I feel like, looking back the title alone How to Survive Camping: The Man With No Shadow shouThanks to Netgalley and Saga Press for this ARC.
3.5 stars
I feel like, looking back the title alone How to Survive Camping: The Man With No Shadow should have told me this was horror, but I deleted that tidbit from my mind. Not that I'm upset at that, as every now and then I do venture into horror but it was weird to see this in the fantasy genre as it doesn't exactly fit that. There is perhaps one creature that could be categorized as "fantastical", however I firmly believe supernatural is it's own separate entity.
After being accepted, I also discovered that this was previously typed up on r/NoSleep, which cool go get that dough. I just think it's a bit weird to publish something that was largely unedited from a text forum. Having just finished the book, I feel a little more fluff would have padded the story out nicely to add more to the lore -- which is greatly needed with the centerpiece here -- but also it would have made it feel less like something that was published online serially. Although these are minor complaints in the grand scheme of things, I think this makes it a little harder for others to want to buy this if they could just read it online unless they want it for their personal collection.
Now that I finished this book I will say I had a good time reading it, though at times I felt like the horror factor could have been pushed a little further. It's the nature of the genre-- there's a delicate balance between a writing exercise and making someone really terrified of sleeping at night. As this was contained at one campground, I felt relatively safe that it was fictional and not worried that this could happen to me despite the fact that some residents just wander in to settle for a new hunting ground.
With the number of inhumans in residence, I was actually more disappointed that there weren't enough rules at the campground. The main idea at the campground is following the rules and really with such a short list, it didn't come off as too weird for me but a little off when other campers would remark that they thought they were silly. With this in mind, I think the list needed to over the top with some wild out there things. This would also beef up the assertion that this is "old land" and old land has horrors of its own.
Some inhabitants appeared to be made up specifically for this story, while others were primarily drawn from Russian folklore which came out of left field for me. A little more variety would have really sold it to the reader that all the creatures, benevolent and evil, wander throughout the world and left them feeling a little more worried. The focus on The Man With No Shadow allowed the author more ability to drum up the fear factor, but in the end it kind of failed. Unfortunately, while reading I hoped it could match the feelings that I experience whilst reading other similar stories such as Goat Man.
All in all, How to Survive Camping wasn't a bad experience. In fact I enjoyed reading most of it, and think that other fans of horror would also enjoy this too. However, a few of them might also want a little more spooky factor to get them in the mood....more
Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins Children's book for the ARC.
3.75 stars
Normally, I don't stray into horror fantasy due to my squeamish nature, buThanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins Children's book for the ARC.
3.75 stars
Normally, I don't stray into horror fantasy due to my squeamish nature, but when I do, I do look forward to the atmosphere that the author sets up. I was pretty excited to see what would happen in A Girl Walks into the Forest based on the letter to the reader alone. Referring to that particular moment in a girl's life where she realizes that she is less than human and bound by a society they thought they understand? Hurts me so much, but it's so relatable and hard to find the right words to describe that feeling. Due to the letter itself, I may have hyped the book up more in my head than what actually happened as I constantly compared the written words to the feelings the letter invoked within.
Starting out, it felt a bit rough as the main character was a spoiled girl, who had been told she was pretty all her life and let it really get to her head. On top of that, her journey to her husband saddled her with her brother and sister-in-law, which really felt like a road trip to hell. Honestly from that set up alone I was convinced for a little while that the entire book would be about travelling through the forest due to the absolute garbage way they all talked to each other. Valla was downright awful to her companions, but I couldn't put my finger on whether it was due to their crummy attitudes or her upbringing. Especially as Valla's sister-in-law was her former best friend who abandoned her once she married her brother.
When we get "through" the forest, the atmosphere really started to become unsettled and I was vibing with that for a bit, until I realized that I forgot the main character's name. It's wild... despite the fact the story is told in first person POV, we so rarely hear our narrator's name that when I first heard it a good bit in, I was extremely confused on who that character was. What a weird thing to notice. Valla also falls in lust with a dude who is so not her husband. That plot point in itself was a little frustrating as Valla simpered over the much hotter brother instead of freaking out about the situation she was put. It was a little off putting to say the least.
I was willing to forgive a lot as I felt Madeline Roux was working hard on the set up and my stomach got pretty queasy about some of the things that were described. That may be mostly me being a baby, but Valla's new family had a new level of creepiness. Unfortunately, the creepy factor stagnated about the time we reached the climax.
The pacing after the "big reveal" of what was really happening with the forest felt a little too fast and gave me mild whiplash. Valla's personality went back and forth on what she wanted to be. It was also extremely... convenient how Valla was able to solve the problem at the end. Didn't make sense in the context of the story but alas I had finished the story before I could finish the thought as to why exactly it felt weird.
Overall, if you're not into horror stories, I feel this is an interesting one to step into, but be wary of the content as it may not be for everyone....more
I've only read one other novel by Richard Swan, but I loved it so much that I thought that the Grave EmpireThanks to Netgalley and Orbit for this ARC.
I've only read one other novel by Richard Swan, but I loved it so much that I thought that the Grave Empire would be an exciting read. Unfortunately, half of this isn't my jam and the other half really brought out the glaring issues that I overlooked in the previous novel.
The Grave Empire has some cool stuff going, leaning more into the horror of the fantasy world and has some beginnings of a well thought out world. However, I find that the summary for Grave Empire doesn't emphasize how much Swan decided to take on in the first book of a trilogy and how much it fell flat.
We follow three main POVs in Grave Empire, which would be fine in most 500 or so paged novels, but the deeper you read into the story the more it becomes obvious that Swan is not equipped enough to flesh out three characters at the same time.
As I read I kept wishing that Swan picked one POV and stuck with it for the duration of the novel so we could become more attached to each character and that they could feel more than just an idea written on paper. None of the characters felt more so than a vehicle for things to happen, barring Peter who I felt was given the most attention. Each character themselves could not focus on other secondary characters long enough for them to become more than a blip in our periphery which did them such a disservice. When it's a horror novel and characters are dying left and right, the reader needs some sort of attachment to make the gravity of the situation stick with them. Instead I often said good riddance to each subsequent death.
With the disconnected storylines, it really made no sense why everything was stuffed into one novel. They don't connect until it's much too late and so many important details went over my head because too much was happening and not enough time was allotted for the reader to just breathe in the world.
Primarily I am a character driven reader and would have preferred to have a balance of plot and characterization but due to the imbalance, finishing Grave Empire became a chore. In my opinion, I feel the story would be stronger if it was divided into three novels with one primary character each and a fourth novel that has it all brought together. That may not match Swan's vision for the trilogy, which I completely understand, but as it stands this entry point really turned me off reading beyond to find out what happens next. ...more
Loading...
