Horrid

Whoa! This book was more than I expected. The characters were well developed even if I didn't like them in the end. Their mental illnesses felt real because they weren't all consuming. There were stretches of time where everything was under control and life was just flowing along. And then there were moments when they were overwhelmed by it. I read this story as mental illness plus ghosts and I really enjoyed it and the ending because I read it that way. If you read it differently, then your enjoyment level might change. I can't give it 5 stars though because in the end, I didn't like many of the characters. To be fair, I don't think we are supposed to like them. Overall it was enjoyable and scary.

This book is HORRIFYING (ha ha, get it?). But seriously...it very much creeped me out. That said, I enjoyed it all the way through. It delves into some pretty creepy themes, some pretty emotional themes, and some pretty raw themes, yet Leno does it in a way that feels realistic and believable. There were a lot of aspects of this book that reminded me of King - exploring mental illness and trauma in a fictional setting, leaving the themes to be interpreted by the reader. And I really appreciate that. As a reader, I like to feel like the author understands I'm intelligent enough to grasp the complexity of the themes they reveal to use (if done well). And this one...this one is done well.

read for the tarot readathon 2023: ten of wandsweekly significator (the emperor)

this was so creepy and had so many messed up family things. i loved the writing and the imagery. the themes were phenomal and for a ya it didn't feel juvenile at all. but it felt like this cut off so abruptly at the end and not in just an ambiguous way but in an unfinished way