chemist_kat's review
4.0
I received Through Withered Roots through the Voracious Readers Program.
The story is fast-paced but full. It uses pieces of horror common in many stories, but weaves them together in a new (to me) way. After reading TWR, I read the author's statement that there is a companion piece, Through Frozen Veins, and I and purchased the companion.
The story is fast-paced but full. It uses pieces of horror common in many stories, but weaves them together in a new (to me) way. After reading TWR, I read the author's statement that there is a companion piece, Through Frozen Veins, and I and purchased the companion.
catsy2022's review
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
2.5
Rating: C+
This is an ebook received from Voracious Readers in exchange for an honest review.
Through Withered Roots is a harrowing horror novel about a mother packing up the life she has built in Pittsburgh with her two children: her daughter, Haleigh, who is a bookworm and son, Cole, who loves sports and swimming, and moves out to Ravenshill, the town she grew up in. Things aren't as they seem in Ravenshill with people disappearing every year, there is a forced curfew and everyone seems on edge. A small town like that, everyone knows each other and the Thomas family has some secrets that are in the spotlight now that they've returned.
There are 4 perspective characters in this book, Sylvia and her two kids and the police sheriff, Jay. Each character does have a distinctive voice and I really loved seeing them struggle with the demons they are facing and yet be completely crippled when it came to talking about it. The way we see Jay change over the course of the novel was one of my favourite parts of the book. Sylvia is a great mother, yet a little unhinged as far as things goes. The plotline around Pittsburgh was crazy and frightening, but a little heavy-handed. Cole was my favourite out of the two siblings, his arc is so interesting and kept me speeding through the pages. I liked how they each found their own place in the town; Sylvia in the cafe, Haleigh in the bookstore and Cole in the lake. It really helped to build them up as their own.
The story was pretty decent but I felt like it really unravelled way too quickly towards the end of the novel. 60, 70% in and we haven't really learnt anything and there is a deus ex machina that exists to explain the entire reason of the disappearances and the town history all at once. I thought the reveal was sort of like a Goosebumps book and I didn't find the book all that scary. I wouldn't say I am a seasoned horror reader, but I have read pulpy 80s horror and watched a lot of movies. I think the atmosphere was built up really well. I just didn't find the monsters or the fight scenes scary or gripping. I think the big bad was a bit cheesy.
There was one section in the copy I received where an entire page was repeated again at another point in the story. That was weird. There are a few punctuation errors I assume have been fixed in the final copy. Thanks for the opportunity to read this.
This is an ebook received from Voracious Readers in exchange for an honest review.
Through Withered Roots is a harrowing horror novel about a mother packing up the life she has built in Pittsburgh with her two children: her daughter, Haleigh, who is a bookworm and son, Cole, who loves sports and swimming, and moves out to Ravenshill, the town she grew up in. Things aren't as they seem in Ravenshill with people disappearing every year, there is a forced curfew and everyone seems on edge. A small town like that, everyone knows each other and the Thomas family has some secrets that are in the spotlight now that they've returned.
There are 4 perspective characters in this book, Sylvia and her two kids and the police sheriff, Jay. Each character does have a distinctive voice and I really loved seeing them struggle with the demons they are facing and yet be completely crippled when it came to talking about it. The way we see Jay change over the course of the novel was one of my favourite parts of the book. Sylvia is a great mother, yet a little unhinged as far as things goes. The plotline around Pittsburgh was crazy and frightening, but a little heavy-handed. Cole was my favourite out of the two siblings, his arc is so interesting and kept me speeding through the pages. I liked how they each found their own place in the town; Sylvia in the cafe, Haleigh in the bookstore and Cole in the lake. It really helped to build them up as their own.
The story was pretty decent but I felt like it really unravelled way too quickly towards the end of the novel. 60, 70% in and we haven't really learnt anything and there is a deus ex machina that exists to explain the entire reason of the disappearances and the town history all at once. I thought the reveal was sort of like a Goosebumps book and I didn't find the book all that scary. I wouldn't say I am a seasoned horror reader, but I have read pulpy 80s horror and watched a lot of movies. I think the atmosphere was built up really well. I just didn't find the monsters or the fight scenes scary or gripping. I think the big bad was a bit cheesy.
There was one section in the copy I received where an entire page was repeated again at another point in the story. That was weird. There are a few punctuation errors I assume have been fixed in the final copy. Thanks for the opportunity to read this.
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