Reviews

The Rust Maidens by Gwendolyn Kiste

katiescho741's review against another edition

2.0

This one was a letdown. I really liked the setting and the idea of the story - young women having their bodies degrade and their bones change to rusted metal sounded gnarly AF! But the body horror aspect never really came through.
The description of the Rust Maidens was weak and I struggled to get much horror from the book, despite the gory-sounding premise. I was hoping for a bit of a metal/flesh Hellraiser vibe but the writing was flat and boring. Also the rest of the characters had very blah reactions to these women turning into metal and broken glass...I quite liked the idea of them seeing the girls as more of an inconvenience/ over reaction, but they never reacted with much horror to them and just took it in their stride, which I think made the creepy potential fall flat.
The main character, Phoebe, was pretty annoying. I was intrigued by the present day/younger days telling of the story, but Phoebe herself was constantly moaning, turning down help, and generally hating everyone she knew.
I was really looking forward to some grim body horror, but this book just didn't deliver.

terriblelynne's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

phantomgecko's review against another edition

challenging dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

It was okay. Not as good as I anticipated. Like it had such an interesting premise but I was underwhelmed with the execution. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror

demilee1369's review against another edition

4.0

This was a very well written mystery horror. The characters are unique in their own way and the towns opinions/morals are creepy like. It is based back in the time were everyone was losing their jobs and different/strange things set people off. The most amazing thing about the story was how the author kept the eerie feeling all the way through the story with out it getting boring, like a ghost was whispering down the back of your neck.

iamastraythought's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book goes back and forth in time, but in a strange way that made it a bit hard to get into. I liked it a lot though. 

thevapidwench's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective fast-paced

4.0

sdeeim's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

curiouslykatt's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

rainysundaybooks's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

ni_yao's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.0

A body-horror rendition of the decay of the Rust Belt and the frustration of being trapped by circumstance, loyalty, and social mores in a place that holds no future for you.