Mary: An Awakening of Terror

Far too long, gets incredibly tedious until maybe chapter 35ish—which really had me wanting to file this under a DNF. To Nat Cassidy's credit, he—yes, I too was surprised to discover the author was a man—writes the role, perspective, and struggle of aging menopausal women very well and with respect. That said, you'll have a funner time with The Haar, Rouge, and/or Sister, Maiden, Monster in regards to somewhat similar plot tones. Mary was nothing like American Psycho or Midsommar, which is how it was marketed for me.

Mostly middling and then there was - of course - an unnecessary SA scene, and then I just lost steam and put it aside for like 2 weeks before finishing it.

The afterword really rubbed me the wrong way. Women already know that hateful voice coming from inside fed by the wash of it on the outside, and the male author realizing that he has that voice as well, but focused outward, is not the revelation that he thinks it is. We've been talking about the internalized hatred of women that people have for so so very long.

I need to read more horror written by not cis-men.

It's an interesting take on a topic not discussed enough. There were bits I really loved and bits I really didn't but overall glad I read it for the uniqueness of it.

I loved this book. I saw the parallels to Carrie easily, but how Mary was spun truly made it a different ride than Carrie. Loved the nod to (what I felt) the My Favorite Murder podcast. The way the author detailed the podcast made me instantly think of that one.

This book was a lot. It was refreshing to read a book about an older woman.

However, my favorite character wasn't Mary, it was Jane.

Rating: 3.9 leaves out of 5-Characters: 3.5/5 -Cover: 4/5-Story: 4/5-Writing: 5/5Genre: Horror, Thriller, Mystery, Paranormal-Mystery: 4/5-Horror: 2.5/5-Thriller: 3/5-Paranormal: 5/5Type: AudiobookWorth?: YeahHated Disliked Meh It Was Okay Liked LovedI will never look at a cactus again. I will never stop in small towns in the desert.What a good freaking book. I loved the mystery and the horror wrapped in this book. I felt bad for Mary and the ending was kind of bittersweet. I would love to see this as a movie.

This was just okay for me. It was way too long and unfocused in places but it had a few good scares and some of the stuff with the ghosts was great. I get what the author was trying to say with the ending but I'm not 100% sure it worked.