eisenbuns's Reviews (368)

 This bite-sized novella took me right back to the streets of Derry, with the cast of IT if one of them had turned murderous and taken it upon himself to solve the trolley problem by taking out the friend group to save the town. In the aftermath of a failed prank, Sawyer believes the mannequin he and his friends had found several summers ago was bitter about being abandoned and came to life to enact his revenge.

I always love the relentless inevitability that underlies Stephen Graham Jones’ work. Even when the characters’ logic is flawed, he does such a good job of setting the stage for the events that unfold: it’s fated, there is only one way to go, and the end is inevitable. Resistance is futile, so might as well go along with it.

In my opinion, this is what makes his books so successful. It underscores the horror perfectly. I know this review is more about my love for the author and his body of work, but Night of the Mannequins embodies what I love about SGJ to a T.
 

The protagonist and first person narrator for this book is honestly what killed it for me. It was a really promising idea: a plague that inflicts magic (with an exacted price), an old god and an old curse, a prophetic legend, and a deck of cards which once completed would lift the curse. And a romantic lead who's tall, dark and handsome? Let's go. Unfortunately, our protagonist, Elspeth, seemed allergic to taking any agency in her situation. Her half-baked romance with Ravyn became the only thread by which we were to follow or care about the plot, and after (I think) 24 hours of knowing one another, they were already having the "what are we" talk.

It's a pass from me, sorry to be so negative about it. This book just wasn't for me, but I think it would appeal to people looking for a romance with light fantasy, a cool monster trope, and court politics.