Reviews

“….the first time they’d slept together, anxiety, dread, fear, apprehension, and all the inadequacies he’d felt since adolescence slid smoothly off him: he slipped out of an old, dusty skin and tumbled into K a new person, one who no longer felt unwanted, one who understood that while power determined the world, the world did not dictate his own personal power.”

tetrakate's review against another edition

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4.0

If you go into this book expecting a fast-paced slasher, you’re going to be disappointed. This book is more of a literary fiction that focuses on race and prejudices, and how those prejudices affected each of the characters involved.
Only about a third of the book is about the actual haunted house.

This book is an emotional roller coaster. All of the characters are going through their own stuff, and some of these characters are just awful people. I loved the writing, and the story all came together so well. I was not expecting that twist at the end, but it answered so many questions I didn’t even know I had.

bookishcreature's review against another edition

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dark reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

waywardtrekkie's review against another edition

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challenging informative reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was a lot. Even after finishing it I'm still not sure I enjoyed this reading experience or even fully understood all of the nuanced discussions around the intersection of racism, sexism, and homophobia. However, I really liked the exploration of anti-Blackness, even from other marginalized groups, and how insidious racism/sexism is. For example, when Leonard first starts dating Mary, his incel-esque behaviour appears to calm down and there is slight growth from him as a character. However, the second he feels slighted, or other characters comment on Mary's behaviour, he suddenly feels the need to reassert his dominance - causing their inevitable breakup and his disgusting comments about her later in the book.

As well with Jaidee, he initially gets on with Bryan, until he becomes personally slighted and offended and his anti-Blackness becomes very apparent. I thought these were really good explorations of the nuance of race and sex and how quickly people can become radicalized.

Where I maybe struggled with putting things together is with the situation with Kendra, Bryan, and John. Are we to think that John had been planning what happened with Kendra and Bryan in mind since he first saw them? It felt like almost everyone was in on it. Very Get Out vibes at this house. Everyone felt manipulative. I'm still not sure how he thought what he orchestrated would pay off... This part is difficult for me to grasp the reasoning behind it.

Where I really think this book excels though is how Jaidee and Leonard navigate relationships. They are so uncomfortable and fetishist and I felt so horrible for the woman in Thailand those scenes made me viscerally uncomfortable.

At the end of the day I think I enjoyed this? I'm still confused about what was going on with Victor when he taught in Thailand. Was he drunk? On drugs? Anyways.

Very interesting novel and I can't wait to see what James publishes next!

indiepauli47's review against another edition

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challenging dark 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

4.25

Touki's club book of the month.

A great read, cleverly written and paced, in my opinion.

Perfect social commentary horror novel, this book is not about horror as its main focus, but definitely about people.
I enjoyed reading about each character's perspective and distinct experience and process, how they came to be and why they acted the way they were.

Only downside for me was the ending.
Making it about race was unnecessary to the story, and it felt like the author added it to increase his ESG score, like he's running the Nike or Dove companies.

bcrowes11's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

ceeceejade's review against another edition

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Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? No

despite what the synopsis will believe you to think, this is a character study about 3 people with connetions to a full contact haunted house. not as thrilling or horror heavy as one would think.

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