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A review by jourdanicus
Black Mouth by Ronald Malfi
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- 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? It's complicated
4.5
Two brothers and their friends on a journey to confront childhood trauma together.
I love when horror has fantastical elements that mirror real horrors. It's such an interesting way to process the actual terrible things that happen in real life. After all, to paraphrase Holly Gibney, we shouldn't question supernatural monsters when we can hardly explain what drives the behavior of real-life monsters.
Speaking of King, this book was compared to It in Libby where I first saw it. That both drew me in and made me feel skeptical. Now that I've finished it I can say, yep, this was a King-alike, and only in good ways! Mostly I would say that it had the same "vibe," but there were definitely some intentional allusions - "a gumball as red as a clown's nose." Clever. And excuse me for blaspheming but I do think some aspects of Malfi's work here are an improvement on King, namely the less effortful diversity of the characters, and the depth of the setting (which was, in a sense, its own character).
And finally... Dennis 🥺🥺🥺 (that's all I will say.)
I can't wait to read more by this new to me author!
I love when horror has fantastical elements that mirror real horrors. It's such an interesting way to process the actual terrible things that happen in real life. After all, to paraphrase Holly Gibney, we shouldn't question supernatural monsters when we can hardly explain what drives the behavior of real-life monsters.
Speaking of King, this book was compared to It in Libby where I first saw it. That both drew me in and made me feel skeptical. Now that I've finished it I can say, yep, this was a King-alike, and only in good ways! Mostly I would say that it had the same "vibe," but there were definitely some intentional allusions - "a gumball as red as a clown's nose." Clever. And excuse me for blaspheming but I do think some aspects of Malfi's work here are an improvement on King, namely the less effortful diversity of the characters, and the depth of the setting (which was, in a sense, its own character).
And finally... Dennis 🥺🥺🥺 (that's all I will say.)
I can't wait to read more by this new to me author!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Violence, Vomit, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Animal death, Drug use, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Cursing, Misogyny, Medical content, and Lesbophobia