jheinemann287's review against another edition
3.0
In the end, this story is about grief. Gray constructs the book's mood brilliantly (sometimes poignant, sometimes disgusting, sometimes humorous), and I really WANT that to be enough for me. But it just isn't. It felt like the story was building up to more! So I was left wanting more in the end.
shelfimprovement's review against another edition
3.0
There's no other way for me to put this: this is a book that fucks with your head. David's wife has died and he has completely lost his grip on the real world. David begins receiving ominous threats in strange places and he is ever-distrusting of Detective Chico, who's been assigned to investigate the situation. There's not really a lot of meat or emotion here, and Gray is a little too experimental-cum-hipster for me to fully embrace but my goodness does she do a masterful job of pulling the audience into David's confusion. Maybe her detached style serves this strategy well. Or maybe it's the other way around, I'm not sure. This isn't my typical type of story, but Amelia Gray has managed to weave some fantastic insights on love and loss into a convoluted mind fuck of a novel perfectly suited to her choppy writing style.
catspajamas15's review against another edition
2.0
I could not get into this book. I enjoyed it at first because I felt like I was joining David in trying to solve his wife's mysterious death. But I think that's what halted me; I wanted it to be a murder mystery, which this novel is not. I gave it multiple shots but each time I read it I just got more confused. I understand that it was due to David's paranoia and confused grief, but I just couldn't do it. Sorry Amelia Gray!
stitchandwitch's review against another edition
5.0
This book is fast. It grips the reader and steals their breath away. It will not let go. Even after it is over. This is a book that never truly ends.
Gray has a unique mastery of language. She strings together words in a visual and emotional way. Every detail, down to a man strumming his fingertips against his own knee, feels essential.
"Threats" absorbed the last two days of my life and spit them out in some convoluted, confused and prepossessing manner.
Gray has a unique mastery of language. She strings together words in a visual and emotional way. Every detail, down to a man strumming his fingertips against his own knee, feels essential.
"Threats" absorbed the last two days of my life and spit them out in some convoluted, confused and prepossessing manner.
madartyst's review
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
brebee2010's review against another edition
1.0
What did I just read? I have no idea what happened and am utterly confused and befuddled..
plumeriade's review against another edition
1.0
this was truly awful. it was painful for me to finish (and I managed to finish the entire Twilight series and the entire Sword of Truth Series, so).
Amelia Gray's writing isn't bad. the writing and getting inside David's mind as he has a breakdown after his wife dies would be interesting if it HAD A POINT. instead, you are pointlessly wandering around in someone's rapid disconnect with reality, while you pass all these things that should lead to a plot point but never do. it took about 50% of the book for something significant to a would-be plot to happen, except there's not a plot so it never actually happens?
the dead woman's husband didn't call the cops while she was dying and sat with her body for days, and acts extremely odd following her death, but he's never seriously questioned. yeah, sure.
and THEN there's all this stuff that's not even relevant to the non-existent plot. there's chapters that are purely about a woman folding laundry in the laundromat. yeah, that makes total sense. there's an entire chapter about what different people think when they pass by the house.
it's not a coherent story.
Amelia Gray's writing isn't bad. the writing and getting inside David's mind as he has a breakdown after his wife dies would be interesting if it HAD A POINT. instead, you are pointlessly wandering around in someone's rapid disconnect with reality, while you pass all these things that should lead to a plot point but never do. it took about 50% of the book for something significant to a would-be plot to happen, except there's not a plot so it never actually happens?
the dead woman's husband didn't call the cops while she was dying and sat with her body for days, and acts extremely odd following her death, but he's never seriously questioned. yeah, sure.
Spoiler
about 90% of the way through the book, David sees a woman who he thinks looks like his wife and a man who looks like him (down to the way he's dressed) in a house that looks like their house but... nothing ever comes of it. and the threats, which is you know the whole title of the book, never make sense. oh, and you also never find out what exactly happened to his wife.and THEN there's all this stuff that's not even relevant to the non-existent plot. there's chapters that are purely about a woman folding laundry in the laundromat. yeah, that makes total sense. there's an entire chapter about what different people think when they pass by the house.
it's not a coherent story.
wanderlustsleeping's review against another edition
I got about 40 pages into this and just thought "Yea...no".
uncleclo's review
slow-paced
at times, i found the writing style charming, and compelling, it made me curious. then it started feeling really tedious.
the first bit establishes a curious but understandable universe. and then there's just too much that i didn't understand. the prose is sometimes beautiful, sometimes nonsense, and i don't know that it contributed much to the overall story. there are really points where i wished i could shake david and say hello? why are you pissing yourself exactly? i get writing a piece full of metaphors but i think there is a point where this strayed too far from the path of plausible-implausibility. im tired now.
the first bit establishes a curious but understandable universe. and then there's just too much that i didn't understand. the prose is sometimes beautiful, sometimes nonsense, and i don't know that it contributed much to the overall story. there are really points where i wished i could shake david and say hello? why are you pissing yourself exactly? i get writing a piece full of metaphors but i think there is a point where this strayed too far from the path of plausible-implausibility. im tired now.
bookiesncreme's review against another edition
Maybe I didn’t get this book. I had gone in with expectations and was disappointed. I understand now this is really a story about grief more than anything else, but I wanted something else. I blame the way it was marketed - set up for disappointment.
Update: 9/3/22 - this book wasn’t marketed correctly and I think I would have liked this better if I read it today.
Update: 9/3/22 - this book wasn’t marketed correctly and I think I would have liked this better if I read it today.