I am marinating in mixed feelings.

On one hand - this was cool and very good. The writing is gorgeous and extremely evocative. The horror imagery is memorable and gruesome. The characters are flawed, charming, awful, endearing, and everything in between.

And some of the passages .. I rarely get scared while reading horror, but a scene in the middle of this one had me needing to leave the lights on.

But then there were many a thing I didn't like. I often felt confused and waited for something big to be revealed. I wanted more answers that the book gave me. The balance between suspense and payoff was too skewed for me to enjoy the book as a comprehensive whole.

I think that's really where I'm settling - while I profoundly enjoyed several portions of this book, I found other parts dull and bloated. I was hoping that the latter would be followed by lightbulb moments that made them essential, but alas.

In short, this book was a better version of Stephen King's It.

Recommended if you enjoy slow paced chonky horror books, don't mind being left in the dark as the story unfolds, and love a plot with a hefty political backdrop.