Nothing But Blackened Teeth

This wasn't exactly what I expected, but it wasn't bad. This book is very short, so there are going to be some things that feel like they are missing. In this case, it felt like some character development was missing. However, the lack of character development made it easier for me to put myself in the character's place. And that might have been the point.
The horror parts are very creepy and are the strength of the novella. Knowing a little bit about Japanese folklore would increase your enjoyment and the creepiness of the book. There are definitely scenes that I will remember long after reading the book.
If you are looking for a creepy urban legend type book, this will be a book that you will enjoy.

scariest thing about this was how often it described things as smelling like vinegar.

i wanted so much to like this more than i did :/ the characters being terrible people is something i can handle but there was just Something about how this teetered between overwritten and not written well enough that's really offputting

4.5 stars

I buddy read this book with Luna. I mentioned in one of my week in books posts that I had no interest in reading this book until I saw Jonnys review a couple months ago talking about how much he disliked it. Yes, sometimes negative reviews make me really want to read a book. This was a pretty short book, so it was a quick read. Jonny makes valid points in his review, but I ended up really enjoying it. Maybe it's because I don't read a lot of this genre or maybe it's because I love romance and therefore enjoyed all the drama in this book I don't know. I knew nothing about the Japanese folklore this book is based on going into it and while I didn't know what some of the things were that were mentioned it didn't take away from my enjoyment of it. I felt like the ending was a little rushed and I wanted more. I definitely think this could have made for a great full-length novel because I was left wanting to know what happened after.

One girl each year. Two hundred and six bones times a thousand years. More than enough calcium to keep this house standing until the stars ate themselves clean, picked the sinew from their own shining bones.

Okay, I was genuinely shocked when I came on here to give my rating and saw the average goodreads rating. I can see how this wouldn't work for some people – most of the characters are insufferable and the clarity is a bit lacking at times. But I found the writing so lyrical and the main character, Cat, so immensely relatable. As a queer person with depression, yeah I felt very seen. The atmosphere was truly immersive and I felt like I was standing right there with Cat as we watched our bad friends make bad decisions. It also had a little bit of a The Cabin in the Woods feel with its self-awareness, the characters knowing they were essentially living through a horror movie and making their decisions accordingly. I found that the dread built so well, even if it lost itself a bit in the climax. I was impressed by this and look forward to reading more of Khaw's work!

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This novella had some cool concepts, but it felt like it was setting up a slasher and didn't follow through. Why go out of your way to make the characters so awful and talk about slashers all the time if only one person is going to die?

Looks like most people had an issue with the writing but I enjoyed it!! I just wish it was longer

3.5**

Okay listening on audiobook was a whole other experience. I really loved this this reading session. Loved the way japanese culture was looped in and the poem was haunting. I've read quite a few haunted house books recently but this one had a lot more creepiness to it like Diavola. Definitely recommend it was a really fast listen as well!

I waited a while for this from my library, I was so excited because I quite enjoyed her short story “These Deathless Bones” and I love Japanese culture.
I thought the characterizations and descriptions were fantastic BUT it was hard to read in that the transitions were few and poor. I often had to go back and reread, usually without gaining any additional clarity. I often thought where am I, how did I get here?
So the setting was talked about in gorgeous detail and I thought the characters were rich, but it felt awkward in that these story elements seems disjointed. I was so confused about how the characters moved through the space/story.

I enjoyed the part when Cat and Lin discussed how they needed to be careful because Cat was bisexual and Lin was the ‘comic relief' or something like that and that's who usually dies first in horror stories. I tried to go back and find it, but couldn't because that's how muddled the book is for me. I'm also a bit disappointed and annoyed. Cat is bisexual, but we are only told of her experiences with men; she speaks favorably, admiringly of female bodies, but that's it. It felt disingenuous.

Rating: 3.6 leaves out of 5
Characters: 3.5/5
Cover: 5/5
Story: 2.5/5
Writing: 3.5/5
Genre: Paranormal/Horror/Short Story
Type: Audiobook
Worth?: Meh

The only thing that saved this book from being a 2 was the cover. It fell flat for a horror book. The music for the audio was scarier than the actual story. I will admit though that some pieces were scary. For example, the fact that one friend just straight up murdered his friend for his trash of a bride. The bride of this story is crap. Nothing redeemed her for all that went down. I had high hopes for it.

...is a gorgeously creepy haunted house tale, steeped in Japanese folklore and full of devastating twists.

Full review to come.

I was excited to read a horror novella steeped in Japanese folklore, but that's not what this is. The folklore is merely set dressing (literally!) for the petty squabbles of a group of characters you can't even love to hate.

At first, I expected the haunting to play off of the characters' animosity towards each other to escalate the horror, but they come into the story at each other's throats already. There's not much room for build up.

And that's where this book really fails: horror is all about the build up. But the haunting alternately jumps around in intensity and simmers on the back burner to make room for the sorts of interpersonal issues that would be forgotten in such life-or-death circumstances. And I couldn't help but laugh along with the ghost at that.

This was really not very good at all. Some such people go do rich people things, fuck around, find out. Predictable. The good news is, it's a novella.

the gist of the story is the ghost just wanted cum

The most disappointing book of 2021. Fell very flat in every aspect and never took off or made sense.

I feel sad - this is the only 1-star book I've read this year. I suppose it did have two key virtues: the premise (reinforced by that cover!) is irresistible, and it was so short I could still finish it despite not liking it.

I picked this up with high hopes. A group of friends who once styled themselves ghost hunters rent a venerable Japanese mansion steeped in ghostly legend? Sounds both right up my alley and refreshingly different from standard Western haunting tales.

However, beyond that general idea, this fails on every element of storytelling.

Atmosphere is weirdly lacking. Perhaps because the setting isn't well established (is this supposed to be a crumbling pile, a preserved historical landmark, something in between? If it's explained at the outset, I quickly lost the thread as petty arguments and weird vocabulary choices distracted me!). This isn't scary, creepy, or even unsettling. And the elements of Japanese folklore needed a lot more explanation and description to sustain the focus placed on them.

Plot barely exists. It could be summarized in 2-3 sentences.

The insistence on obscure words and the constant, strained metaphors make me think Khaw forgot the primary purpose of language is communication! The ostentatious prose was distracting and pulled me out of the story. For example:

I wanted badly to tell her again that the past was so sepulchered in poor choices, you couldn't get Faiz and me back together for bourbon enough to brine New Orleans.

boring

This book was one of my most anticipated releases of this year, but it turned out to be not what I expected. It wasn't creepy or surprising. I didn't care about the characters, and the supernatural entities didn't have the main role I was hoping for. I really wanted to enjoy this one, but I felt like it felt short in some parts. All in all, others seemed to have enjoyed it, so I guess it's still worth a try.

I wanted a bit more from this. That being said, I realize it's a novella. It goes down very easy. It's a fun piece of weird fiction. The cover is gorgeous; like, my favorite cover of the year, basically. I want this artprint.

Anyway. Looking at the criticism of this book, I get it, but I'm fine with how things are. How many litfic books are about friends who all actually hate each other? I feel like it's a common trope. But this one, we get hints of the background, which makes me want to know more. We get just enough to know why things are strained. And we don't get any direct explanation of the Japanese terms in the book. Which I don't mind at all. I can look it up. And I did look up the term ohaguro-bettari; as I had inferred, it basically means, “Nothing but blackened teeth.” Anyone who watches subtitles can figure stuff out on their own.

Now, as for the writing. Wow. I mean, gods. There were some sentences that were so lovely that I could have cried.

I'm looking forward to the other novella of Khaw's I have now. Honestly, I want more from the Blackened Teeth world. I want to know what adventures they had.

Everyone's got issues in this novella, and that's where the horror lies. Sure, the house is absolutely creepy, but this is the kind of horror story where the real horror lies not in the location or the monster; rather, those are merely reflections of the real horror that is the secrets and things unsaid that the people visiting the haunted place are hiding, both from those around them and from themselves.

 There's also something to be said about watching a barkada fall apart the way it does in this story. Kind of relatable, tbh. 

I was excited for this book's story, but found all of the characters insufferable, and didn't like the writing. It was trying really hard to be lyrical, poignant and creepy, but just felt incredibly pretentious. I don't understand why Lin was even there??? And I couldn't stand the author talking repeatedly about how hot the characters were - I GET IT. Up until near the end they are described in different ways as so good looking it hurts. I ended up finishing this in a day because I really didn't want to have to pick it up again

1 star ⭐️
Highly disappointed. I was looking forward to this novela since I heard Jordaline talk about it in July. Even preordered it in July. I just feel like I had such high hopes and it met none of them.

The writing did feel pretentious with the whole thing being metaphors and similes that left me wondering wtf was going on. None of the characters were likable at all. I wondered why they were all there together celebrating a wedding if they didn't seem to like each other at all.

I was bothered at how nonchalant they acted as this haunted house was coming alive. Bickering and fighting about nothing while there are ghosts and monsters around. The library with the books came out of left field and was super convenient.

Overall, let down and disappointed.

A Heian era mansion sits alone and haunted. Buried beneath its creepy floorboards is a blushing bride's bones and her human sacrifices.

Talia's getting married. She always adored exploring haunted houses, so the mansion is the perfect wedding venue. Talia and her friends head to the mansion for a night of celebration, hoping to catch a glimpse of the ghost bride that inhabits it's walls.

The cover of this novella is gorgeous