This was a conflicting read for me. I think this book would be more like 3.25 or 3.5/5 stars for me.

This story starts off following Roger, a pessimistic, rude, misogynist man. We meet him in the wake of his wife Daisy's death. As we learn more about Roger, the type of person he is, and the kind of marriage he had, we see Daisy intent on punishing him from beyond the grave. And honestly, good for her because her man is awful!

The blurb calls Roger a "selfish, bitter husband" but that was an incredible understatement. And honestly, all of the men in this book were absolutely horrid. From misogyny, to slurs, to just simply boiling it all down to being hateful men. It was hard for me to read at times because I wanted to throttle them all. I wish there were more likable characters within this story to balance out the hate but it is skillful to be able to elicit such strong emotions within your characters. Also, be prepared for some cat slander as well. I felt like I was in between a battle between cats vs dogs.

Within the same vein, the author did a fantastic job at writing these characters because I truly hated the men in this story. The women were a bit better but they also had little to be desired. And I kept wishing that the women would step up and stop letting these men treat them like absolute garbage. The characters definitely provoked a lot of feeling within me, and even though it was mostly negative, it was strong writing. It also felt very close to real life which I can't fault the author for. I found myself rooting for Daisy. I so deeply wanted her to get her revenge on Roger from start to finish. The more I read about their relationship, the more I found myself understanding what drove Daisy to the brink. Her actions very quickly became justified.

The pacing within this story was fantastic. I didn't find there to be any lulls within the writing where it felt like filler. And I thought the writing itself was good. Everything flowed and was written nicely. But I will say that if you don't like mentions of bodily functions, this book will bother you. There are many mentions of excreta and vomit.

I wish this book was a bit more horror forward and less about the character's hatred. Ultimately, this is what pulled my rating down. My dislike of the characters was slightly outweighing my intrigue for the horror story. It felt as though it took a little while to get to the meat of the horror.

I felt a lot of conflicting emotions while reading this but I still found myself entertained by it. I enjoyed the writing enough that I would read another book by this author in the future. Fingers crossed for more likable characters though! But a reminder that if every book had likable characters, not only would it be boring, but unrealistic.

Thank you to BookSirens, Lethe Press, and the author Christopher O'Halloran for the ARC. All opinions are my own!

Goodreads Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7472859900
Fable Review: https://fable.co/review/1e6e8181-b7f1-41a3-99fb-36a0a3695825/share