A review by em_harring
Twelve Nights at Rotter House, by J.W. Ocker
2.0
This was a four star book up until the ending.
I listened to this via audio and was super into it for the first 85%. I liked the meta nature of the narrative and the conversations it had on the haunted house trope in horror. The main character is a bit unlikeable and says some off the cuff shit (again, speaking to the first 85%), but I was still enjoying the pace and nature of the story.
And then we get to the twist, which I obviously can't talk about without spoiling the book, so we'll get to that in a minute. What I can say is that I'm unsure what the purpose of the twist was. It's a deeply racist twist that has ramifications both in the book and the real world that's horrifying. So we have two possible interpretations: it's just racist or the point is to reflect the horrors of racism. If it's the latter, it's not done well. I don't think Ocker had the complexity, nuance, and real life experiences needed to discuss the twist, so it comes off as cheap and racist. Which is a shame, because like I said, I was quite enjoying the book.
On to spoilers.
So, yeah...can't recommend this, because surprise racism is never fun, especially for BIPOC readers. Unsure how no one flagged the twist and read the room re: racial politics in America and really had an honest and open conversation about whether or not a white man (or white passing, I don't know Ocker's background) should use a racist ideology in the story. Like no one flagged that. Sus.
I listened to this via audio and was super into it for the first 85%. I liked the meta nature of the narrative and the conversations it had on the haunted house trope in horror. The main character is a bit unlikeable and says some off the cuff shit (again, speaking to the first 85%), but I was still enjoying the pace and nature of the story.
And then we get to the twist, which I obviously can't talk about without spoiling the book, so we'll get to that in a minute. What I can say is that I'm unsure what the purpose of the twist was. It's a deeply racist twist that has ramifications both in the book and the real world that's horrifying. So we have two possible interpretations: it's just racist or the point is to reflect the horrors of racism. If it's the latter, it's not done well. I don't think Ocker had the complexity, nuance, and real life experiences needed to discuss the twist, so it comes off as cheap and racist. Which is a shame, because like I said, I was quite enjoying the book.
On to spoilers.
Spoiler
So the grand reveal is that the MC has had a psychotic break and murdered his best friend and his wife for having an affair (whether or not that was accurate or made up in his mind, I think, is up to the reader). We're told that the MC and his best friend (who is Black, which is important and not dealt with well in the story) had a falling out because they got drunk, along with their wives, and the MC thinks that the best friend had a threesome with his wife. It's weird and very much gives "Black man ruined my wife" vibes, which is both obviously racist and harmful because Black men have been murdered for this for centuries. Because we're in the head of the murderer who doesn't really know what's happening, mentally, there is no way to know if the MC is just a racist and that's been the horror the entire time or if the twist was just supposed to be shocking for shock's sake with no thought process behind the real world context of the twist––if that makes sense. Obviously it's horrifying, but I'm just let wondering what the point was, particularly re: race. It very much gives major ick.So, yeah...can't recommend this, because surprise racism is never fun, especially for BIPOC readers. Unsure how no one flagged the twist and read the room re: racial politics in America and really had an honest and open conversation about whether or not a white man (or white passing, I don't know Ocker's background) should use a racist ideology in the story. Like no one flagged that. Sus.