A review by mangofandango
Reprieve by James Han Mattson

challenging dark tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.75

he blurb on the inside flap is...strangely intense, and the quote on the cover - a American classic to be? A story about a full contact haunted house that is actually an incisive exploration of race, capitalism, sexism etc in America? I sort of chuckled at those statements. I don't know about American classic to be, but ok, it really is a story about a full contact haunted house that explores race, capitalism, sexism/misogyny, and more. It's not a horror story, it's more of a cultural critique with Halloween makeup on. Some of it was so difficult to sit with, and it wasn't the parts in the house - Leonard's entire storyline and characterization was so cringe, chilling and scary all by itself that it would have felt horrific even without the rest of it. 
I wasn't sure when I started, but by the second half of the book I was absorbed. 
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