The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! 😌
jessereadsthings's review
3.0
Graphic: Body horror
Moderate: Domestic abuse
Minor: Animal death, Racism, and Rape
aparker89's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Animal cruelty, Chronic illness, Death, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, and Stalking
Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Racism, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Abandonment, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Murder, Slavery, and Violence
provo's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Would recommend this to people who like the level of horror that „The Blair Witch Project“ has (because there are things-you-can-see-or-maybe-not in the woods).
The first 25% are the horror of having to clean out a hoarders house and, knowing that this is something I will have to deal with some day, ignited a terror of its own.
The next chapters, up to 65%, were the scariest to me
The latter half of the book was still scary, but in a more uncanny way and not as psychological draining as the first half.
To me, this book could have been unreadable (because I can not deal that good with horror) - but all the characters are so loveable and it is clear from the start, that Mouse and her dog will make it out alive.
I will definitely check out other books by T. Kingfisher.
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Body horror
Moderate: Dementia, Pregnancy, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, and Miscarriage
elly29's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
A but slow at the beginning, and bit fast at the end. Creepy all the way through. Seriously: Cotgrave and everything surrounding his death is sooo twisted.
Moderate: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Death
Minor: Gaslighting, Sexual content, and Animal death
zachisreading's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Then, in the last handful of chapters, I felt the book fumbled the dismount. Too much was revealed too fast and too completely. Significant parts of the mystery wind up tossed to the curb in the fantastical reveals. The monsters wind up being too human, largely discarding the eldritch horror that fueled the book up to this point. The unknowable becomes known, at least in part, and that removes some of the terror.
Still, it's not a book to be left unread. It's creeping horror is a lovely, well-crafted thing that could easily have felt dated if not for the protagonist's thoroughly modern voice. Plus, there's a dog. And everyone needs more dogs in their lives. Even fictional ones.
Graphic: Domestic abuse and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, and Infertility
Minor: Body horror, Car accident, Child abuse, Violence, Blood, Stalking, and Racism
thekeytotheend's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Graphic: Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Body horror, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Blood, Alcohol, Dementia, Emotional abuse, and Pregnancy
Minor: Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Death of parent, Gun violence, Racism, and Torture
anna_hepworth's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
In the real world sections, our protagonist--Melissa, known as Mouse--is dealing with the house of a recently deceased family member. Said family member was nasty through and through in their dealings with other people, and the house turns out to be a hoarding nightmare. I found myself repeatedly baffled by sections of this, which I think just come down to the reality that other people's families are weird. I did rather love the bit part player, Enid, who is the barista in the nearest town, and who seems rather unflappable. And the nearby household of Skip, Foxy, and Tomas, who are integral to the story. So, Vernon has done very well (as ever) with bringing together a fabulous cast.
In the fantasy sections, there are any number of nasty body horror things going on, although for a long time Mouse writes them off as either dementia (their grandfather's writing) or suggestibility (their own observations). Which should bring with it a creeping sense of dread for the reader, but I found that Mouse was overly analytical about the horror tropes, and so kept throwing me out of the feeling. No idea whether that was the plan.
The author's note discusses other texts that this is in dialogue with -- I wasn't familiar with the primary one, and possibly if I had been this might have worked better.
But as ever in Vernon's work, solid writing, fascinating premise, good world-building and character development, and a generally good story.
Moderate: Domestic abuse
Minor: Mental illness
There are two individuals with explicitly mentioned mental illness; the stories of both are handled well by my standards.ghostams's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Gore
Moderate: Mental illness and Grief
Minor: Racism, Emotional abuse, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Infertility, Confinement, Child death, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Domestic abuse, and Death
breazatoth's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Body horror and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Confinement, Death, and Dementia
Minor: Domestic abuse, Child death, and Death of parent
kimberlyswalters's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Moderate: Sexual content, Miscarriage, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, and Infertility
Minor: Death, Dementia, Domestic abuse, and Body horror
There isn't a tag for stillbirth that I see, so I did tag miscarriages as a content warning instead, but they were likely stillbirths. It doesn't go into explicit detail about the births, but the deaths are mentioned briefly.