leeghlee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Body horror, Gore, and Suicide
Moderate: War, Grief, Gun violence, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Confinement and Misogyny
ruthiedr89's review
- 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? No
5.0
Graphic: Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Mental illness and Misogyny
systemofanoun's review against another edition
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.75
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Death and Terminal illness
Minor: Misogyny and War
anni_swanilda's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gore, Terminal illness, Alcohol, and Body horror
Moderate: Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Misogyny
Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic, Suicide, and War
erebus53's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
30 minutes into the audio (12%) I realised that I had assumed the gender of the protagonist because of what the Audiobook narrator sounded like. This story has an interesting take on gender and I like the diversity of it. I do wish that the narrator of the book could manage to use unfamiliar pronouns as though they were.. pronouns? rather than emphasising them due to lack of familiarity and treating them like they are nouns. It got annoying that the flow was interrupted in a way that it wouldn't have been if I was just reading it myself.
I have not read the original Poe, Rise and Fall of the House of Usher, but it is source material for this re-imagining. The author's note on the end of the book gives a little more insight and it's really cool. I vibe deeply with the author's love of passionate people with fringe interests, and this same tendency is mirrored in the protagonist of the story.
There is a satisfying cast of supporting characters in this story. Each has their own flavour and inner motivations. There is an English mycologist who is confounded by her peers' reluctance to acknowledge her work (due to her lack of a Y chromosome). Although she is fictitious, the character is portrayed as Beatrix Potter's aunt, which ties really nicely in with the narrative device of strangely behaving animals.
Dunno if I am the target audience, or just too overly interested in natural science, because the plot was fairly transparent, to me. I don't know how easy it would be for non-nerdy people to understand and predict like I did. I like that the story is relatively short because it didn't have a lot to it more than vibe (which is apparently the case with the original). Short stories are nice when they don't overstay their welcome.
A little creepy, a lot interesting, and with some cute ideas developed. I will read more books by this author.
Graphic: Death, Gore, Animal death, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Misogyny, Murder, Xenophobia, Mental illness, Alcohol, War, and Fire/Fire injury
kathburke's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Graphic: Medical content, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gore, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Grief and Murder
Minor: Suicide, Misogyny, Transphobia, Gun violence, and War
librarymouse's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Spoiler
Madeline having been dead since before the start of the events of the novel was an interesting twist. It makes a lot of sense looking back. It's also really neat how the integration of a language with so many pronouns into the plot through the character of Alex creates further interest and intrigue in how Maddie and Alex interact concerning the way she references the fungus as if it were a child. I don't have any particular love of Poe, beyond the general appreciation, but this was an engaging use of his premise.Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Animal cruelty, Terminal illness, Mental illness, Body horror, Death, Eating disorder, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore
Moderate: Suicide, War, Misogyny, and Vomit
I marked eating disorders as being a graphic description because of the ways in which the emaciated characters are explained in depth.cowardlyteaman's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Unfortunately, this did not hold up to my expectations.
First of all, I don't see the need for this fictional world that Kingfisher has created. She spends valuable pages explaining a world that isn't relevant to her story. That's not to say that I don't like it, but I wish she would've chosen one or the other—fantasy novel or a short horror story.
Because the mystery doesn't really start until the book is nearly done. I never really got the feeling of something ominous or even anticipation for what happened next. Well, that isn't entirely true. The part about the rabbits really intrigued me! But Kingfisher's writing style here seems too—rushed. She's moved on to the next point before she ever lets the last impression set in. I want more detail—insight into the characters.
Still, I like that she writes a non-binary character without writing an LGBT novel. I'm gay myself—I have nothing against them, but representation in genres that aren't LGBT is important, I think. Normalises it.
Spoiler
Another thing I'd like to mention, is that I personally didn't like at all the part where the fungus learns to talk and speaks through Madeleine and stuff. It was boring, really. Felt cliché and wasn't actually eerie in the least.Well, as a whole, I just think the mystery and horror never struck me. I very rarely read horror at all, but I do love Poe's work, so this disappointed me deeply.
However! Not a bad book. As I said, there were parts that intrigued me, but I'd really expected more of this book.
Graphic: Gore, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, and Death
Moderate: Alcohol and Grief
Minor: Vomit, Transphobia, War, Misogyny, Sexism, and Suicide
affabletoaster's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Took me about 2.5 hrs to read, which is shameful when you realize that I checked it out of the library twice because of my poor sitting-down-and-reading habits. Many thanks to my in-laws who watched my children while I devoured this at last!
Graphic: Terminal illness, Body horror, Animal death, and Suicide
Moderate: Medical content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Murder, and War
Minor: Misogyny, Grief, Gun violence, Transphobia, and Xenophobia
lipstickitotheman's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Chronic illness, Body horror, Confinement, Grief, and Medical content
Minor: Death of parent, Suicide, Ableism, Classism, Self harm, War, Pandemic/Epidemic, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Vomit