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A review by joyceheinen
We Spread by Iain Reid
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I already couldn’t fault Iain Reid’s “Foe”, which I believe to be a masterful piece of literature. I kept reading that “We Spread” was his best book or at least it was the favorite of Reid’s book for many readers. And I now know why. What an amazing book! And it’s a possibility it will be my favorite of the year.
Penny lives alone after her long-term partner has passed. She is content with her life as is, but after a fall she is being placed in a care facility her partner had arranged for, right before his passing. Soon after settling in, Penny starts to lose her grip on time and reality.
“We Spread” is an incredibly tense story. It’s horror how I like it: psychological, fear of everyday things, not knowing whether you can trust your own observations. Penny has difficulties with aging, loneliness and forgetfulness, but she still feels sane enough to trust her own instincts. But when moving to Six Cedars, even that becomes un uncertainty. You feel her fear and because we follow the story through her perspective we never know what is real and what’s not.
Iain Reid keeps ups guessing until the end. I could not put this book down. I loved everything about this and, like “Foe”, I can’t fault this book. It’s perfection.
Penny lives alone after her long-term partner has passed. She is content with her life as is, but after a fall she is being placed in a care facility her partner had arranged for, right before his passing. Soon after settling in, Penny starts to lose her grip on time and reality.
“We Spread” is an incredibly tense story. It’s horror how I like it: psychological, fear of everyday things, not knowing whether you can trust your own observations. Penny has difficulties with aging, loneliness and forgetfulness, but she still feels sane enough to trust her own instincts. But when moving to Six Cedars, even that becomes un uncertainty. You feel her fear and because we follow the story through her perspective we never know what is real and what’s not.
Iain Reid keeps ups guessing until the end. I could not put this book down. I loved everything about this and, like “Foe”, I can’t fault this book. It’s perfection.