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teaandtales1's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
4.0
𝐏𝐥𝐨𝐭: Ronald Malfi has written four horror novellas that all have something to do with the power of books.
The first novella tells the story of a book that seemingly drives people to death or madness, and a publisher who's trying to fit the puzzle pieces of these weird happenings together.
The second story involves two brothers who are tasked with driving a mysterious book on a very strange journey to its new owner. Employed by a mob/gang boss, this atypical assignment for the brothers starts to get real weird, real fast.
The third novella tells the story of a creepy boy with a pop-up book of his house that somehow changes the layout of his own home. Naturally the kid is weird and not great with people, so there are going to be some consequences.
The last story involves a journalist trying to investigate the apparent suicide of a former friend/colleague under some very strange circumstances.
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: Ronald Malfi
𝐏𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬: 400
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: Horror
𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝: Yes!
𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐝𝐞𝐥 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭: Yes
𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐝: Contemporary
𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐲 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠:👻👻👻1/2
𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Malfi is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. Last year's 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘔𝘦 set the bar really high, and this group of short stories is up to the task.
The 2nd story, with the gangsters transporting a mysterious book, was easily my favorite. It had interesting characters, some twists and turns, and was genuinely creepy. I also really enjoyed the first and third stories a lot as well, and the one with the creepy kid reminded me of classic Stephen King.
I only gave the book 4 stars though, because I didn't care for the last story at all. The first three stories were terrific and I thought the standard dropped substantially in the last one. It reminded me of the Netflix film 𝘊𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘋𝘪𝘦, both in plot and slightly underwhelming execution. That being said though, I loved the first three stories and would absolutely recommend this book.
Thank you NetGalley for giving me the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
The first novella tells the story of a book that seemingly drives people to death or madness, and a publisher who's trying to fit the puzzle pieces of these weird happenings together.
The second story involves two brothers who are tasked with driving a mysterious book on a very strange journey to its new owner. Employed by a mob/gang boss, this atypical assignment for the brothers starts to get real weird, real fast.
The third novella tells the story of a creepy boy with a pop-up book of his house that somehow changes the layout of his own home. Naturally the kid is weird and not great with people, so there are going to be some consequences.
The last story involves a journalist trying to investigate the apparent suicide of a former friend/colleague under some very strange circumstances.
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: Ronald Malfi
𝐏𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬: 400
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: Horror
𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝: Yes!
𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐝𝐞𝐥 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭: Yes
𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐝: Contemporary
𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐲 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠:👻👻👻1/2
𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Malfi is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. Last year's 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘔𝘦 set the bar really high, and this group of short stories is up to the task.
The 2nd story, with the gangsters transporting a mysterious book, was easily my favorite. It had interesting characters, some twists and turns, and was genuinely creepy. I also really enjoyed the first and third stories a lot as well, and the one with the creepy kid reminded me of classic Stephen King.
I only gave the book 4 stars though, because I didn't care for the last story at all. The first three stories were terrific and I thought the standard dropped substantially in the last one. It reminded me of the Netflix film 𝘊𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘋𝘪𝘦, both in plot and slightly underwhelming execution. That being said though, I loved the first three stories and would absolutely recommend this book.
Thank you NetGalley for giving me the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Minor: Alcoholism, Gore, and Gun violence