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3.48 AVERAGE
3.48 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The world of a Bachelor-like reality TV-show meets a haunted house and things get gory, sticky, and bloody. This book has a great cast of female characters and one of the things I loved about it was the interactions "off-camera" between the contestants. Once the cast and crew end up in a very strange and very haunted house, things go off the rails in spectacular fashion and the story gets better the more haunted and gory it gets. Love, romance (fake and real), gore, scares, and some real emotional heft.
Overall, I enjoyed this satirical, often humorous, and supernaturally charged novel.
This is a character driven story on a reality dating show like the Bachelor where a few women who've lasted until the end have to fight it out to be the one picked.
They're last challenge will take place at a supposedly haunted cabin in the woods but things take a turn for the worse once the cast and crew settle in. Crew members disappear, bodies are found, and strange things are happening in the woods.
The remaining women each have secrets and reasons for being on the show other than finding a rich husband and these secrets make up most of the relationship drama between them.
The often hilarious behind the scenes look at reality shows seems about right. They're manipulated, isolated, and encouraged to act crazy because that's what sells.
I really liked the supernatural elements of this novel though I thought it took a tad too long to get to it. I think about halfway through is when they arrived at the cabin. This book is firmly focused on the lives and relationships between characters. And that's not a bad thing. It's fantastic when they're bantering and interacting.
Overall, I would recommend this book if you're looking for something different. Just don't expect a lot of scares for the first half.
This is a character driven story on a reality dating show like the Bachelor where a few women who've lasted until the end have to fight it out to be the one picked.
They're last challenge will take place at a supposedly haunted cabin in the woods but things take a turn for the worse once the cast and crew settle in. Crew members disappear, bodies are found, and strange things are happening in the woods.
The remaining women each have secrets and reasons for being on the show other than finding a rich husband and these secrets make up most of the relationship drama between them.
The often hilarious behind the scenes look at reality shows seems about right. They're manipulated, isolated, and encouraged to act crazy because that's what sells.
I really liked the supernatural elements of this novel though I thought it took a tad too long to get to it. I think about halfway through is when they arrived at the cabin. This book is firmly focused on the lives and relationships between characters. And that's not a bad thing. It's fantastic when they're bantering and interacting.
Overall, I would recommend this book if you're looking for something different. Just don't expect a lot of scares for the first half.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A quick and easy read with a fun premise that never quite reaches its potential. The moments of “horror” blaze by so quickly that there’s never a chance to build any real tension or atmosphere.
dark
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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:
Yes
mysterious
tense
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
It started fun albeit a little slow and then it went downhill considerably fast. There were a lot of things that just happened with no explanation and the horror elements were not fleshed out, so it felt disappointing. 2 Stars because I enjoyed the premise and the start.
"GRIM ROOT is a darkly humorous gothic horror novel pitched as THE BACHELOR meets THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE, in which a group of women on a reality TV dating show must compete for the hand of an eligible bachelor by spending a week in a haunted house, but after the bachelor suddenly dies to the shock of everyone on set, the remaining contestants find themselves trapped in a dark and twisted new game only one of them still wants to play."
Sigh. First things first. The blurb mentions that the bachelor dies. I read this on my Kindle. The guy dies 78% of the way through the book.
I spent a good part of the book just waiting for something to happen. Oh, weird sticks. They hear someone crying. But it was a lot more about the reality show than the horror.
I will give the author credit because the tree thing was different. But there are so many unanswered questions. WHY did they become one with the trees? How did they determine that? Did Deja lie about holding them off, or did the fact that she was included in the "men's trees" piss them off more? There was a brief moment of fire - why didn't they just burn the whole damn thing down? Also, how did anyone know what Linda had done? If they had figured it out at the time, something would have been done about it, so how could anyone know about it now?
I just don't know.
Sigh. First things first. The blurb mentions that the bachelor dies. I read this on my Kindle. The guy dies 78% of the way through the book.
I spent a good part of the book just waiting for something to happen. Oh, weird sticks. They hear someone crying. But it was a lot more about the reality show than the horror.
I will give the author credit because the tree thing was different. But there are so many unanswered questions. WHY did they become one with the trees? How did they determine that? Did Deja lie about holding them off, or did the fact that she was included in the "men's trees" piss them off more? There was a brief moment of fire - why didn't they just burn the whole damn thing down? Also, how did anyone know what Linda had done? If they had figured it out at the time, something would have been done about it, so how could anyone know about it now?
I just don't know.
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Someone please make this a show. I loved the mix of reality show camp and haunted house spooks.
Energy: Saucy. Reckless. Resourceful.
🐕 Howls
Dragged in the survival-action scenes. The action sequences seemed too long and knocked me out of the story because they required feats of strength that felt impossible/too complex to imagine (small gripe).
🐩 Tail Wags
Addictive mix of campy fun and a freaky slow burn psychological horror. The haunted house twist on a reality dating show. The uncertainty of what’s real vs what’s staged. The satire. Character reactions that felt authentic given their personalities. The drama and slow unraveling of everything.
Scene: 🇺🇸 Set in Northern California at an old manor and fruit farm.
Perspectives (2): We follow two of the four remaining women competing to be chosen by the Bachelor Groom. One was invited to the show and very reluctantly accepted after their divorce. The other has fairy tale aspirations and truly believes they are destined to be chosen and find their happily ever after.
Timeline: Current (2010s or 2020s).
🔥 Fuel: Escalating stakes. Relationship and competitor dynamics. Race against time. Action-adventure. Who will win? What is behind the haunted location? What secrets are the competitors keeping from each other?
📖 Cred: Campy satire realism
Mood Reading Match-Up:
Botanical scent of gin. Crooked forest. Mildew, pine, mothballs. Corn on the cob. Pungent rot. Pink goo. Fresh bark. Rotting flesh. Motorcycle.
- Reality dating competition behind the scenes with a touch of satire
- Pick Me competitor dynamics
- Haunted or rigged?
- Sapphic & close proximity romances
- Sprinkling of crew drama, unethical production, throuple love, backstabbing, show in shambles hanging on by a thread
- Isolated by weather
- Medical horror, mysterious infections
- Stay out of the woods supernatural survival thriller
- Destiny, seance, messages from beyond the grave
- Exploring love, resilience, and what makes a relationship thrive
- Descent into madness
- Third person narration, watching the scenes unfold.
Content Heads-Up: Family annihilation (rumoured; very brief recall). Alcohol (casual). Sexual content (consenting; on page). Co-dependent/toxic siblings, emotional incest. Alcoholic parent, family dysfunction. Institutionalized parent (psychiatric; brief recall). Chronic undiagnosed illness (autoimmune; very brief recall). Body fluids (blood, slime, injury, infection). Eye stuff. Corpse (death, loved one). Loss of parent (as child). Divorce (brief mentions). Body gore (after death). Patriarchal roles, expectations, entitlement. Fire (burns, forest). Foster care (brief recall).
Rep: American. Korean ancestry. Mixed race (Korean-White). Cis. Bi. Hetero. Ambiguous skin tones.
📚 Format: Library Digital
My musings 💖 powered by puppy snuggles 🐶
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual content, Medical content, Alcohol
Minor: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes