Reviews

Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw

afroditesdorter's review

dark tense fast-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

2.5

Bonus points for how fast the book read on audiobook, but it really wasn't scary. The cover was scarier than the actual book. It was more like an episode of Degrassi but in a haunted house. Lots of drama,

someone gets stabbed

and everyone loudly hates each other. I would like to have seen more of the ghost

rumblebee's review against another edition

1.0

Not good. Lacked suspense, characters were all awful in terms of both writing and just as people, and just... not scary. Also, how the fuck did the surviving characters not receive any charges after Phillip's death? The epilogue made even less sense than the main plot. The only reason I'm giving it 2 stars instead of 1 is because the premise was interesting, which honestly makes it more of a let down.

tigfunk's review against another edition

0.25

And that's rounded up! This book was terrible. The writing seemed as if the author tried to be poetic and sound intelligent and profound but it comes off as confusing and it doesn't make sense. There is nothing new about the story and you don't care enough about the characters for anything that happens to them to have an impact on you. The .25 is not for the story it's for the cover alone. That and the fact that this was published is the scariest part of the book.

bananavana's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

1.0

The dialogue was trash. 

octopie89's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

nasalle2842's review against another edition

4.0

3.5

This was a fun read! I didn’t mean to read it in one day, but every time I put it down to go to sleep I kept wanting to pick it up to see what happened next. It’s a short read so it’s good to get you out of a reading slump! This is definitely one of those books where you’re living in the moment - don’t expect character arcs or development of any kind, just enjoy the story as it unfolds and experience the horrors in real time with them.

llyan's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

1.0

1 star just purely because the idea of this book is immaculate and i wish there were other things that were good about this book

I completely agree with smurfette's review. a short horror book seemed like the perfect spooky read for spooky month while in a minor reading slump; and I'm so mad that it wasn't because this could've been perfect

This book feels like the author wanted to write about friendship drama and sprinkled in a lil horror in there for funsies. Because what do you mean they human and yokais just sat around seeing two guys fight each other until someone died like what the hell was that??? 

The only horror in this book were how pretentious the writing was, there was nothing spooky or creepy. The gore was lacklustre. Everything felt like it was laid out for you, I'm surprised there wasn't a note at the bottom that wrote "be scared"

Not a good time would not recommend to a friend, in fact, I'd actively stop someone from reading this

moonmin_bookcase's review against another edition

3.0

I picked up this book because it looked like an interesting and shorter read to help me get out of a reading slump.

Unfortunately it did not help me out of my slump, if anything it put me further into one.

I enjoy horrors as general rule, especially the ones with ghosts. I love to read about and learn more about Yokai and Yeuri. Urban myths and legends are great too. This book promised to be a horror story that explored the darker side of relationships in the background of a potentially haunted Heian mansion. A story that hit some of my favourite key points in a horror novel, so one I looked forward to read.

The horror that could have been was dimmed. The story telling ended up lacklustre, and lacking in tension. It felt like the author was trying too hard to show off her intelligence and knowledge over actually working on building any sort of fear or apprehension. The characters written in such a way that they simply came off as ridiculous, and some what pretentious. I had no love for any of them, the sort of characters you wouldn't care if they lived or died.

The idea was a fantastic one, but the execution just wasn't it. It's biggest saving grace was that it wasn't any longer!

obiathus's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.25

I was intregiued by the low reviews and a few among them that told me otherwise. And I understand why; mainly I don't think that this story is a horrorstory, it feels more like a long game between the writer and the words, call it a long poem if you will - with interruption with brainless dialogue. Some people have expressed that the language is too much prestige, and I can see why. But I'd rather see it as an experiment wordwise from the author purely in terms of words, and it is beautiful - except for the dialogue. 
And if you don't know anything of Japanese culture, you will have to google some along your journey. 

jillianmac's review against another edition

dark tense

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

2.5