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legs_n_chins's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
About 30 pages from the end I finally said aloud, “All these people are unbearable. Why am I bearing it?” I guess because it’s a novella, a pretty quick read, and I liked the prose enough to hope it would iron into something I liked a bit more by the end. It sort of did, but it mostly didn’t.
The prose was the highlight for me, the thing that kept me reading for sure. I love a good setting and attention to detail in creating an atmosphere and I think Khaw did that magnificently. Her word choice was absolutely fantastic and she really dug into building up this fantastical, gory mansion for the characters to inhabit. Her descriptions really worked for me. I’m not much for straight gore and viscera and all that, but I do like when that sort of language is used to convey sensations or atmospheres. The ones that really struck me where how she described the air itself in some places, giving it a taste and texture and conveying so much more than just “the air felt heavy and thick.” Sure, the latter is a practice in brevity, but I’m terrible at brevity in my own writing so this spoke to me in that way. I’m not saying my own writing is on a level with Khaw’s, but I definitely felt a sort of kinship in the way it’s clear that she thinks a lot about wording and phrasing and metaphor when she’s structuring her sentences. I think that’s why I liked her writing style so much.
While most of the novella just felt like a slog whenever we had to actually deal with the characters interacting, I’ll admit the other thing I liked was the very ending. The description of the final moments in the house, honing in on the contrast to the character, as well as the last chapter overall. I think that’s the place Khaw was most successful in making the characters and their interactions and choices feel real, just in that silent solidarity to hide their trauma and the way the experience just separated them inexorably. (To be more clear in a spoiler:I did actually feel a brief stirring of emotion when Khaw described Phillip’s last moments. Contrasting the loneliness of it. Saying, “He died alone while our backs were turned.” I think if I had given more of a shit about the characters that would’ve really just hit me in the stomach. As it is, I really tried to muster more emotion about that because I did want it to hurt like that. Couldn’t quite get there, though. )
Everything else about this kind of let me down, though. The book jacket seemed to bill this as a group of friends who would end up spilling some painful truths among themselves in a state of heightened anxiety and fear, but I thought that really fell short. The characters themselves felt very flat to me and, as I mentioned, I found them all pretty unlikeable. They were very obvious archetypes, but Khaw didn’t allow them space to grow beyond that. And I don’t think being self-referential by having characters compare themselves to horror movie tropes really helped. It more just shined an even brighter spotlight on how hollow each of them was and how little depth and personality they really had. I recognize fleshing out characters in a novella can be a challenge since it is a short medium, but I just couldn’t find anything really redeeming about any of them that made me want to give Khaw grace in that regard. I get that childhood friendships can be complicated, but I genuinely fail to see how any of these relationships lasted into adulthood.
The horror aspect, I think, both worked and didn’t work. While I am a complete and utter wimp about any even remotely scary movie, I have a decently high tolerance for supernatural horror in books. This novella gave me the strange sensation of knowing if I was watching it as a movie I would be scared to death, but as I read it I kind of felt empty. Usually, I at least really feel the tension and my heart rate might go up, but I didn’t find any part of this novella particularly terrifying. But, again, given how well Khaw wrote the atmosphere and knowing myself and my horror tolerance in general, I do think I would’ve been properly terrified if it was a short film or something. As it was, though, this just felt like another thing falling too short for me.
I also felt that neither the horror plot nor the interpersonal relationship drama had enough room to breathe. Anytime it seemed that we had some good tension between the characters, it was broken by a new piece of action and/or it sort of just fizzled out to move us along to the next scene. I didn’t feel very much like any secrets were decently dredged up, and if they were, there was no space to let those things breathe and give the characters the time to react and reorient around them. At the same time, the way the horror plot was laid out and progressed, the character drama felt like odd interruptions to the action when it cropped up. I didn’t really feel the depth of Faiz and Phillip’s buried animosity, for example, though Khaw laid the groundwork perfectly well. In the midst of an argument, though, she chose to focus on the other characters in the room and whatever build up was supposed to exist just felt immediately extinguished. I think it would’ve been difficult to extend this sorry into a full novel, but I also think this novella was far too short to really capture everything Khaw was attempting. The balance felt off and if there was more length and time for everything to play out, I think there could’ve been more depth and thought put into both the horror and character drama.
I’ve blown through all of Nghi Vo’s novellas since earlier this year and I loved all of them, so this might just be a symptom of me craving more of what I like about Vo’s writing. Which isn’t fair to Khaw, of course, but is a bias I feel like I should admit to myself. I picked up this novella because it was on the shelf next to The Salt Grows Heavy, which is the one I was aiming to pick up initially, and I wanted just one more short book to finish out September. Hopefully I’ll get more out of the one I felt drawn to and my disappointment here is more just due to having unfair expectations and slightly less interest in the story.
The prose was the highlight for me, the thing that kept me reading for sure. I love a good setting and attention to detail in creating an atmosphere and I think Khaw did that magnificently. Her word choice was absolutely fantastic and she really dug into building up this fantastical, gory mansion for the characters to inhabit. Her descriptions really worked for me. I’m not much for straight gore and viscera and all that, but I do like when that sort of language is used to convey sensations or atmospheres. The ones that really struck me where how she described the air itself in some places, giving it a taste and texture and conveying so much more than just “the air felt heavy and thick.” Sure, the latter is a practice in brevity, but I’m terrible at brevity in my own writing so this spoke to me in that way. I’m not saying my own writing is on a level with Khaw’s, but I definitely felt a sort of kinship in the way it’s clear that she thinks a lot about wording and phrasing and metaphor when she’s structuring her sentences. I think that’s why I liked her writing style so much.
While most of the novella just felt like a slog whenever we had to actually deal with the characters interacting, I’ll admit the other thing I liked was the very ending. The description of the final moments in the house, honing in on the contrast to the character, as well as the last chapter overall. I think that’s the place Khaw was most successful in making the characters and their interactions and choices feel real, just in that silent solidarity to hide their trauma and the way the experience just separated them inexorably. (To be more clear in a spoiler:
Everything else about this kind of let me down, though. The book jacket seemed to bill this as a group of friends who would end up spilling some painful truths among themselves in a state of heightened anxiety and fear, but I thought that really fell short. The characters themselves felt very flat to me and, as I mentioned, I found them all pretty unlikeable. They were very obvious archetypes, but Khaw didn’t allow them space to grow beyond that. And I don’t think being self-referential by having characters compare themselves to horror movie tropes really helped. It more just shined an even brighter spotlight on how hollow each of them was and how little depth and personality they really had. I recognize fleshing out characters in a novella can be a challenge since it is a short medium, but I just couldn’t find anything really redeeming about any of them that made me want to give Khaw grace in that regard. I get that childhood friendships can be complicated, but I genuinely fail to see how any of these relationships lasted into adulthood.
The horror aspect, I think, both worked and didn’t work. While I am a complete and utter wimp about any even remotely scary movie, I have a decently high tolerance for supernatural horror in books. This novella gave me the strange sensation of knowing if I was watching it as a movie I would be scared to death, but as I read it I kind of felt empty. Usually, I at least really feel the tension and my heart rate might go up, but I didn’t find any part of this novella particularly terrifying. But, again, given how well Khaw wrote the atmosphere and knowing myself and my horror tolerance in general, I do think I would’ve been properly terrified if it was a short film or something. As it was, though, this just felt like another thing falling too short for me.
I also felt that neither the horror plot nor the interpersonal relationship drama had enough room to breathe. Anytime it seemed that we had some good tension between the characters, it was broken by a new piece of action and/or it sort of just fizzled out to move us along to the next scene. I didn’t feel very much like any secrets were decently dredged up, and if they were, there was no space to let those things breathe and give the characters the time to react and reorient around them. At the same time, the way the horror plot was laid out and progressed, the character drama felt like odd interruptions to the action when it cropped up. I didn’t really feel the depth of Faiz and Phillip’s buried animosity, for example, though Khaw laid the groundwork perfectly well. In the midst of an argument, though, she chose to focus on the other characters in the room and whatever build up was supposed to exist just felt immediately extinguished. I think it would’ve been difficult to extend this sorry into a full novel, but I also think this novella was far too short to really capture everything Khaw was attempting. The balance felt off and if there was more length and time for everything to play out, I think there could’ve been more depth and thought put into both the horror and character drama.
I’ve blown through all of Nghi Vo’s novellas since earlier this year and I loved all of them, so this might just be a symptom of me craving more of what I like about Vo’s writing. Which isn’t fair to Khaw, of course, but is a bias I feel like I should admit to myself. I picked up this novella because it was on the shelf next to The Salt Grows Heavy, which is the one I was aiming to pick up initially, and I wanted just one more short book to finish out September. Hopefully I’ll get more out of the one I felt drawn to and my disappointment here is more just due to having unfair expectations and slightly less interest in the story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
elysianbud's review against another edition
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Underwhelming. Feels like it should have been shorter or much longer. Some good spooky moments though. Quick read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
justacowboy's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Gore and Murder
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt
mreadsbooks's review against another edition
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Toxic relationship, Blood, Murder, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcohol
Minor: Infidelity, Sexual content, Vomit, Suicide attempt, and Fire/Fire injury
moxiereads's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
catherineisa's review against another edition
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Fire/Fire injury
allyareads's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Toxic friendship
Minor: Suicide attempt
marswritesthings's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence
beanaroni's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
fast-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? Yes
4.0
I really liked Khaw's prose but I think that the story could've benefited from another hundred pages or so. the ending wasn't what I expected, nor hoped, it would be, and it came far too soon.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Confinement and Mental illness
Minor: Fire/Fire injury
bijou3owl's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, and Self harm
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide