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michaelion's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I adore this book. Not so much for the story, but for the writing! What beautiful writing! In all my years never have my eyes flown across the page so fast. I even stopped to go back and read the descriptions. I hate descriptions. I usually just skip them. Don't get me wrong, the plot itself is good too, but I wasn't expecting the writing alone to appeal to me so much. I was so gripped! This story left my body feeling empty and hollow but also my heart is warm with love?
I didn't like that for so long it all felt confusing. It felt like something was missing, like something was supposed to be between the lines, but not in the metaphorical sense of a book; like there was literally supposed something in between the spacing of the sentences that was missing. I figure, it's a horror/thriller type book, so maybe other horror/thrillers are like that, and even though I knew answers would come at the end it wasn't so frustrating that I wanted to stop. But I did want to add that note in my review.
I also personally don't like when people don't answer questions, and that happens throughout the book. It works as a plot device when you wanna do the misunderstanding / miscommunication type trope, and again I knew all the lore questions would be answered when the pages were getting really thin, but many if not all the characters except Arthur are aloof to their core. Stubbornly aloof. Like it made me dislike the characters a bit more.
Even still I breezed through 200 pages before I realized the sun was coming up again.
Of the handful of things I disliked, that all is made up for in how much I loved the writing. The writing really did something for me. I would love to read another story in this world, even if it's not including any of these same characters. I'm gonna read Szabo's next book. They've got a real craft for words.
I love that everyone's either fruity or implied to be fruity. 5 stars for the fruity family.
In my journal notes i simply wrote "VORE?!?!!" idk leave it to a fellow nonbinary to write vore as a character detail!
I removed .25 because of Arthur. We could've had a happy polyamorous couple living it up in the 1910s with no family curse but no! How can you be so miserable you think "Damn, I gotta strangle that baby." And not even because he thought Rhys was dangerous, just because he was... sad. :/
The fact that Grandmere was centuries old and a supernatural creature and somehow still homophobic?! Girl. She got what was coming to her. Her other major sin was, of course, being French.
I wanna buy this book.
I didn't like that for so long it all felt confusing. It felt like something was missing, like something was supposed to be between the lines, but not in the metaphorical sense of a book; like there was literally supposed something in between the spacing of the sentences that was missing. I figure, it's a horror/thriller type book, so maybe other horror/thrillers are like that, and even though I knew answers would come at the end it wasn't so frustrating that I wanted to stop. But I did want to add that note in my review.
I also personally don't like when people don't answer questions, and that happens throughout the book. It works as a plot device when you wanna do the misunderstanding / miscommunication type trope, and again I knew all the lore questions would be answered when the pages were getting really thin, but many if not all the characters except Arthur are aloof to their core. Stubbornly aloof. Like it made me dislike the characters a bit more.
Even still I breezed through 200 pages before I realized the sun was coming up again.
Of the handful of things I disliked, that all is made up for in how much I loved the writing. The writing really did something for me. I would love to read another story in this world, even if it's not including any of these same characters. I'm gonna read Szabo's next book. They've got a real craft for words.
In my journal notes i simply wrote "VORE?!?!!" idk leave it to a fellow nonbinary to write vore as a character detail!
I removed .25 because of Arthur. We could've had a happy polyamorous couple living it up in the 1910s with no family curse but no! How can you be so miserable you think "Damn, I gotta strangle that baby." And not even because he thought Rhys was dangerous, just because he was... sad. :/
The fact that Grandmere was centuries old and a supernatural creature and somehow still homophobic?! Girl. She got what was coming to her. Her other major sin was, of course, being French.
I wanna buy this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Gore, and Blood
Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Confinement, Homophobia, and War
nutm3g's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
The best summarization of this book's concept is this, highly dysfunctional Addams Family with a nice helping of generational trauma. I really wanted to love this book, but there was just too much that felt lacking. It seemed as if it would be a build-up to healing old wounds, but even to the end tension in the family remained. It is a bit difficult to explain why this book did not reach its potential without giving away any spoilers. Regardless of all it lacked, the concept behind it was creative and entertaining which is why I have it 3 stars in the end.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Gore, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and War
thebaddestbookworm's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy
crackedspines_'s review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
CWs for this review: rape (in PLOT)
OVERALL: I very much did not enjoy this book. Throughout the first half, I only had minor issues, but from there it went steadily downhill. I love the concept and wish I’d been able to enjoy it more.
PLOT: The main/overall plot was really good, and I liked it. But the middle was reeeally slow. Also, the entire Arthur subplot was very disturbing and made me really uncomfortable. The way the Zarrins treated him was shitty (it was addressed at the end, but it still bothered me), and also the fact that practically the entire Zarrin family was either romantically or sexually involved with him was weird. It’s also unclear whether some of those relations were consensual. For example, towards the end of the book when Arthur explains everything that happened to him, he makes it sound as though he had no choice in being with Persephone just because she wanted it. And when Persephone recounts those same events, she doesn’t seem to have gotten his consent, and she was also physically violent towards him. I think the homophobia towards Rhys was never properly addressed. And lastly, this is more of a personal preference, but I thought it was ridiculous how much of the plot relied on Eleanor being really oblivious. Most of the events of the book never would’ve happened if Eleanor just stopped consciously ignoring all of the signs in front of her.
STRUCTURE: No major issues with structure, but the long monologues at the end just didn’t work for me. It was hard to stay interested/invested.
THEME: There was an underlying conflation of violence with romance in this book, which is obviously not good. What really solidified that for me was Persephone telling the story of the time she first went after Arthur to “know what Miklos sees in him”.
CHARACTERS: I liked the queer rep, but I didn’t like the way it was handled. Idk if that makes sense. For the most part it was pretty casual rep, but Eleanor also reacted pretty poorly to finding out that certain characters were queer. And it seemed as if the author/characters were avoiding saying the words “gay” or “queer.” Specifically, when Eleanor sees Arthur dancing with her father, she thinks “Maybe Rhys meant something to him, something I didn’t. Something I could never mean. Maybe Father had, too, once. Arthur was...I didn’t know what Arthur was.” Now obviously Arthur being attracted to men doesn’t mean he’s GAY, but the phrasing makes it seem like Eleanor is specifically avoiding saying gay <i> or </i> queer <i> or </i> bi, etc.
OVERALL: I very much did not enjoy this book. Throughout the first half, I only had minor issues, but from there it went steadily downhill. I love the concept and wish I’d been able to enjoy it more.
PLOT: The main/overall plot was really good, and I liked it. But the middle was reeeally slow. Also, the entire Arthur subplot was very disturbing and made me really uncomfortable. The way the Zarrins treated him was shitty (it was addressed at the end, but it still bothered me), and also the fact that practically the entire Zarrin family was either romantically or sexually involved with him was weird. It’s also unclear whether some of those relations were consensual.
STRUCTURE: No major issues with structure, but the long monologues at the end just didn’t work for me. It was hard to stay interested/invested.
THEME: There was an underlying conflation of violence with romance in this book, which is obviously not good.
CHARACTERS: I liked the queer rep, but I didn’t like the way it was handled. Idk if that makes sense. For the most part it was pretty casual rep, but Eleanor also reacted pretty poorly to finding out that certain characters were queer. And it seemed as if the author/characters were avoiding saying the words “gay” or “queer.” Specifically,
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Blood and Grief
Minor: Body horror and Gore
deepfriedaries's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-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
3.5
The first half of this book was intriguing. And it felt like a winding path, I had no idea where it was going. And then the last 100 pages chewed me up and spit me out with no warning. Brilliant and gut wrenching and the whole time I felt like I had no idea what was going on. A good read.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder
whatellisreadnext's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
"𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯," 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴. "𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦."
𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘴: 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘶𝘱.
After a horrifying incident occurs at her boarding school, Eleanor heads for the only place she knows is safe, back home to her estranged family. But once there, she struggles to fit in with her monstrous relatives, who roam the woods, and read fortunes in the guts of birds.
This had so much potential, the premise was fantastic, and the cover is next level, but it just fell short for me. I'm struggling to put my finger on what bugged me about this one, some of the writing is fantastic, but it never really felt cohesive. I found myself backtracking a lot, thinking I'd missed an important line for the narrative to make sense, and I hadn't, the line just wasn't there.
And you know me, I love a story that is vague, and forces me to guess all of possible outcomes. But when you're guessing the whole way through, and then there are a bunch of plot holes, and the original plot points that had you guessing, probably had no business being there at all... it can get kind of frustrating.
Saying that I did love the dark fantasy elements, the woodland setting, and the main character, Eleanor, fighting with her inner monster. There were so many interesting elements to this book, I think it just needed more time to iron out the kinks.
I can see a lot of people loving this one, the weirdness alone is what kept me reading. It had potential, and I'm excited to see what Szabo releases in the future😁
𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘴: 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘶𝘱.
After a horrifying incident occurs at her boarding school, Eleanor heads for the only place she knows is safe, back home to her estranged family. But once there, she struggles to fit in with her monstrous relatives, who roam the woods, and read fortunes in the guts of birds.
This had so much potential, the premise was fantastic, and the cover is next level, but it just fell short for me. I'm struggling to put my finger on what bugged me about this one, some of the writing is fantastic, but it never really felt cohesive. I found myself backtracking a lot, thinking I'd missed an important line for the narrative to make sense, and I hadn't, the line just wasn't there.
And you know me, I love a story that is vague, and forces me to guess all of possible outcomes. But when you're guessing the whole way through, and then there are a bunch of plot holes, and the original plot points that had you guessing, probably had no business being there at all... it can get kind of frustrating.
Saying that I did love the dark fantasy elements, the woodland setting, and the main character, Eleanor, fighting with her inner monster. There were so many interesting elements to this book, I think it just needed more time to iron out the kinks.
I can see a lot of people loving this one, the weirdness alone is what kept me reading. It had potential, and I'm excited to see what Szabo releases in the future😁
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, and Violence
Moderate: Bullying and Child death
beersbooksandbooos's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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? It's complicated
4.5
I read this book in one day and I enjoyed it. It was confusing at times and I can understand why people didn’t like that. It did have me hooked from the prologue and I only had breaks to eat. I just wish I had more, more of the characters and plot. I loved how bizarre and ultra disturbing this book was and I think it would make a great horror movie. It has taken me a few minutes after I read the book to get my thoughts right. I can’t wait to read more from Rose Szabo and this was an awesome debut novel. Thank you Negalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for letting me read and review this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Murder
weeziesbooks's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This is a bizarre little story that could have been great... if not for the unchecked homophobia.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder
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