Tracy

All the Gothic Goodness!

Revisado: 04-29-25

This novel is absolutely saturated with gothic goodness, and for the most part it is an enjoyable read for fans of the genre. As is the case with too many horror novels, though, the ending was lackluster. The story is a slow burn, creating the expectation that something intriguing will ultimately happen to horrify or, at least, unnerve the reader. No such luck, though, and the final chapters of this books are simply dull, the landing botched. That said, everything else about this novel is absolutely on point, so I'm trying not to be too mad. The decaying estate surrounded by a treacherous bog mirroring the mental decay of its inhabitants...all great stuff. Fans of Turn of the Screw will delight in this story, which draws heavily from that classic. In addition, everything about this novel was made better by the exceptional narration of Jess Nesling.

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An Absolute Delight from Beginning to End!

Revisado: 04-04-25

Though this book be little, it is mighty. What an utterly delightful read! Delightful, that is, if you are a big fan of gothic Victorian literature AND gruesome horror, which happily I am! How to describe what happens here? Well, let's just say it's like reading The Turn of the Screw with no doubt in the gentle reader's mind that the governess is, indeed, homicidally insane. The first-person voice here is both chilling and witty, and I laughed reading this one just as much as I squirmed in discomfort. Anna Burnett's narration was, without a doubt, PERFECT for this book! Loved every brief minute of this read and HIGHLY recommend it to anyone who loves the gothic and also has a strong stomach.

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A Slow Burn that Is Worth the Effort

Revisado: 04-02-25

This novel is a slow burn, and there is a very real danger that many readers might not make it past the first few chapters...but let me tell you it is 100% WORTH pushing through to get to the action! What I loved about this read was how deftly the story unfolds, each chapter adding new information as the entire scope of the story gradually and elegantly reveals itself. I also was delighted with the characterization, and I got sucked right into each back story as it was given. I can't really say more than that, as to try to explain this book is to corrupt the reading experience of the next person, so suffice to say that you can read with the confidence of knowing that Hawkins will take you in the right direction, and you will not be disappointed once the plot comes fully around. I was also incredibly impressed with Hillary Huber's narration--I will definitely be looking for more of her reads!

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Family Vacation is the True Horror

Revisado: 01-09-25

This was a solid read...good fun, lots of creepy moments, just an enjoyable horror novel. Overall it didn't feel all that deep or leave me with any remarkable insights, but it did hit a nerve with the infuriating and truthfully rendered family dynamics at play throughout the story. The protagonist is the black sheep of her family or, more accurately, the scapegoat. Anything that goes amiss must be her fault, and despite the absurdity of her family's reasoning, the interactions were raw and real in a way that made the family unit really the most terrifying element of the story. Some more backstory on the ghost and the haunting might have made this a more compelling tale, but I still liked it nonetheless.

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So many unanswered questions!

Revisado: 12-30-24

Ooo! Finally a SCARY book! I've been on a run of less-than-terrifying horror reads lately, so this was a NICE CHANGE! I was totally creeped out from the first chapter until the last, and the premise here is, for the most part, really well executed. So why only four stars? As many other reviewers have mentioned, we are just left with too many unanswered questions. I don't mind horror stories that lack closure--some of the best do--but this didn't feel like a purposefully ambiguous ending. It was kind of like watching the show Lost all over again: lots of wonderfully weird stuff happening, but you have this nagging instinct that the writers have NO idea where this story is going, and in the end it turns out that they didn't. This book had much the same vibe. Throughout the entire thing I was fervently hoping that it was all leading somewhere, but....not really. It just ended. My frustration was assuaged a bit by the final paragraph of the book which I found absolutely stunning. But still...some of these puzzle pieces need to fit.

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Infuriatingly Tone-Deaf

Revisado: 12-30-24

This book has so much promise but ended up being insanely tone-deaf. While there are plenty of satisfyingly creepy moments throughout, ultimately the scariest thing about this book was the male protagonist, whose prevalent character trait is that he easily slips into infuriatingly destructive behavior FOR NO REASON AT ALL, and even he doesn't understand why. However, despite his lack of understanding, he always fervently believes he is in the right because he just knows better than everyone else. If I was his wife I would be staying far, far away from such a person, but of course she is just an angel in human form who is the only person who really "gets him." UGH. I so desperately wanted him to meet a grisly end due to his own stupidity. And then there's the big reveal about the curse they are under, and without spoiling anything, I was just left wondering how the authors wrote this entire novel without any of the characters ever having any insight into the fact that this "curse" is one experienced by literally millions of marginalized and oppressed people in the history of this country, including one of the families in the story. But I guess it's only horrific when it happens to white people. Again...UGH. I truly thought that this would be addressed in the last few chapters, and I patiently waited for the moment of profound enlightenment, but...no. Nothing. As many other reviewers noted, I also enjoyed the dog...he was the best part of the book.

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More "Other Mommy," Please!

Revisado: 10-31-24

3.5 rounded up. While I didn't find this book as terrifying as other reviewers have, it did certainly have its moments! The scary bits are few and far between, but they are worth the wait. "Other Mommy" is creepy as hell, and I was only sad that we had to spend so much time listening to actual Mommy groan and whine and complain instead of spending that time being traumatized by Other Mommy. The issue that really took me out of the story were the parents. I didn't understand why they spoke to their young daughter like she was some kind of confessional. Who does that? And even when they are talking to her directly, they use vocabulary that no parent ever uses with a child. I know they're not supposed to be the greatest parents in the world, but overall the dialogue was just so bizarre and really broke the spell for me. Still, a fun read with a great narrator, and it's worth dealing with the annoying dialogue for the few really creepy scenes.

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A Classic for a Reason

Revisado: 10-31-24

Did a reread for the class I teach in horror fiction, and was once again blown away by the complexity of this amazing work. It's one of those books that just gets better with each reread, and since it's so short, rereads are very doable--I notice new details every time. To really appreciate this story, you have to go into it accepting that, as a ghost story, it's just not that scary. No...what makes this story absolutely terrifying is the work the reader has to do to fill in the gaps. What is happening in this house and to these children? This is a work of psychological horror, not supernatural horror, but if you like ghost stories, it is certainly one of those as well. Henry James is a master, and Emma Thompson's narration is simply incredible. I can't wait to listen to it again in a few years.

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As Good as I Knew It Would Be

Revisado: 09-26-24

So in spite of the fact that I am a rabid Stephen King fan since childhood, I had never until now read 'Salem's Lot. I'm honestly not sure why--was it because I saw the TV movie first and thought it was unbearably stupid? Or maybe I was just saving it for a rainy day? I'm not sure, but with the upcoming release of yet another (and hopefully BETTER) film version next month, I decided that NOW IS THE TIME. And it was absolutely no surprise to me that I loved it. A true horror masterpiece. A classic. I mean, there's not much to say about his novel that isn't already widely known. I will say, though, that I do disagree with those who say this is King's scariest book. Not even close. Maybe it's because it aligns so closely with Stoker that it becomes a bit predictable? As much as I enjoyed the read, it didn't keep me up at night the way some of his other novels have. Still, what a fun read, and the narration is impeccable.

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Great at times, but a disappointing conclusion

Revisado: 09-09-24

As someone who reads Huck Finn every year, I really wanted to love this book. And there is a lot to love here--moments that really added much-needed perspective--but as is the case with so many contemporary books I read, I just don't think it stuck the landing. The main reason for this was the ridiculous reveal towards the end that served no purpose in the story and seemed to be immediately discarded as soon as it accomplished its shock value. From that point on, I just couldn't connect to the narrative as deeply as I had been. In fact, the last several chapters just seem to completely disregard that the novel is set within a pre-existing narrative, and the author stops making any effort to synthesize the storylines, despite the rich potential for using that connection to draw broader points about how stories are told. (I was really hoping--fruitlessly--that we would eventually return to Jim's pencil towards the end, but that powerful image was dropped in much the same way Huck was.) I did really enjoy the initial chapters, though, and how Jim presented the truth of his life and culture with a touch of irreverence that echoes Twain. The exploration of code-switching was particularly illuminating, if a bit hyperbolic at times. (Jim teaching the enslaved children semiotics would have been a bit more believable if he wasn't utilizing terminology that wasn't even in academic use at the time...but maybe this is satire?) I also appreciated how the theme of deception and the morality of its uses--so prevalent in the original novel--was also explored in this retelling. Overall, I will certainly be thinking about this book for a long time, and it will certainly speak to my future readings of Huck Finn, but it was not as mind-blowing as I had been led to believe.

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