“𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔪𝔲𝔰𝔥𝔯𝔬𝔬𝔪’𝔰 𝔤𝔦𝔩𝔩𝔰 𝔴𝔢𝔯𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔡𝔢𝔢𝔭-𝔯𝔢𝔡 𝔠𝔬𝔩𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔬𝔣 𝔰𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯𝔢𝔡 𝔪𝔲𝔰𝔠𝔩𝔢, 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔞𝔩𝔪𝔬𝔰𝔱-𝔳𝔦𝔬𝔩𝔢𝔱 𝔰𝔥𝔞𝔡𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔱𝔯𝔞𝔰𝔱𝔰 𝔰𝔬 𝔡𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔡𝔣𝔲𝔩𝔩𝔶 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔥 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔭𝔞𝔩𝔢 𝔭𝔦𝔫𝔨 𝔬𝔣 𝔳𝔦𝔰𝔠𝔢𝔯𝔞. ℑ 𝔥𝔞𝔡 𝔰𝔢𝔢𝔫 𝔦𝔱 𝔞𝔫𝔶 𝔫𝔲𝔪𝔟𝔢𝔯 𝔬𝔣 𝔱𝔦𝔪𝔢𝔰 𝔦𝔫 𝔡𝔢𝔞𝔡 𝔡𝔢𝔢𝔯 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔡𝔶𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔰𝔬𝔩𝔡𝔦𝔢𝔯𝔰, 𝔟𝔲𝔱 𝔦𝔱 𝔰𝔱𝔞𝔯𝔱𝔩𝔢𝔡 𝔪𝔢 𝔱𝔬 𝔰𝔢𝔢 𝔦𝔱 𝔥𝔢𝔯𝔢.

𝔓𝔢𝔯𝔥𝔞𝔭𝔰 𝔦𝔱 𝔴𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡 𝔫𝔬𝔱 𝔥𝔞𝔳𝔢 𝔟𝔢𝔢𝔫 𝔰𝔬 𝔲𝔫𝔰𝔢𝔱𝔱𝔩𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔦𝔣 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔪𝔲𝔰𝔥𝔯𝔬𝔬𝔪𝔰 𝔥𝔞𝔡 𝔫𝔬𝔱 𝔩𝔬𝔬𝔨𝔢𝔡 𝔰𝔬 𝔪𝔲𝔠𝔥 𝔩𝔦𝔨𝔢 𝔣𝔩𝔢𝔰𝔥. 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔠𝔞𝔭𝔰 𝔴𝔢𝔯𝔢 𝔠𝔩𝔞𝔪𝔪𝔶, 𝔰𝔴𝔬𝔩𝔩𝔢𝔫 𝔟𝔢𝔦𝔤𝔢, 𝔭𝔲𝔣𝔣𝔢𝔡 𝔲𝔭 𝔞𝔤𝔞𝔦𝔫𝔰𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔡𝔞𝔯𝔨-𝔯𝔢𝔡 𝔤𝔦𝔩𝔩𝔰. 

𝔗𝔥𝔢𝔶 𝔤𝔯𝔢𝔴 𝔬𝔲𝔱 𝔬𝔣 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔤𝔞𝔭𝔰 𝔦𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔱𝔬𝔫𝔢𝔰 𝔬𝔣 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔱𝔞𝔯𝔫 𝔩𝔦𝔨𝔢 𝔱𝔲𝔪𝔬𝔲𝔯𝔰 𝔤𝔯𝔬𝔴𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔣𝔯𝔬𝔪 𝔡𝔦𝔰𝔢𝔞𝔰𝔢𝔡 𝔰𝔨𝔦𝔫. ℑ 𝔥𝔞𝔡 𝔞 𝔰𝔱𝔯𝔬𝔫𝔤 𝔲𝔯𝔤𝔢 𝔱𝔬 𝔰𝔱𝔢𝔭 𝔟𝔞𝔠𝔨 𝔣𝔯𝔬𝔪 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔪, 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔞𝔫 𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔫 𝔰𝔱𝔯𝔬𝔫𝔤𝔢𝔯 𝔲𝔯𝔤𝔢 𝔱𝔬 𝔭𝔬𝔨𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔪 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔥 𝔞 𝔰𝔱𝔦𝔠𝔨.”

Published: 18/10/22

Genre: Horror

Page count: 178

Format read: 🎧

Other books read by this author: 𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 & 𝐁𝐨𝐧𝐞

I dove straight into this one after finishing 𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 & 𝐁𝐨𝐧𝐞 as it was included in my @audible subscription & just like with 𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 & 𝐁𝐨𝐧𝐞, I was hooked from the first line. A visceral mushroomrot retelling of 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐔𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐌𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐝 introduces us to several original characters, including narrator & retired soldier Alex Easson, as well as Madeline & Roderick Usher from Poe’s story. The descriptions of the house & landscape are haunting, the author’s measured prose perfectly encapsulating the gothic tone of the original, whilst injecting an element of body horror that combines the anatomical with the botanical. The book also plays with gender in a fascinating way, introducing pronouns ka/kan for the eponymous sworn soldiers of the series title, making the book as a whole unlike anything else I have ever read.