A review by moonmin_bookcase
Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw

3.0

I picked up this book because it looked like an interesting and shorter read to help me get out of a reading slump.

Unfortunately it did not help me out of my slump, if anything it put me further into one.

I enjoy horrors as general rule, especially the ones with ghosts. I love to read about and learn more about Yokai and Yeuri. Urban myths and legends are great too. This book promised to be a horror story that explored the darker side of relationships in the background of a potentially haunted Heian mansion. A story that hit some of my favourite key points in a horror novel, so one I looked forward to read.

The horror that could have been was dimmed. The story telling ended up lacklustre, and lacking in tension. It felt like the author was trying too hard to show off her intelligence and knowledge over actually working on building any sort of fear or apprehension. The characters written in such a way that they simply came off as ridiculous, and some what pretentious. I had no love for any of them, the sort of characters you wouldn't care if they lived or died.

The idea was a fantastic one, but the execution just wasn't it. It's biggest saving grace was that it wasn't any longer!