What a strange and intriguing novel. Powers beyond human comprehension, an abstract process which is neutering out protagonist, and a bunch of weirdos and freaks. 

I loved the opening, the retelling of Rumpelstiltskin as a darker tale, a warning for those who might dare to cross its kind. The moments of horror throughout the book were myriad, generally forgoing 'shocking' lovecraftian reveals, and instead building more and more tension and discomfort in places where we should feel safe and fine.

The ending of the novel, I felt, was also very well done. The last few pages leave the reader with dread and heartache at knowing what comes next, as well as feeling utterly powerless.

Where I struggled was with the protagonist Don. Early on

I understood something bad was happening to him which made him fucking moron, to be frank. A tottering old man who was sympathetic, with Michelle/the Croning process seeming to have taken much of his faculties away.

Don is the victim of this story, and his family are joint victims and conspirators alike. However, the realisation that something was reducing Don to this damnable fool wasn't scary so much as it was sad and frustrating. When I realised in the early chapters what was happening, it made the novel feel pointless, and inevitable. When the pregnancy was announced, I knew what old Rumpelstiltskin would want.

I suppose there's nothing wrong in knowing where a novel is going, what notes you expect to hit next on the sheet, but because Dom was so useless, it all felt a little pointless for me. Maybe that was the point, that we were along with Dom on this awful track, knowing it leads off a cliff with no way to do anything but follow the rail. If that's the case, that's fine, but it still made me enjoy the ride less.

The epithet

'time is a circle'

is repeated throughout the book, but I feel like it was handled a little clumsily. We are introduced to the  "archetype" of "the spy", supposedly Don's bloodline(?), but to me this is ill-woven, a tack added as an afterthought, else improperly placed too far towards the end of the novel to truly stick.

That

Rumpelstiltskin

and it's ilk are

alien's

I found to be, personally, unsatisfying. I suppose had I gone into this expecting elements of cosmic horror then I would've found that more appealing. From the fairy-tale-esque opening, I was expecting more

magical corruption or something.

A lot of thoughts and complaints shows you that there was something about this book that still managed to pull me in, and I read it in a few short days. I'll be interested to read more of Laird's work, knowing a bit more of what to expect, and how it'll shake out when I eventually read more in the future.