I feel like I would have liked this a lot more if I hadn’t listened to it as an audiobook, for several reasons

First of all, this is the same narrator who does the Murderbot Diaries books, which is a very funny, sarcastic, conversational series about a potentially murderous robot who just wants to be left alone to watch cheesy soap operas for the rest of eternity. I love this narrator, I think he’s incredibly talented. But because I’m used to him as Murderbot, it was very jarring to hear him in a darker horror setting. The entire book I found myself waiting for the punchline or some sarcastic remark, and had to keep reminding myself that it wasn’t going to happen lol

I also found the plot difficult to follow on audio because of the kind of story it is. If I had been able to physically see the words I might have been able to grasp it better. Instead I was constantly confused, having to rewind the audiobook because I thought I’d missed something even though I hadn’t. I’m not sure if that’s because I just wasn’t retaining the information, or if it’s just a confusing book. But either way, I’m still not entirely sure I fully understood what I just read

On the positive side, the characters and the atmosphere was fantastic! LaValle did an incredible job at making me feel throughly creeped out during certain scenes, and I’m very glad I didn’t read this in a dark room