Reviews

I’ve seen a lot of good things about this novel and it did not disappoint!

The story is a retelling of The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe, which gives an immediate idea of what to expect going into things. What you get, however, is a masterfully crafted atmosphere that’s creepy enough to be haunting but not quite terrifying enough to keep the characters and readers alike from wanting to explore and learn more.

My favorite thing about stories like this one is the slow, uncertain way things are exposed to the reader. Fueled by false assumptions and ‘logical explanations’, we’re left to wonder to the supernatural natures that may be at play until it’s too late. Also, I’m learning that animals behaving weirdly is a thing I like in these settings, because much like the way animals behaved strangely in The Book of Accidents as a warning sign, I appreciated the real-world strangeness of the hares’ behavior here. I think the things that we could easily face ourselves in our own world always hit a little different on the unsettling scale, at least for me, and my own animals acting off always sets me on edge.

As someone who is generally 'okay with whatever' about my own gender and married to a nonbinary person, I appreciated the use of gender-neutral pronouns, as well as the explanation of Easton’s culture’s use of several other sets of pronouns that go beyond she/he/they to explore other identifying traits and times in a person’s life. This was, quite possibly, my favorite part of the novel but I may be a bit biased.

As an American, I thoroughly enjoyed all of the jabs at our country’s most obnoxious generalized traits. It’s perfectly navigated humor that shows the author’s skillful mastery of the written word and the voice they developed for this narrator.

So yes. This was everything I hoped it would be, and then some! So glad I picked this one up!

Merged review:

I’ve seen a lot of good things about this novel and it did not disappoint!

The story is a retelling of The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe, which gives an immediate idea of what to expect going into things. What you get, however, is a masterfully crafted atmosphere that’s creepy enough to be haunting but not quite terrifying enough to keep the characters and readers alike from wanting to explore and learn more.

My favorite thing about stories like this one is the slow, uncertain way things are exposed to the reader. Fueled by false assumptions and ‘logical explanations’, we’re left to wonder to the supernatural natures that may be at play until it’s too late. Also, I’m learning that animals behaving weirdly is a thing I like in these settings, because much like the way animals behaved strangely in The Book of Accidents as a warning sign, I appreciated the real-world strangeness of the hares’ behavior here. I think the things that we could easily face ourselves in our own world always hit a little different on the unsettling scale, at least for me, and my own animals acting off always sets me on edge.

As someone who is generally 'okay with whatever' about my own gender and married to a nonbinary person, I appreciated the use of gender-neutral pronouns, as well as the explanation of Easton’s culture’s use of several other sets of pronouns that go beyond she/he/they to explore other identifying traits and times in a person’s life. This was, quite possibly, my favorite part of the novel but I may be a bit biased.

As an American, I thoroughly enjoyed all of the jabs at our country’s most obnoxious generalized traits. It’s perfectly navigated humor that shows the author’s skillful mastery of the written word and the voice they developed for this narrator.

So yes. This was everything I hoped it would be, and then some! So glad I picked this one up!