D:

"Adversity introduces us to ourselves"

This would've gotten 5 stars if it weren't for the hint of Zionism sprinkled in at one part 🙄 I will put my opinion of the author aside for this review.

This is the first time in a LONG time that a book has legitimately skeeved me out a bit. As someone with a high tolerance (and love) for horror, I never go in expecting to get a shiver. I'm there because I like how horror can explore certain themes blah blah blah. So this impressed me.

It specifically targets one of the few fears that really gets under my skin: hominids. I was fighting for my life taking biological anthropology in college because hominids fill me with a deep seated dread. This book goes further than just a 'killer squatch in the woods!' and employs a lot of theory revolving around hominid evolution, and THAT got to me quite a bit. 

This author clearly did his research and pulled from his history degrees, creating an interesting comparison piece between humans and this Other living in the vast wilderness, their lives and needs not so different from our own.

Mostly read this for Viy tbh because the 1967 Russian adaptation is one of my favorite horror movies and for my bungou stray dogs challenge lol

Always love to catch up with Perveen :)

Parts of this dragged for me a bit but I liked the subject and I always love returning to this era of India 

I gotta think on this one bro

Fun, creepy read. Also delightfully blasphemous, which I love.

Some parts came off a little kitschy/dramatic, but horror's tough to write. And being that they almost solely self publish, I don't fault them too much for it. This author loves the fey and I love when they write about it!

Hmm I liked this one but not as much as the first! I think because it was heavier on romance and the world building wasn't as much for me. I loved the mystery and terror of the juke cat in the first one + the language and slang. Can we tell I fucking loved the first one lol???

This one felt more like reading Circe or Song of Achilles with the cruelty of the society they live in and the responsibility one is held to for their family. It's an almost star crossed lovers kind of romance, which is great for those who love that! I can just only take so much of it :') I hurt

Not as into the alt right terrorist group subplot honestly but this is a delightful read as always with Schwab. Loved seeing Alucard get to heal his trauma a lil.

I have theories also

I'm curious if the person Kosika is seeing is actually Holland? I kind of think it's something disguising itself as him to trick her. I just don't believe Holland would ever be gung ho about trying to rebuild Black London. As much as he wants his world to flourish, he's been through too much to believe that won't come with consequences. But we shall see....

Ooo, I really loved this book. It's not without flaw of course - there's some updates needed, and it can be a bit heady at times. However, I find it to be a worldview altering read.

It feels similar to how it felt when I finished Braiding Sweetgrass, which I suppose is no surprise. Everything I read that's heavily influenced or written by indigenous peoples is very enlightening for me.

It feeds something restless in me as someone whose ancestral history quite literally is divorced from the land, and it's something that haunts me. These are very necessary tools for reshaping my worldview of the natural world and space I occupy. Indigeneity is a crucial aspect of reshaping our relationship to nature and to each other. 

Anyways, that's a lot bye bye

Okay this shit absolutely fucks.

I will say to those picking it up that there's some dialogue between some of the men at the beginning that feels very 'Boy's Club' icky, but I encourage you not to let that put you off! There are a lot of people in this world that SUCK, but it is meant to be a dark, gritty world setting. The main character is not about that mess anyway don't worry.

This has the harsh and often graphic nature of the Locked Tomb series, and that's one of my favorite kinds of fantasy. The magic in this is so intriguing, I want a whole book on the lore. My friend had recommended the second one to me, so I'm absolutely psyched to read that one next hehe