blue_skies_tomorrow's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
monicaa_d's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.0
Pretty interesting, a good werewolf horror novel. Nothing much stands out about the writing or narrative
laurarhds's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-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
3.75
max538's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
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
3.25
fkshg8465's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Book started off slowly but picked up very fast at the end. Not a very good story or good storytelling until the end.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, and Torture
emmavonb's review against another edition
5.0
Whitbrow, Georgia. 1935. Newlyweds Frank and Eudora Nichols are leaving behind the rush of Chicago to start new. Due to a death in the family, Frank, a World War One veteran, inherents a home in the small Georgian town and shortly after he moves there with his new bride, strange and frightening things begin to happen. Christopher Buehlman's debut novel 'Those Across The River' is a folk horror tale, infused with sinister, southern gothic energy that keeps you turning the pages, losing sleep and wondering how much farther it can go.
drewcox's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
bunnieslikediamonds's review against another edition
5.0
Haunting, poetic, erotic, this is high-brow horror at its best. The atmospheric setting, rural Georgia in 1935, draws you in, and the characters, complex and flawed, make you stay. The tension builds up slowly as Frank and Dora arrive in the small town of Whitbrow, where he has inherited his family's old plantation and she has acquired a teaching position. They dutifully attend socials, make nice with the locals and have lots and lots of sex. Things wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the foreboding of horrors to come. Actually, from the very first page it is obvious that awful things will befall the narrator, so for the rest of the novel you're really just dying to find out how he'll end up waiting to be eaten. Yes, eaten!
Buehlman deftly uncovers the town's dirty secrets, its casual racism and sexism, but it's when the sacrificial pigs are introduced that you know this is going to be good. And it is so so good. Truly creepy and unsettling and occasionally funny too. Usually in this genre, people have to be annoyingly stupid in order to put themselves in harm's way, but Buehlman manages to set things going without resorting to cheap plot devices. The inhabitants of the creepy town are superstitious enough to send monthly pigs into the woods, but not scared enough to keep out when their neighbours start disappearing.
A terrific read for anyone who craves quality horror with a Southern Gothic tone.
Buehlman deftly uncovers the town's dirty secrets, its casual racism and sexism, but it's when the sacrificial pigs are introduced that you know this is going to be good. And it is so so good. Truly creepy and unsettling and occasionally funny too. Usually in this genre, people have to be annoyingly stupid in order to put themselves in harm's way, but Buehlman manages to set things going without resorting to cheap plot devices. The inhabitants of the creepy town are superstitious enough to send monthly pigs into the woods, but not scared enough to keep out when their neighbours start disappearing.
A terrific read for anyone who craves quality horror with a Southern Gothic tone.
saric7's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25