My first experience with T. Kingfisher will certainly not be forgettable and I'm curious to dive into more of their backlist. 

This is a retelling, or maybe more of a exploration, of the Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe. While I have read this particular work by Poe, it's been awhile so I had forgotten about it which allowed me to go in blindly. 

One of the first thing's I'll say was that like a few pages in, I was cracking up at the specific quote: "Sometimes it's hard to know if someone is insulting or just an American." 

As an American, I can say, truer words have not ever been spoken. Because of the way that the narrator is presented at the start of the story, as being a solider, my own ignorance and prejudices allowed me to just assume that it was a male, though it turns out, the narrator, Easton, is indeed a female. I loved the representation in this book and how gender is considered sort of fluid, there is a lot of grey area and not everything is not black or white. 

When it comes to the actual storyline/plot of the story, I will say that it sits around a solid 3 stars for me as it's slow moving and for a short novella, it takes awhile to get where we're going. But, I added the fourth star because once you get to the last bit, the creep factor had me...ick. Goosebumps, for sure. It's disgusting but awesome and has stayed with me so I think it's worthy of the four stars I've given it. 

Definitely recommend checking it out if you like a creepy factor and enjoy works by Poe. I'm excited to check out the 2nd book in the Sworn Solider series coming out in 2024, I believe!