jess_the_reader's Book Journey

At first I was frustrated with having to keep up with character descriptions rather than their names ("The One with the Beautiful Voice", "The Secret Keeper", "The One Who Runs Away", etc), but once I got ahold of them in my mind it went a lot smoother. Having read the book Annihilation earlier this year almost felt like a precursor to tolerating nameless characters (The Biologist, The Psychologist, The Linguist, etc).

That being said, once I locked in I absolutely loved the voice of the narrator shifting from omniscient to first person ("we"), it was so JARRING and it honestly felt like someone coming up behind me and whispering those lines in my ear when I wasn't expecting it. I am a sucker for an unreliable narrator and unconventional POV so this was the perfect blend.

There were some graphic body horror aspects that I liked because it takes a lot in a book to make my skin crawl. I thoroughly enjoyed the gradual suspense by way of confusion and then horrific realization. The journey the author took us on was a wild ride for only taking place in one location.

Coincidentally, I'm also reading The Willows by Algernon Blackwood right now and I had no idea that they'd be soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo similar but wow what an experience to read them in parallel. The Willows is a classic so it's a bit more long-winded but both books serve up suspense and eerie atmosphere on a platter that I happily gobbled right up as a double order.

I only docked 0.5 stars from this review because it did take me about a quarter of the book to really get into it, but after that it was all downhill (in the best way).

At first I was frustrated with having to keep up with character descriptions rather than their names ("The One with the Beautiful Voice", "The Secret Keeper", "The One Who Runs Away", etc), but once I got ahold of them in my mind it went a lot smoother. Having read the book Annihilation earlier this year almost felt like a precursor to tolerating nameless characters (The Biologist, The Psychologist, The Linguist, etc).

That being said, once I locked in I absolutely loved the voice of the narrator shifting from omniscient to first person ("we"), it was so JARRING and it honestly felt like someone coming up behind me and whispering those lines in my ear when I wasn't expecting it. I am a sucker for an unreliable narrator and unconventional POV so this was the perfect blend.

There were some graphic body horror aspects that I liked because it takes a lot in a book to make my skin crawl. I thoroughly enjoyed the gradual suspense by way of confusion and then horrific realization. The journey the author took us on was a wild ride for only taking place in one location.

Coincidentally, I'm also reading The Willows by Algernon Blackwood right now and I had no idea that they'd be soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo similar but wow what an experience to read them in parallel. The Willows is a classic so it's a bit more long-winded but both books serve up suspense and eerie atmosphere on a platter that I happily gobbled right up as a double order.

I only docked 0.5 stars from this review because it did take me about a quarter of the book to really get into it, but after that it was all downhill (in the best way).

I devoured this book. I can sometimes have trouble with abstract-like books as oftentimes there’s so much confusion I’m unable to glean any kind of feeling from them. But Saskia Nislow was able to create a kind of a hallucinatory dark fairy/folk tale with just enough horror and enchantment to keep me glued to the pages.

There were parts of the story that reminded me of Maurice Sendak’s Outside Over There and even a tiny bit of Where the Wild Things Are. And of course there were touches of changeling, kelpie and other folklore throughout. I think these little nuggets of connection helped me to invest just a little bit more into the novel, which is always helpful.

I found Saskia Nislow’s choices endlessly interesting. Like using descriptive identifying traits instead of names (The One Who Runs Away, The Crybaby, The Liar) and that they use italics when the children speak but quotation marks when the adults speak. It made me think that they had a reason for everything, even if I couldn’t figure it out lol.

As for the message of the book, that’s something I’m still thinking over tbh. It could be something as simple as children trying to navigate a complicated world on their own, especially these days. Or there could be something deeper. Either way, I already know this one requires a reread sometime soon and I’m not mad about it.

I devoured this book. I can sometimes have trouble with abstract-like books as oftentimes there’s so much confusion I’m unable to glean any kind of feeling from them. But Saskia Nislow was able to create a kind of a hallucinatory dark fairy/folk tale with just enough horror and enchantment to keep me glued to the pages.

There were parts of the story that reminded me of Maurice Sendak’s Outside Over There and even a tiny bit of Where the Wild Things Are. And of course there were touches of changeling, kelpie and other folklore throughout. I think these little nuggets of connection helped me to invest just a little bit more into the novel, which is always helpful.

I found Saskia Nislow’s choices endlessly interesting. Like using descriptive identifying traits instead of names (The One Who Runs Away, The Crybaby, The Liar) and that they use italics when the children speak but quotation marks when the adults speak. It made me think that they had a reason for everything, even if I couldn’t figure it out lol.

As for the message of the book, that’s something I’m still thinking over tbh. It could be something as simple as children trying to navigate a complicated world on their own, especially these days. Or there could be something deeper. Either way, I already know this one requires a reread sometime soon and I’m not mad about it.

At first I was frustrated with having to keep up with character descriptions rather than their names ("The One with the Beautiful Voice", "The Secret Keeper", "The One Who Runs Away", etc), but once I got ahold of them in my mind it went a lot smoother. Having read the book Annihilation earlier this year almost felt like a precursor to tolerating nameless characters (The Biologist, The Psychologist, The Linguist, etc).

That being said, once I locked in I absolutely loved the voice of the narrator shifting from omniscient to first person ("we"), it was so JARRING and it honestly felt like someone coming up behind me and whispering those lines in my ear when I wasn't expecting it. I am a sucker for an unreliable narrator and unconventional POV so this was the perfect blend.

There were some graphic body horror aspects that I liked because it takes a lot in a book to make my skin crawl. I thoroughly enjoyed the gradual suspense by way of confusion and then horrific realization. The journey the author took us on was a wild ride for only taking place in one location.

Coincidentally, I'm also reading The Willows by Algernon Blackwood right now and I had no idea that they'd be soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo similar but wow what an experience to read them in parallel. The Willows is a classic so it's a bit more long-winded but both books serve up suspense and eerie atmosphere on a platter that I happily gobbled right up as a double order.

I only docked 0.5 stars from this review because it did take me about a quarter of the book to really get into it, but after that it was all downhill (in the best way).

I devoured this book. I can sometimes have trouble with abstract-like books as oftentimes there’s so much confusion I’m unable to glean any kind of feeling from them. But Saskia Nislow was able to create a kind of a hallucinatory dark fairy/folk tale with just enough horror and enchantment to keep me glued to the pages.

There were parts of the story that reminded me of Maurice Sendak’s Outside Over There and even a tiny bit of Where the Wild Things Are. And of course there were touches of changeling, kelpie and other folklore throughout. I think these little nuggets of connection helped me to invest just a little bit more into the novel, which is always helpful.

I found Saskia Nislow’s choices endlessly interesting. Like using descriptive identifying traits instead of names (The One Who Runs Away, The Crybaby, The Liar) and that they use italics when the children speak but quotation marks when the adults speak. It made me think that they had a reason for everything, even if I couldn’t figure it out lol.

As for the message of the book, that’s something I’m still thinking over tbh. It could be something as simple as children trying to navigate a complicated world on their own, especially these days. Or there could be something deeper. Either way, I already know this one requires a reread sometime soon and I’m not mad about it.

I devoured this book. I can sometimes have trouble with abstract-like books as oftentimes there’s so much confusion I’m unable to glean any kind of feeling from them. But Saskia Nislow was able to create a kind of a hallucinatory dark fairy/folk tale with just enough horror and enchantment to keep me glued to the pages.

There were parts of the story that reminded me of Maurice Sendak’s Outside Over There and even a tiny bit of Where the Wild Things Are. And of course there were touches of changeling, kelpie and other folklore throughout. I think these little nuggets of connection helped me to invest just a little bit more into the novel, which is always helpful.

I found Saskia Nislow’s choices endlessly interesting. Like using descriptive identifying traits instead of names (The One Who Runs Away, The Crybaby, The Liar) and that they use italics when the children speak but quotation marks when the adults speak. It made me think that they had a reason for everything, even if I couldn’t figure it out lol.

As for the message of the book, that’s something I’m still thinking over tbh. It could be something as simple as children trying to navigate a complicated world on their own, especially these days. Or there could be something deeper. Either way, I already know this one requires a reread sometime soon and I’m not mad about it.

This was short and to the point but I was left so satisfied and delighted. This had every aspect of a horror novel I want. The vibes, the setting, the feeling of not quite right...10/10 recommend!