almost immediately begins to send her much further than she ever wanted to go, revealing increasingly troubling links between her subject's life and her own. Slowly but surely, the malign influence of Mrs Whitcomb's muse begins to creep into every aspect of Lois's life, even placing her son in danger. But how can one increasingly ill and unstable woman possibly hope to defeat a threat that's half long-lost folklore, half cinematically framed hallucination - an existential nightmare made physical, projected off the screen and into real life?
Content warning for ableism, body horror, gore, child abuse, child death and mention of genocide. There was a lot of things that this book did right. There was an immediate atmosphere that drew me in. I loved the exploration of film studies and a character who is passionate about film history. I liked that this was set in Canada and gave perspective on the Canadian film industry. I like that this book has shown an autistic character that wasn't demonized or shown to be a sinful burden on their parents and caretakers, or generally treated like a morality lesson for other characters to learn from. A lot of books that I love have misrepresented or depicted autistic characters poorly, so it was nice to see it done right here. In this story, Lois loves her son Clark. This is not a selfless love, and I appreciated that. The complexity gives it depth and makes it heartwarming and heartwrenching. Something significant to me is that Lois is also on the spectrum. I like that it acknowledges the hereditary aspect of neurodivergence. While there is explicit ableism in this book, I think it is handled well and not glorified. The story itself meanders and becomes heavy in exposition in the middle of the book which makes it lose a lot of steam. The pacing is definitely slow and could have been edited down in certain parts. Despite my love for the premise and all the individual pieces, it did not converge together or add up in a way that felt rewarding. I just wasn’t as invested in this story as I could have been. I can only recommend this book for those who are intrigued by the premise and wouldn’t mind a slow-burn exploration of the story and film studies.
Content warning for ableism, body horror, gore, child abuse, child death and mention of genocide. There was a lot of things that this book did right. There was an immediate atmosphere that drew me in. I loved the exploration of film studies and a character who is passionate about film history. I liked that this was set in Canada and gave perspective on the Canadian film industry. I like that this book has shown an autistic character that wasn't demonized or shown to be a sinful burden on their parents and caretakers, or generally treated like a morality lesson for other characters to learn from. A lot of books that I love have misrepresented or depicted autistic characters poorly, so it was nice to see it done right here. In this story, Lois loves her son Clark. This is not a selfless love, and I appreciated that. The complexity gives it depth and makes it heartwarming and heartwrenching. Something significant to me is that Lois is also on the spectrum. I like that it acknowledges the hereditary aspect of neurodivergence. While there is explicit ableism in this book, I think it is handled well and not glorified. The story itself meanders and becomes heavy in exposition in the middle of the book which makes it lose a lot of steam. The pacing is definitely slow and could have been edited down in certain parts. Despite my love for the premise and all the individual pieces, it did not converge together or add up in a way that felt rewarding. I just wasn’t as invested in this story as I could have been. I can only recommend this book for those who are intrigued by the premise and wouldn’t mind a slow-burn exploration of the story and film studies.
litwrite's review against another edition
4.0
Definitely enjoyable, and hit a lot of my usual sweet spots - enigmatic, cult director, movies with the power to affect the physical world, but I think that as with Gemma Files' other work that I read, there is just something about her writing that doesn't resonate with me, which I understand to be very much a matter of personal taste. She is obviously well versed in myths and fairy tales of various regions of the world and works them well into her stories but I think sometimes that use of the mythical godlike figure brings me out of the action and takes me far too much into the realm of the etheric. This is of course interspersed with moments of brilliance where I'm just like - wow, what a great turn of phrase (and at which times, I wish I still had my old Sony e-reader rather than my new Kindle Paperwhite because I much preferred the Sony's bookmarking system), but ultimately I find she loses me a lot more than she grabs me with those wow moments.
The plot, however, is definitely exactly the sort of thing I always love, and fans of [b:Night Film|18770398|Night Film|Marisha Pessl|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1397425352s/18770398.jpg|15182838] , [b:Flicker|243162|Flicker|Theodore Roszak|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1386923638s/243162.jpg|235581], or [b:Syndrome E|13589136|Syndrome E|Franck Thilliez|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1337193592s/13589136.jpg|14360342] will definitely enjoy this as well.
The plot, however, is definitely exactly the sort of thing I always love, and fans of [b:Night Film|18770398|Night Film|Marisha Pessl|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1397425352s/18770398.jpg|15182838] , [b:Flicker|243162|Flicker|Theodore Roszak|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1386923638s/243162.jpg|235581], or [b:Syndrome E|13589136|Syndrome E|Franck Thilliez|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1337193592s/13589136.jpg|14360342] will definitely enjoy this as well.
laura_sonja's review against another edition
i found the narrator irritating, and it's due back at the library tomorrow to boot. not for me!
kitten_nuisance's review against another edition
I think after several years of inactivity, I need to call this abandoned at 23%.
turtleintherain's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0