Fawn
I would have loved this in theory, but reading it I was very underwhelmed and it just couldn't hook me. I really appreciated the shorter length, though, and I think it would be perfect for the right reader.
content warnings: physical and sexual assault, gore, death, mentions and depictions of rape this is a tough one to rate. it turned out to not be predictable like i had thought but things like our survivor narrator referring to a girl who was grabbed and manhandled and barely freed from a man as ‘almost-victim' was so incredibly insensitive and unaware it was astounding. for some reason i've had it in my head for years that our author was a woman so it made sense when i learned he's a 49 year old white man, lol. i think i would recommend this, i just don't think i've found my niche with mystery thrillers yet.
this story immediately made its way into my heart. i don't have anything productive to say, i would just be gushing about it.
the ending felt a little bit rushed but otherwise it was perfect
I enjoyed this a lot more the more I read. There was something about the writing style, maybe, that my brain really struggled to get behind at first. This was possibly due to Kawaguchi also being a playwright, but the longer I sat with it and allowed myself to be immersed in that vivid-in-my-imagination coffee shop, the more I was transported and was able to be hit with waves of feelings.
It's a comfy read that feels almost anthology-like with the way it's formatted, and I really enjoyed it. Perfect for one sitting with a coffee, or multiple sittings curled up in lots of blankets. Tears were shed and I'm glad I stuck with this despite my initial hesitancy.
I hate Liz and I don't like Raahosh so this was kind of miserable for me. Didn't really understand Liz's defensiveness of Raahosh to the others despite her inner monologue still being pissed off at being controlled. It felt too much like denial of abuse as opposed to the first book, where it was fear and reluctance into love. These two just feel unhealthy overall, even by the standards of this kind of series. Excited to go back to Vektal and Georgie.
content warnings: necrophilia, rape, cannibalism, child death, animal death, gore, drug abuse, body horror, misogyny, self harm, miscarriage, abortion
this is just like. shock factor porn for edgy incels. i wanted it to be more because i'm so desensitised and want something that will make me recoil and uncomfortable, and while the subject matter itself is enough to do that the writing is just so.. cringey? (“so I figured I'd bite the bullet and just do it, Nike-style” LIKE CMON) and i hate that word. i don't know. this could have been so fucked up and engaging but instead it was just fucked up and embarrassing. so many of the positive reviews for this book stem from ‘well it's fucked up and appalling because that's the point!' yes we know, but that doesn't mean we don't also deserve good writing and an actual plot over just the same gore porn for however many pages. extreme horror can be good! this is unfortunately not an example of that.
Okay I never do text reviews because who would be interested in me doing that but after seeing so many people with the same opinion as me I had to. The book could 100% have been 200 pages shorter. It sucked that after 600 pages of really decent and engaging horror building up, we're slapped in the face with a bunch of not even subtle religious “sub”text.
Also I dislike King so the similarities that I did notice were really disappointing but not something I really want to talk about on Storygraph.
There is so much I want to say about this but I don't think I can form a coherent review because I'm so overwhelmed with love for this. I went in expecting something totally different than I got. Halfway through I was thinking that in my review I would write about how it had made me laugh and cry, but by the end of it I was sobbing uncontrollably. The specifics of the topic it dealt with were something I related to heavily and something I didn't realise other people experienced, so to read this being portrayed so well totally floored me. I've already experienced my story so I wouldn't say this book has changed how I will react to these situations, but it's definitely changed how I feel about myself having those reactions. I strongly believe no other piece of media will ever portray how I felt when I was told my mother was dying as this book did, and for that I'm insanely grateful.
This book took everything I thought I knew about fantasy and flipped it on it's head. I wasn't even reading by the middle of it, I was just there. And by the end I felt like I was connected to the characters in the way they're connected to each other. I don't have words for this. I was formulating a review towards the end as I read, but then the book ended and I sobbed and lost my words. I am so excited for the sequel, and so thankful for what this book has opened me up for.
I thought I was going to give this three stars but had to give it four from the sheer fact that I could not put this book down at all.
I think it took me longer to warm to the narrator than intended, but that's just a personal thing. I spent a lot of the book questioning whether I was actually enjoying the experience or not but by the second half I was so invested and my perception of the whole thing was totally flipped.
I love these characters very much, and I love the heartache they gave me. It's such a raw story and true to real life and I think that's where it hit me and so many other people the most.
Everybody needs to read this. It's as simple as that.
There were times I would find myself talking to Starr in my head, whether I was agreeing with her or trying to help her. This book is so raw that you're 100% there with the characters, and I think it's the reality check that a lot of people need.
i really enjoyed the cute moments with our protag and her love interest but unfortunately the majority of the second third of this book really set it back for me. for some reason this is riddled with typos which were continuously breaking my immersion. the pacing feels way off, our main character spends a good chunk of the book misunderstanding/refusing to understand a situation with her friend, only for this to do a total 180 in the span of two sentences. flawed characters are so important to me but in this instance it almost felt wasteful as i approached the final parts of the books. the time spent reading was enough to turn the dynamics around, but the writing's focus wasn't there, therefore the shifts felt out of place and jarring. i appreciate any story that touches on grief, because it always feels like a vulnerability from the author and it can be done in so many different ways because everybody's experience is so unique. sadly i struggled with not getting angry with becca throughout her grief journey, and i know a lot of that was intentional, but i think i found it to be the case when the intent was to make the reader feel sympathy or empathy, too. could i write a better book? no. absolutely not. this isn't a bad book by any means but i really think some further editing would work wonders for it, even if it's just to reduce the double take moments the reader has from running into a misused or misspelled word.
☆ really dug the general vibes and atmosphere
☆ enjoyed the norwegian setting and learning bits and pieces about the language and culture
☆ huge stig fan, personally
✗ was not a fan of the romance in this, i wish it was a platonic relationship
✗ there were a few insensitive moments but nothing too extreme (as far as im aware)
✗ pacing was a tiny bit too slow for me but im being nitpicky
✗ “girls who are different” 🚩
— i think this book would be great for people who are nostalgic for pjo, sadly that isn't me
— was not a fan of the audiobook narrator
— unsure if i'll try book two
— also can somebody PLEASE tell me what it mean when “[character]'s face darkens” like what exactly does that look like!
