queenstaves's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
2.0
It went from 4 to 2 based on:
- Bad dialogue for female characters
- Bad character development and characterization of female protagonist It's weak and lazy writing.
Spoiler
(ie. "Strong Black Woman" who treats a rapist like he sneezed on her and didn't just do something heinous to herself and another woman).
It was just such a BAD job of writing a "strong female lead" that it just got so in the way.
And there are a lot of "because plot" character decisions leading up to the finale.
It's very frustrating because there are a lot of good parts to this book. I had a lot of hope but ultimately the good parts were interrupted by just such bad hiccups.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
The author uses rape in a very flippant way. A housekeeper is attacked and the way the author handles it in the context of the whole narratove is really disgusting. Extremely disappointing to see the rapist just... treated like he has a mild flu and did not just committ a heinous act. It's not even like oh, the characters are bad and this is why he is exonerated. It's just fully used as a narrative accessory and then forgotten. Gross.starshipengineer's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Child death, Gore, and Suicide
thewhitebee's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Having really enjoyed Howard's other books, I was really looking forward to this, but I have to say it was disappointing. The plot dragged, and it seemed like we only got to the crux of the story deep into the second half. The weird/eldritch elements were cool, but were thin on the ground - which is odd for a book that's based on the premise of Lovecraftian horrors being real! Emily Lovecraft was an interesting character, but got surprisingly little pagetime, or real agency when she appeared. Carter's an unappealing protagonist, and I genuinely didn't care if he survived the book. And there was a lot of unnecessary unpleasantness. Like graphic sexual talk - and an assault - that didn't really serve any purpose I could see. It was as if he was trying to write something gritty but kept forgetting that, and would suddenly remember and go "oh yeah, better talk about wanking for a minute so everyone remembers it's a dark gritty detective story".
Overall, interesting premise and some genuinely good moments, but overall not a good experience reading. It ends in a place that suggests that the second book might be better, but frankly I have no interest in continuing.
Overall, interesting premise and some genuinely good moments, but overall not a good experience reading. It ends in a place that suggests that the second book might be better, but frankly I have no interest in continuing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
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