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_p0ssum_'s review against another edition
4.25
Wow this is not what I expected but I definetly don't hate it. Some scenes I didn't like ( Eleanor and Arthur romance plot ) but if you read it fully and understood it makes more sense ( kinda ).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, and Blood
Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, and Child death
Minor: Homophobia, Miscarriage, and War
dellybear's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book is fantastic. It's very mysterious. I can typically guess where a plot is going and what the twists will be but this book kept me interested and guessing the whole time. It has wonderful themes of fitting back into a family you don't remember and how love can twist people into doing highly questionable things. The author's name is Rose Szabo, not Harry, and they are nonbinary. This was their first novel and they knocked it out of the park.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, and Blood
Minor: Infidelity
smokeyphynix's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting
crusoe's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-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
5.0
Positives. I'm a sucker for monster stories and I know it. This might not be a 5 star for everyone but it was for me. I adore the atmosphere of the house in which the Zarrins live and how it contains these subtle hints of the family's history. I love how some of the secrets slowly unfold where others remain unanswered (such as the mystery of Eleanor's grandfather on her grandmère's side). The descriptions of Eleanor's family are deliciously grotesque. If you are expecting an Adams family dynamic you will be sorely disappointed, but I think the toxicity and brokenness of this family made the story more thrilling. It was nauseating in a good way. The Zarrins are broken, stuck in old traditions that they desperately need to burn and they have a hard time dealing with someone like Eleanor who is so very different from the rest of them, and yet unmistakably a Zarrin. I loved it.
Negatives. (Spoilers for the ending.) Eleanor's self-pity was very justified after being treated like an outsider by her own family. But at points, this self-pity spiralled into something more malicious which made me dislike her character a bit. I also don't think Eleanor should have kissed Arthur at the end. Their romance subplot should've been resolved differently. Dating a living corpse who despises your family for keeping alive and who has also had a fling with both of your grandparents, does not sound like a very good idea. I think it would have been more interesting if Eleanor's obsession with him was due to her being a Zarrin, as was the reason behind Rhys' and Luma's obsession with Arthur. Eleanor convincing herself that she is better than Rhys and Luma because her love for Arthur is "different" as she is willing to let him go, would've been a more interesting motivation.
Quote. "The way it blew over was like this: on the day I punched her in the stomach, while she was staring at me in shock and pain, I realized that the only way to escape the trap i was in was to stop existing, to become someone else.
So I turned myself inside out, and that was who I stayed until the day Lucy tripped me on the stairs. On that day I snapped back in midair, although my body stayed the same. There was more than one way to perform my family's trick, the inversion of selves, the different skin."
Negatives. (Spoilers for the ending.)
Quote. "The way it blew over was like this: on the day I punched her in the stomach, while she was staring at me in shock and pain, I realized that the only way to escape the trap i was in was to stop existing, to become someone else.
So I turned myself inside out, and that was who I stayed until the day Lucy tripped me on the stairs. On that day I snapped back in midair, although my body stayed the same. There was more than one way to perform my family's trick, the inversion of selves, the different skin."
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Death, and Abandonment
Minor: Animal death, Gore, Miscarriage, Death of parent, and Abandonment
_viv_'s review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
[Review originally from my Goodreads]
Interesting premise. Underwhelming execution.
I will be honest, I read this book a few months ago so some of the details are lost on me. But the disappointment in the read stuck with me. The premise was interesting and hooked me immediately—a family of monsters trying to function being categorized as horror book.
But the true horror of this book was the unanswered questions. Looking back it feels like this book should have been split in two so we could explore the family dynamics more as well as world building. I found both severally lacking. Now I know a big aspect of the horror genre is the inherit fear of the unknowing of the monster/threat/creature but in this case I just found it...boring. I really did want to like this book but it feel flat in a way that was trying to a replicate horror narrative without actually managing it.
I'd also like to mention that I didn't really vibe with the writing style. The narration style seemed to jump from a mature character to an immature, childish one. Which could've been very interesting if it was, say, a result of trauma by essentially being sent away and abandoned for most of her teenage years. But we never go very hard into the implications of having her world turned upside down (Other than being bullied for a bit which doesn't address the family aspect).
Overall I would've rated this one star if not for the interesting premise. Truly this book could've been terrifying but it's execution wasn't it
Interesting premise. Underwhelming execution.
I will be honest, I read this book a few months ago so some of the details are lost on me. But the disappointment in the read stuck with me. The premise was interesting and hooked me immediately—a family of monsters trying to function being categorized as horror book.
But the true horror of this book was the unanswered questions. Looking back it feels like this book should have been split in two so we could explore the family dynamics more as well as world building. I found both severally lacking. Now I know a big aspect of the horror genre is the inherit fear of the unknowing of the monster/threat/creature but in this case I just found it...boring. I really did want to like this book but it feel flat in a way that was trying to a replicate horror narrative without actually managing it.
I'd also like to mention that I didn't really vibe with the writing style. The narration style seemed to jump from a mature character to an immature, childish one. Which could've been very interesting if it was, say, a result of trauma by essentially being sent away and abandoned for most of her teenage years. But we never go very hard into the implications of having her world turned upside down (Other than being bullied for a bit which doesn't address the family aspect).
Overall I would've rated this one star if not for the interesting premise. Truly this book could've been terrifying but it's execution wasn't it
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror
thisiscourt's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I was expecting a much different story when I picked this up. Unfortunately there was not enough exposition for me to ever get attached to any characters. I know it was supposed to be mysterious, but some explanation was needed. We were dropped into the middle of a story and given no reason to care about Eleanor or the people around her or even the house. There was no real motivation for any of the characters’ actions, and especially Eleanor. I never understood the purpose of the Arthur character. The storyline of the friend at school was never really resolved or given importance. The switching between Eleanor’s and Persephone’s perspectives was incredibly confusing and unnecessary. The chapters were very long and could’ve benefitted from better pacing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury
red_king_137's review against another edition
dark
emotional
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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Death, and Blood
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury
nytephoenyx's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I absolutely loved What Big Teeth. It’s unlike anything I’ve read before. It’s supernatural horror but not quite a fairytale retelling and not quite a werewolf book and… I don’t know. It was dark and a bit grotesque and kept me guessing. I really enjoyed it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Homophobia, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Pregnancy and War
Author is transgender and identifies as nonbinary, using they/them pronouns. Certain editions of their books use their deadname (like this one - StoryGraph has it right, but the physical copy was printed with the author’s deadname).starreddust's review against another edition
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Blood, and Death of parent
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, and Abandonment
Minor: Homophobia and Fire/Fire injury
yaoipaddle's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I almost dropped this book, but I'm glad I kept reading. It has a slow and slightly frustrating start. The main character takes a long time for me to like her. Not a long time to be "flawless" (Neither she nor anyone else in the book is), but a long time for me to not feel like smacking her and telling her to realize what the heck is going on.
It took me until about a quarter of the way through the book to keep wanting to read and about 40% of the way through I really got into it and zoomed through. The book starts slow and a lot of stuff is kind of sprinkled throughout. It feels semi worth it in the end to me, but I still think the beginning was really rough.
I'd recommend this book if you like gothic stories and elements of fantasy. If you like Gillian Flynn books where everyone kind of sucks but there's still intrigue and enjoyment to get even from the characters that piss you off.
It took me until about a quarter of the way through the book to keep wanting to read and about 40% of the way through I really got into it and zoomed through. The book starts slow and a lot of stuff is kind of sprinkled throughout. It feels semi worth it in the end to me, but I still think the beginning was really rough.
I'd recommend this book if you like gothic stories and elements of fantasy. If you like Gillian Flynn books where everyone kind of sucks but there's still intrigue and enjoyment to get even from the characters that piss you off.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Gore, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Child death, Death, Infidelity, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Homophobia