Reviews with content warning for Body horror - What Moves The Dead

This definitely gave me chills! Read with my wife as an audiobook to ring in October, and it was a fittingly creepy read.
T. Kingfisher has a way of writing characters that makes the reader feel as if they truly are being told everything rather than just reading.

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mgpalpha's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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torrentsofhayl's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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daniellekat's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.75

I love vivid, descriptive horror so this was perfect. Equal parts disgusting and spooky, I especially loved the intelligence behind the horror elements. I'm a fan of Kingfisher's writing and am always impressed at how quickly she develops the world building. I was unfamiliar with the original work this is based on but that probably helped me enjoy this more. My only drawback was that I thought the ending was a bit boring. All in all, definitely a new favourite from Kingfisher.

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katyiswriting's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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abelle's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

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applesodaperson's review against another edition

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dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This book was honestly a strange one. It was okay but wasn't amazing.
First, I'll start with the good stuff. The use of neopronouns was so interesting! And honestly unlike anything I have seen in media before. The main character is nonbinary and uses the pronouns associated only with soldiers. And I think this would be a really good way to introduce people to how neopronouns are used in normal sentence structures and writing. Because this is something that can be hard for people to understand. And having a main character that is non binary is just good LGBTQ+ representation in general.
This book also had some cool body horror elements with the mushrooms and mold. But I will say that the

plot twist of the woman being dead the whole time but just reanimated was a little bit predictable. Like obviously something spooky was going on.

The secondary characters were also very forgettable, especially the doctor guy. He just didn't stand out at all to me.
The setting and time period of this book was also really confusing. Based on the summary, I thought it was going to be set in the modern day, but I was of course confused when I started reading, so I had to google the time period.
Overall, this book was just a bit underwhelming and forgettable, but I guess it would be good if you needed a spooky book to read in one sitting. It's definitely not the worst book I have ever read.
Read from the Provo Library.

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chainsawheartbooks's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

“Was there enough disinfectant in the world to cleanse the house of Usher?”

Maybe this wasn’t the best book to read while dealing with a stomach bug, or maybe that just made it even better and much more visceral.

I’ll admit, I tend to stay clear of fungus related horror, it truly freaks me out, but after hearing about this book, a kind of re-telling of one of Poe’s classics, I put my fears aside…and my god were they just reinforced.

I think I might lay off mushrooms for a little while, but I’m already very excited to get into the sequel, What Feasts At Night, and to get to spend more time with the stupendous Alex Easton.

T. Kingfisher’s writing was gorgeous, and the research that went into the book is so noticeable, it really helps set the scene and lock you into this vibrantly dreadful world.

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