This Thing Between Us
Ratings95
Average rating3.8
I went into this book completely blind. I'd seen tons of reviews, mostly high praise, and thought I'd give it a whirl. I'm actually super glad I did that because the synopsis is quite the red herring.
I really enjoyed how this novel unraveled. It started out with a man mourning his dead wife and how everyone around him acted, from his mother in law to the media to the fringe family and acquaintances. From there, the reader is treated to their story in kind of a backwards retelling up into the present. The entire time, there's just this weird, foreboding aura that one can't shake. This goes all the way up until the ending, and it still left me with an uneasy feeling. Highly recommended for fans of slow burn horror/creepiness.
When I began reading Gus Moreno's This Thing Between Us, I had moved toward it intentionally as the fall days darkened earlier, wanting to gravitate to books and stories that unsettle and then settle cozy in their unsettled-ness around you and won't let go.
I had moderate expectations, with no foreknowledge of the author, but a few glowing recommendations from some trusted book podcasters. I'm glad I got their message.
I had to slow my reading down to make the book last a few days and not spend a night devouring it whole.
This slim existential crisis in written form is woven with heart and life and even humor while brimming with fear, sadness, death and horror. What a feat and what an incredible testament to the power of grief. Moreno uses it to elevate horror to reveal the terrible questioning and cavernous emptiness that we all must endure for seasons of our lives, but wraps it in incredible storytelling, sitting on any ham fists, and letting his prose do the talking. I loved this book.
*I must include a spoiler alert because as I read it, and even as the deaths of humans were shared in bloody visceral details, I thought of my wife and her aversion to a certain kind of cruelty, albeit, a ghostly one that is short-lived in this case. So, trigger warnings for animal harm and death.
This book is on my personal hall of fame shelf now because it emcompasses grief in a way I could just feel it ache in my chest.
I started reading this in December, but finished it this year, making it my second book of 2023, I guess.
I had just finished reading a book club book that I really, truly did not enjoy, so I was keen to read something that was more to my own taste, and was feeling like something creepy. It'd seen a few of my favorite booktubers who like horror mention this one, and between that and the striking cover, I decided to give it a whirl.
Gus Moreno's writing has this really uncanny quality of being taut yet casual at the same time. It has a conversational pace and tone that is underpinned by a pervasive tension that holds out right to the end, and I found it super compelling.
We've got some creepy sci-fi stuff, some Lovecraftian stuff, some haunted house stuff, some possession and zombie stuff... it's like Moreno is the Salt Bae of horror, seasoning the book with a bunch of different horror elements that all kind of harmonize and hit those horror tastebuds just so!
All of the cuckoo-bananas stuff that happens is anchored by Thiago's depression and grief. I really connected with the way these themes were explored; his loss is heavy and pervasive, but the way withdraws and turns it all inward was very relatable to me.
I haven't given away much about the plot here because it's really more than the sum of its parts, and I think if a creepy, unsettling horror that explores loss, grief, technology, family, and culture sounds good to you, I recommend picking this up and just jumping right in. Although, if harm to animals is book dealbreaker for you, maybe skip it...
Rating: 4.4 leaves out of 5Characters: 4/5 Cover: 4.5/5Story: 4.96/5Writing: 4/5Genre: Horror/Thriller/SciFiType: AudiobookWorth?: YesHated Disliked It Was Okay Liked Really Liked Loved FavoritedWhen I tell you I almost DNFed this book. I had have decided to give all books at least 100 pages before I choose to close it. The first bit made no sense as to why it should be there. It kinda got political, which... it didn't need to be. It really didn't add to the story at all. Same with most of the back story we got for Thiago. 95% of what was given wasn't used or needed. We got maybe one or two very non detailed bits from it, which should have been detailed. Some of the Spanish used in the book wasn't translated... so I will just... pretend that I knew. Lol I mean I knew a word or two but that's about it. Other than those minor details, wow... what a freaking good horror book! There are some things I wished were explained better and Gus does lead you thinking it has to deal with Itza when it is really... something else? A demon thing? I know that towards the end his father says something about this thing that jumps from generation to generation... though why him and not his other children? Though, maybe it did and it never said. I am not sure.I had a good time being scared at night in my own home, especially with an Alexa behind me!
Really connected with Moreno's portrayal of grief. This is a very quick read with just enough spookiness.
no clue what it was about but i enjoyed the experience and the atmosphere. not a fan of the last 10%. love the writting and the audiobook was great too
I don't think this book was for me. I loved the beginning. Part one was slow in the set up, but the writing style was so beautiful and I wanted to highlight so much. With each part it got more weird, and near the end I didn't understand anything that was happening. I was frustrated at how confused I was. I understand that could be compared to the spiraling feelings of grief that the main character was experiencing, it just wasn't for me.
Not sure why I chose this book. It was not really my genre. It was interesting. But not great.
i really loved the writing of this book and i would definitely pick something else up from this author. i actually found the first half super creepy but the explanation behind all of the creepy stuff and the direction in the second half definitely lost me.
I was really enjoying this book until the main character moved to a cabin. From there, I found myself reading very quickly and then eventually skimming.
I enjoyed the passages about the main character's grief, the dialog, and the prose. However, there were a lot of horror ideas, and I felt this book didn't quite know what it wanted to be. It went from techno thriller to ritualistic gore to zombies (sort of?) - there may have been something else that I've completely forgotten about, too. Ultimately, it was a lot in a short amount of time and nothing quite fit. Lastly, there were a few grammatical issues and inconsistencies (for example, their membership was referred to as both “Prime” and “Plus,” the former being correct, I think).
Despite my low score, I'm still going to keep up with this author as I feel he has a lot of potential.
Contains spoilers
2 (1/2) stars. This has a very misleading premise that advertises this story as a “haunted Alexa spook-fest.” In reality, it's a story about a man's grief of losing his wife and his internal struggle to grapple with it.
The story stopped being “spooky” the moment he moved after crushing the haunted Alexa knock-off. His new home, a cabin, presents a Lovecraftian horror mimicry that fails to deliver and actual scare. It acts more like a cheap copy of other horror novels during this section.
I will commend the author on the way he captured grief and sorrow in this book. The tale shines bright during these snippets and the lead in to the “horror” is just beautiful, yet it somehow slips on a banana peel and falls flat on its face each time the scares are supposed to shine.