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exorcismemily's review
3.0
The Fourth Whore is the debut novel from EV Knight! The story is creative, and the writing is vivid. I'm not the biggest fan of religious horror, but I wanted to give this a shot, and I enjoyed it overall. At times it felt gratuitous, but there are some really good gory scenes in this book. It gets intense. There was a little too much going on since there were several storylines, and I think this may have worked better for me if it was longer, or had fewer storylines. The concept was good, but the execution was unfocused. The language in this book is so gorgeous, and I would check out another book by EV Knight.
CW - infant death, death during childbirth, self-harm, drug abuse, death of a child, suicide, misogyny, grooming, genital mutilation
CW - infant death, death during childbirth, self-harm, drug abuse, death of a child, suicide, misogyny, grooming, genital mutilation
teamredmon's review
2.0
Lilith, a succubus, is out for revenge. She's Adam's, yeah THAT Adam, first wife and she was kicked out of Eden for refusing to submit to Adam. So she's mad, and probably, justifiably so. Lilith is building an army and gathering the Four Whores of the Apocalypse. That's not whores the pejorative; they own the title and use sex as a weapon to achieve their ends. The story flips between Lilith as she gathers the whores, and we learn her story and motivations and Kenzie, a down on her luck girl in Detroit with drugged-out guardians. Kenzie has to use her resources to survive, and often that means using her body. Kenzie was the more interesting character to me, and I enjoyed her story more than Lilith's.
This book was not for me. I'm not a big fantasy reader, I'm not a fan of extreme horror or smut and generally prefer a subtler scare, I also don't usually enjoy overtly religious themes. So, going into a dark religious fantasy book with quite a bit of extreme horror and smuttiness was always going to be a stretch. So it's no surprise to me that I did not enjoy this. If you like those things in your books, you will probably like this quite a bit. E.V. Knight can write, and I can appreciate what she was trying to do and, I think, executed that mission quite well. Just because I didn't like it doesn't mean that it's terrible. It's definitely not terrible; it's actually quite good, it's just not my kind of good.
Thank you to Raw Dog Screaming Press and Erin Al-Mehairi for sending me a copy of this book for review.
This book was not for me. I'm not a big fantasy reader, I'm not a fan of extreme horror or smut and generally prefer a subtler scare, I also don't usually enjoy overtly religious themes. So, going into a dark religious fantasy book with quite a bit of extreme horror and smuttiness was always going to be a stretch. So it's no surprise to me that I did not enjoy this. If you like those things in your books, you will probably like this quite a bit. E.V. Knight can write, and I can appreciate what she was trying to do and, I think, executed that mission quite well. Just because I didn't like it doesn't mean that it's terrible. It's definitely not terrible; it's actually quite good, it's just not my kind of good.
Thank you to Raw Dog Screaming Press and Erin Al-Mehairi for sending me a copy of this book for review.
lauriereadslohf's review
4.0
Wow this one pulls no punches and immediately sets a gruesome and bleak stage for all of the events that follow. Hold on to your lunch because it also gets really ewww gross and I couldn’t love it more for making me cringe like that! Heehee.
There’s a lot going on here and I’m not going to even attempt to explain it all. Probably couldn't if I wanted to but I don’t want to because you need to experience it all your own selves. As a child Kenzie experienced a tragedy first hand and met a figure she deemed “The Scribble Man”. He gives her a rabbit’s foot for protection, and it brings her comfort and release throughout her extremely traumatic life but there’s a lot more going on with the rabbit’s foot as well as with “The Scribble Man”!
Lilith (yes, that one) has a history with the “Scribble Man” and a long simmering hatred and all-consuming desire for revenge after she learns she has been wrongly vilified. When a terrible event occurs, Lillith is unleashed upon the earth and she is FURIOUS. She plans to bring forth Armageddon with the help of three women she has handpicked to help her topple the patriarchy and begin anew. Sounds good to me, ha! Each of her “whores”, as she calls them, has a specific task to fulfill. Pestilence, War, Death - you know how it goes. Kenzie, for reasons I will not spill, is chosen to be Lillith’s Fourth Whore and all the women have big roles in pushing the horror of the story along.
This novel was a bit like watching an unrated Supernatural season (without Sam or Dean saving the day) with things twisted all around and brutal depictions of sexual harm, abuse and well, just brutality. Be warned if you have sexual abuse triggers, that’s all I’m gonna say. There are archangels and nasty demons and the main human characters are imperfect specimens who suffer from self-destructive behaviors, haunting pasts and are women abused terribly by our world and find their power and they are SO fascinating to follow on the page. Sariel, who plays a huge role, is excellently characterized as an imperfect, often selfish and cowardly (again, if you ask me) angel-man who his doing his best to make amends for his past failures and seeks redemption, even if he probably doesn’t deserve it (one of my notes about him says only Fuck off angel and believe me he deserved it but to tell you why would be spoilerific). I guess I’ll credit him for trying to be better but I’m not gonna lie. He didn’t sit right with me. But then again, I’m not sure he was supposed to. I liked that this novel showed the grittiest, ugliest and most flawed edges of humanity but still made you worry and care about a character or two. Lilith, is a fully fleshed out character with a painful to read backstory. Her glorious rage is one million percent justified! But Kenzie was my favorite. Her life was a tragedy but she managed to remain both vulnerable and strong even when facing the worst situations imaginable.
This likely sounds like a lot of characters and side-stories for my brain to handle and it was but the story, for me, was very cohesive and easy to follow. These types of storylines typically confuse the hell out of me and have me drifting away but that wasn’t the case here, not even for a moment which is a minor miracle. The writing is a visceral thing, it got under my skin in this intense, unflinching way and it made me rage for these women as they were used and abused and unfairly blamed and tossed aside like trash and I did not want to turn away even when things were at their most ewww! This isn’t a book for everyone and to be completely honest I didn’t think it was going to be for me when I read a bit about the plot. It very much has a dark urban fantasy feel which isn’t typically my favorite but it all worked here and I did not want to tear myself away. I would’ve finished it in a day if life had allowed me a distraction free moment of peace.
I’m giving THE FOURTH WHORE 4 ½ stars and I would easily recommend it to anyone with a strong stomach looking for a gripping tale of sublime unbridled fury and the humans caught up in the fiery flames of revenge.
There’s a lot going on here and I’m not going to even attempt to explain it all. Probably couldn't if I wanted to but I don’t want to because you need to experience it all your own selves. As a child Kenzie experienced a tragedy first hand and met a figure she deemed “The Scribble Man”. He gives her a rabbit’s foot for protection, and it brings her comfort and release throughout her extremely traumatic life but there’s a lot more going on with the rabbit’s foot as well as with “The Scribble Man”!
Lilith (yes, that one) has a history with the “Scribble Man” and a long simmering hatred and all-consuming desire for revenge after she learns she has been wrongly vilified. When a terrible event occurs, Lillith is unleashed upon the earth and she is FURIOUS. She plans to bring forth Armageddon with the help of three women she has handpicked to help her topple the patriarchy and begin anew. Sounds good to me, ha! Each of her “whores”, as she calls them, has a specific task to fulfill. Pestilence, War, Death - you know how it goes. Kenzie, for reasons I will not spill, is chosen to be Lillith’s Fourth Whore and all the women have big roles in pushing the horror of the story along.
This novel was a bit like watching an unrated Supernatural season (without Sam or Dean saving the day) with things twisted all around and brutal depictions of sexual harm, abuse and well, just brutality. Be warned if you have sexual abuse triggers, that’s all I’m gonna say. There are archangels and nasty demons and the main human characters are imperfect specimens who suffer from self-destructive behaviors, haunting pasts and are women abused terribly by our world and find their power and they are SO fascinating to follow on the page. Sariel, who plays a huge role, is excellently characterized as an imperfect, often selfish and cowardly (again, if you ask me) angel-man who his doing his best to make amends for his past failures and seeks redemption, even if he probably doesn’t deserve it (one of my notes about him says only Fuck off angel and believe me he deserved it but to tell you why would be spoilerific). I guess I’ll credit him for trying to be better but I’m not gonna lie. He didn’t sit right with me. But then again, I’m not sure he was supposed to. I liked that this novel showed the grittiest, ugliest and most flawed edges of humanity but still made you worry and care about a character or two. Lilith, is a fully fleshed out character with a painful to read backstory. Her glorious rage is one million percent justified! But Kenzie was my favorite. Her life was a tragedy but she managed to remain both vulnerable and strong even when facing the worst situations imaginable.
This likely sounds like a lot of characters and side-stories for my brain to handle and it was but the story, for me, was very cohesive and easy to follow. These types of storylines typically confuse the hell out of me and have me drifting away but that wasn’t the case here, not even for a moment which is a minor miracle. The writing is a visceral thing, it got under my skin in this intense, unflinching way and it made me rage for these women as they were used and abused and unfairly blamed and tossed aside like trash and I did not want to turn away even when things were at their most ewww! This isn’t a book for everyone and to be completely honest I didn’t think it was going to be for me when I read a bit about the plot. It very much has a dark urban fantasy feel which isn’t typically my favorite but it all worked here and I did not want to tear myself away. I would’ve finished it in a day if life had allowed me a distraction free moment of peace.
I’m giving THE FOURTH WHORE 4 ½ stars and I would easily recommend it to anyone with a strong stomach looking for a gripping tale of sublime unbridled fury and the humans caught up in the fiery flames of revenge.
brennanlafaro's review
4.0
I went into this book not really having any idea what to expect. Truth be told, this is how I generally enter into my stories these days, synopsis be damned. A lot of times even without the back cover, you can nail down what genre a story might fit into, what tropes await, and where you anticipate the story may go because of all the aforementioned bits. The Fourth Whore doesn't really work that way.
At it's heart, this is the story of Kenzi Brooks, a young woman who had a rough go of it and is now being drawn into a world of gods and demons among other colorful figures. The book draws from various sources of history, theology, and mythology to assemble quite a cast.
Principal among the players is Lilith, entering into an apocryphal telling of Genesis and now Sheol-bent on taking revenge and bringing the world to it's knees in a dramatic and brutal fashion.
This is not an overly easy read. The violence is gruesome and detailed. However, despite the realistic depictions, the semi-fantasy backdrop made some of the more brutal scenes easier to get through. The sexual nature of this book is raw and unashamed. Knight holds absolutely nothing back, and essentially puts on display in the first few pages what you're going to be getting. So basically, if the first chapter is too much for you, I'll tell you it doesn't really relent.
The Fourth Whore clocks in at just over 220 pages, but you'd swear you just read a sprawling epic by the time the credits roll. The chapters are very short, usually from 2-5 pages, but the subject matter was such that I didn't find it easy to read for long stretches. Instead, for me, it was most palatable to read 25 pages or so, stop to digest, and then go back for more when my psyche was good and ready.
In the first third or so, it felt like there was a Good Omens vibe, and while the humor is not what you're going to want to pick this up for, the interactions between characters of mythological/theological significance are well-done and very enjoyable. They add another layer to an already well-crafted book.
At it's heart, this is the story of Kenzi Brooks, a young woman who had a rough go of it and is now being drawn into a world of gods and demons among other colorful figures. The book draws from various sources of history, theology, and mythology to assemble quite a cast.
Principal among the players is Lilith, entering into an apocryphal telling of Genesis and now Sheol-bent on taking revenge and bringing the world to it's knees in a dramatic and brutal fashion.
This is not an overly easy read. The violence is gruesome and detailed. However, despite the realistic depictions, the semi-fantasy backdrop made some of the more brutal scenes easier to get through. The sexual nature of this book is raw and unashamed. Knight holds absolutely nothing back, and essentially puts on display in the first few pages what you're going to be getting. So basically, if the first chapter is too much for you, I'll tell you it doesn't really relent.
The Fourth Whore clocks in at just over 220 pages, but you'd swear you just read a sprawling epic by the time the credits roll. The chapters are very short, usually from 2-5 pages, but the subject matter was such that I didn't find it easy to read for long stretches. Instead, for me, it was most palatable to read 25 pages or so, stop to digest, and then go back for more when my psyche was good and ready.
In the first third or so, it felt like there was a Good Omens vibe, and while the humor is not what you're going to want to pick this up for, the interactions between characters of mythological/theological significance are well-done and very enjoyable. They add another layer to an already well-crafted book.
coffeeandcuentos's review
3.0
Thank you, Erin and RDS Press for sending this book for a #nightwormsbookparty
This book is guaranteed to shock you. From the title The Fourth Whore to the contents - violence, sex, drugs, you're bound to have your jaw drop at least once. I think the subtitle of this book should be FUCK THE PATRIARCHY. While I dont mind biblical references and themes, I just found it to be a lot although the overlying feminist aspect piqued my interest.
Told from multiple perspectives, the story got a bit muddled and confusing.
I appreciated the short chapters and fast pace of the story though.
It's a powerful debut from EV Knight and I'd love to read more from her.
This book is guaranteed to shock you. From the title The Fourth Whore to the contents - violence, sex, drugs, you're bound to have your jaw drop at least once. I think the subtitle of this book should be FUCK THE PATRIARCHY. While I dont mind biblical references and themes, I just found it to be a lot although the overlying feminist aspect piqued my interest.
Told from multiple perspectives, the story got a bit muddled and confusing.
I appreciated the short chapters and fast pace of the story though.
It's a powerful debut from EV Knight and I'd love to read more from her.