nickthebooktoker's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.0
Graphic: Fatphobia
Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death
Minor: Vomit
thereadingdude's review
- 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? It's complicated
4.5
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, and Blood
Minor: Torture and Vomit
cviii's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Body horror, Alcohol, Vomit, Murder, and Hate crime
Minor: Animal cruelty, Death, Medical content, Animal death, Classism, and Excrement
kstericker's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.5
Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death
Moderate: Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Confinement, and Violence
Minor: Vomit, Classism, and Torture
odrib's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Torture, and Fatphobia
Minor: Animal death, Classism, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Racial slurs, and Vomit
whatellisreadnext's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦... 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘦?
When Jack is offered a place on an Arctic expedition, he jumps at the chance, this could be how he turns his life around. But when they arrive at an uninhabited bay in Norway, that will be their home for the year, and the nights start to get longer, Jack feels a creeping unease.
This book was so good. Michelle Paver writes creepy, isolating ghost stories like nobody else. I loved Thin Air by her when I read it a few years back, but Dark Matter was even better. It is so compulsively readable, any moment I had free I needed to find out if Jack was going to be okay.
From the very beginning of the novel, you feel a creeping unease, even before they arrive in Norway, I was on edge. This book isn't explicitly scary, but the way Paver slowly builds the tension, really gets under your skin. I was genuinely afraid of the dark on the nights after reading this, and found myself running out of rooms after I turned the lights out, just so the boogeyman wouldn't get me 🤣
The setting was so vivid, and so so isolating. Imagine being in the middle of nowhere, it's freezing cold, there's no escape, and you're living in complete darkness for weeks on end, and then things start to go bump in the night. This book is the literal definition of NOPE, but I couldn't stop reading, even if I wanted to.
Highly recommend this one if you love a spooky isolating read! It was @zukythebookbum review that convinced me to grab a copy, and I'm so glad I did!
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Murder, and Vomit