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nathegz's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Slavery, and Classism
whatathymeitwas's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I've always been a big fan of other things it somewhat reminds me of at times— two of them being VC Andrews' spooky family epics which tended to be comprised of five books trailing different members of the families, only this contains more of a spelt creeping horror slant; as well as Dark Shadows at times, like someone else mentioned, with its plodding plot rolled around this family.
In this novel (novella?), we get a TON of character development, and some expectations have been set as far as the pacing. While there's only a handful of spooky things that happen in it, they're all relatively impactful. So far everything can just about be reasoned away, aside from a particular happening in one of the houses. Some of the characters seem to have a bit of a catching doubt about Elinor, or they realize something is just a bit off, but things are ramping up slowly enough that she doesn't necessarily draw undue attention. Very interested in seeing where the other five books take me.
I don't often choose to read things that are this long, my reading statistics on Storygraph tend to lean more towards middle sized books, with the most typical being around 300-400 pages, but I specifically picked this one out due to its length— as a whole, obviously, I think the six novels combined makes for something between 800-900 pages. But I was so enthralled with McDowell's writing, and I had glanced over this before choosing The Elementals, that I couldn't stop myself from picking it up immediately.
In this novel (novella?), we get a TON of character development, and some expectations have been set as far as the pacing. While there's only a handful of spooky things that happen in it, they're all relatively impactful. So far everything can just about be reasoned away, aside from a particular happening in one of the houses. Some of the characters seem to have a bit of a catching doubt about Elinor, or they realize something is just a bit off, but things are ramping up slowly enough that she doesn't necessarily draw undue attention. Very interested in seeing where the other five books take me.
I don't often choose to read things that are this long, my reading statistics on Storygraph tend to lean more towards middle sized books, with the most typical being around 300-400 pages, but I specifically picked this one out due to its length— as a whole, obviously, I think the six novels combined makes for something between 800-900 pages. But I was so enthralled with McDowell's writing, and I had glanced over this before choosing The Elementals, that I couldn't stop myself from picking it up immediately.
Content Warnings
Minor: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Racism, Slavery, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism