C. J. Daley
A huge thanks to Shortwave for the physical ARC! Such a good cover too, I’m so glad I own one.
This novelette is short, a little sweet, and kind of a lotta dark. A tale of abuse, both from a husband and grandfather, this story showcases some of the horror stories women face daily. Yet it’s also mixed with a bit of hope and sapphic desire.
Now, you may know from some other reviews of mine that I really struggle with any form of cheating/adultery, but this is more so about having the ability, the autonomy, to want and decide for yourself. When all you’re shown is abuse, that ability to decide, to feel, to want, is part of that ability to claw yourself back from it. And that’s what this felt like.
Then there is of course, the more horrific elements. Deceit, deception, avoidance, perhaps a little murder? But isn’t all of that just another angle at being free, at fighting against the structured injustice being showcased in this rural community?
My favorite thing though, perhaps, is how Libby goes from one kind of prison to another. And as the bodies start to pile up, June’s hold over her is just another type of chokehold.
A huge thanks to Shortwave for the physical ARC! Such a good cover too, I’m so glad I own one.
This novelette is short, a little sweet, and kind of a lotta dark. A tale of abuse, both from a husband and grandfather, this story showcases some of the horror stories women face daily. Yet it’s also mixed with a bit of hope and sapphic desire.
Now, you may know from some other reviews of mine that I really struggle with any form of cheating/adultery, but this is more so about having the ability, the autonomy, to want and decide for yourself. When all you’re shown is abuse, that ability to decide, to feel, to want, is part of that ability to claw yourself back from it. And that’s what this felt like.
Then there is of course, the more horrific elements. Deceit, deception, avoidance, perhaps a little murder? But isn’t all of that just another angle at being free, at fighting against the structured injustice being showcased in this rural community?
My favorite thing though, perhaps, is how Libby goes from one kind of prison to another. And as the bodies start to pile up, June’s hold over her is just another type of chokehold.
A huge thanks to the author for the physical ARC. So glad to have this for my shelf.
A mixture of historical Japan and the undead? From the very beginning, the cover reveal even, I knew this was for me. And right from the prologue I was hooked! I’ve been working my way back through TWD universe, so zombies are a hit for me at the moment. And U.S gives a unique and thrilling take on the bloody genre.
I loved Wu’s obvious research and dedication to historical accuracy. Several of the characters even being real themselves. It gives this lush, believable, real backdrop to the craziness that follows. A last ditch effort to save Japan itself, a chance for several warriors to regain their honor, prove themselves for the first time, or prove they’ve still got it. The multiple kinds of fighters/warriors was just enough to make each action bit feel different and enjoyable. Of course they are incredibly fast, bloody, and nuts, too.
I happened to be reading this at the same time as Josh Malerman’s Incidents Around the House. The juxtaposition of the slowed down, slithering, creepy-crawly horror, to the zombies, swords, and action, just really sold the experiences. And it really sold Wu’s ability to write a highly tense action adventure.
My favorite bit, that has impressed me greatly (as this is a first read for me with this author) was his ability to convey so much emotion. This is not just a zombie novel, it is the story of an incredible journey between friends, partners, mentors. The author made me not only like, but care about, characters that started out as unlikable. Not only showcasing how dynamic they are, multilayered, but such incredible growth too. And in an action filled, only 320 page book too. Wow!
A huge thanks to the author for the physical ARC. So glad to have this for my shelf.
A mixture of historical Japan and the undead? From the very beginning, the cover reveal even, I knew this was for me. And right from the prologue I was hooked! I’ve been working my way back through TWD universe, so zombies are a hit for me at the moment. And U.S gives a unique and thrilling take on the bloody genre.
I loved Wu’s obvious research and dedication to historical accuracy. Several of the characters even being real themselves. It gives this lush, believable, real backdrop to the craziness that follows. A last ditch effort to save Japan itself, a chance for several warriors to regain their honor, prove themselves for the first time, or prove they’ve still got it. The multiple kinds of fighters/warriors was just enough to make each action bit feel different and enjoyable. Of course they are incredibly fast, bloody, and nuts, too.
I happened to be reading this at the same time as Josh Malerman’s Incidents Around the House. The juxtaposition of the slowed down, slithering, creepy-crawly horror, to the zombies, swords, and action, just really sold the experiences. And it really sold Wu’s ability to write a highly tense action adventure.
My favorite bit, that has impressed me greatly (as this is a first read for me with this author) was his ability to convey so much emotion. This is not just a zombie novel, it is the story of an incredible journey between friends, partners, mentors. The author made me not only like, but care about, characters that started out as unlikable. Not only showcasing how dynamic they are, multilayered, but such incredible growth too. And in an action filled, only 320 page book too. Wow!
Updated a reading goal:
Read 50 books in 2024
Progress so far: 25 / 50 50%
A huge thanks to NetGalley and Del Rey for the e-ARC! Malerman has been an auto-buy author for me since reading Bird Box and he does not disappoint!
Incidents Around the House is written entirely in the perspective of Bela, an eight-year-old that has frequent nightly visits from the Other Mommy in her closet. Unsettling, creepy, and often nauseating, the prose is somehow simplistic—as a child’s writing demands—yet surprisingly elegant and powerful. I was so impressed by the balance the author struck between the two, and it heightened my enjoyment throughout. I really found it hard to put this down (while sadly training at the new job).
Focusing heavily on what goes bump in the night, Malerman takes childhood fears and turns them into adulthood traumas. There was a single line about how Other Mommy was hiding in the dark corner, but her eyes were up near the ceiling that truly gave me chills. And that’s where this story excels, within its endless possibilities, within what it leaves unsaid. It’s childhood stories, it’s Goosebumps and Fear Street and Are You Afraid of the Dark, yet it’s deconstructed, enhanced, and rewound into an entirely unique and adult novel.
Bela’s Mommy and Daddo are great characters in their own right, but they’re also great characterizations of polar opposites in parenting. One feels trapped, ungrateful, and the bearer of bad news. The other is the optimistic, uplifting one, and Bela’s best friend. The light and the dark to their daughter. But what I enjoyed about this dynamic the most, was Malerman’s ability to showcase them so well that I stopped believing that I knew which parent was the “good” one. The rock-bottom feel of their desperation and disparity is something I would say is wholly unique and integral to the experience. And Bela is constantly drawn to the two for different reasons. And to Other Mommy too.
I also really enjoyed that the author gives us a mixture of modern things thrown in. A modern “hippie” exorcism that goes a bit wonky, a slew of cameras and alarms that could make my crew in BestGhost’s heads spin, two well behaved guard dogs that never seem to take a break, running away from home, both short and long trips, and of course, an occult specialist that’s absolutely not a sham. It kind of felt like taking absolutely everything you could do to save yourself, and finding out that all of it wasn’t the right thing.
I happened to be reading this at the same time as Baptiste Pinson Wu’s historical fantasy, Undead Samurai. The juxtaposition of zombies, swords, and action against Malerman’s slowed down, slithering, creepy-crawly horror, just really sold the experiences. And it really sold Malerman’s ability to sell an incredible story with a slower burn.
Can Other Mommy be trusted? Can she be let into Bela’s heart? Why is she named that? The absolutely unhinged act of twisting the dynamic of mother and daughter into something OTHER is truly brilliant. And gross, so gross.
Malerman is at his best, delivering readers with something to think about for years to come, especially before we turn out the lights. I genuinely feel for any reader that has a young daughter.
A huge thanks to NetGalley and Del Rey for the e-ARC! Malerman has been an auto-buy author for me since reading Bird Box and he does not disappoint!
Incidents Around the House is written entirely in the perspective of Bela, an eight-year-old that has frequent nightly visits from the Other Mommy in her closet. Unsettling, creepy, and often nauseating, the prose is somehow simplistic—as a child’s writing demands—yet surprisingly elegant and powerful. I was so impressed by the balance the author struck between the two, and it heightened my enjoyment throughout. I really found it hard to put this down (while sadly training at the new job).
Focusing heavily on what goes bump in the night, Malerman takes childhood fears and turns them into adulthood traumas. There was a single line about how Other Mommy was hiding in the dark corner, but her eyes were up near the ceiling that truly gave me chills. And that’s where this story excels, within its endless possibilities, within what it leaves unsaid. It’s childhood stories, it’s Goosebumps and Fear Street and Are You Afraid of the Dark, yet it’s deconstructed, enhanced, and rewound into an entirely unique and adult novel.
Bela’s Mommy and Daddo are great characters in their own right, but they’re also great characterizations of polar opposites in parenting. One feels trapped, ungrateful, and the bearer of bad news. The other is the optimistic, uplifting one, and Bela’s best friend. The light and the dark to their daughter. But what I enjoyed about this dynamic the most, was Malerman’s ability to showcase them so well that I stopped believing that I knew which parent was the “good” one. The rock-bottom feel of their desperation and disparity is something I would say is wholly unique and integral to the experience. And Bela is constantly drawn to the two for different reasons. And to Other Mommy too.
I also really enjoyed that the author gives us a mixture of modern things thrown in. A modern “hippie” exorcism that goes a bit wonky, a slew of cameras and alarms that could make my crew in BestGhost’s heads spin, two well behaved guard dogs that never seem to take a break, running away from home, both short and long trips, and of course, an occult specialist that’s absolutely not a sham. It kind of felt like taking absolutely everything you could do to save yourself, and finding out that all of it wasn’t the right thing.
I happened to be reading this at the same time as Baptiste Pinson Wu’s historical fantasy, Undead Samurai. The juxtaposition of zombies, swords, and action against Malerman’s slowed down, slithering, creepy-crawly horror, just really sold the experiences. And it really sold Malerman’s ability to sell an incredible story with a slower burn.
Can Other Mommy be trusted? Can she be let into Bela’s heart? Why is she named that? The absolutely unhinged act of twisting the dynamic of mother and daughter into something OTHER is truly brilliant. And gross, so gross.
Malerman is at his best, delivering readers with something to think about for years to come, especially before we turn out the lights. I genuinely feel for any reader that has a young daughter.
A huge thanks to NetGalley and Del Rey for the e-ARC! Malerman has been an auto-buy author for me since reading Bird Box and he does not disappoint!
Incidents Around the House is written entirely in the perspective of Bela, and eight-year-old that has frequent nightly visits from the Other Mommy in her closet. Unsettling, creepy, and often nauseating, the prose is somehow simplistic—as a child’s writing demands—yet surprisingly elegant and powerful. I was so impressed by the balance the author struck between the two, and it heightened my enjoyment throughout. I really found it hard to put this down (while sadly training at the new job).
Focusing heavily on what goes bump in the night, Malerman takes childhood fears and turns them into adulthood traumas. There was a single line about how Other Mommy was hiding in the dark corner, but her eyes were up near the ceiling that truly gave me chills. And that’s where this story excels, within its endless possibilities, within what it leaves unsaid. It’s childhood stories, it’s Goosebumps and Fear Street and Are You Afraid of the Dark, yet it’s deconstructed, enhanced, and rewound into an entirely unique and adult novel.
Bela’s Mommy and Daddo are great characters in their own right, but they’re also great characterizations of polar opposites in parenting. One feels trapped, ungrateful, and the bearer of bad news. The other is the optimistic, uplifting one, and Bela’s best friend. The light and the dark to their daughter. But what I enjoyed about this dynamic the most, was Malerman’s ability to showcase them so well that I stopped believing that I knew which parent was the “good” one. The rock-bottom feel of their desperation and disparity is something I would say is wholly unique and integral to the experience. And Bela is constantly drawn to the two for different reasons. And to Other Mommy too.
I also really enjoyed that the author gives us a mixture of modern things thrown in. A modern “hippie” exorcism that goes a bit wonky, a slew of cameras and alarms that could make my crew in BestGhost’s heads spin, two well behaved guard dogs that never seem to take a break, running away from home, both short and long trips, and of course, an occult specialist that’s absolutely not a sham. It kind of felt like taking absolutely everything you could do to save yourself, and finding out that all of it wasn’t the right thing.
I happened to be reading this at the same time as Baptiste Pinson Wu’s historical fantasy, Undead Samurai. The juxtaposition of zombies, swords, and action against Malerman’s slowed down, slithering, creepy-crawly horror, just really sold the experiences. And it really sold Malerman’s ability to sell an incredible story with a slower burn.
Can Other Mommy be trusted? Can she be let into Bela’s heart? Why is she named that? The absolutely unhinged act of twisting the dynamic of mother and daughter into something OTHER is truly brilliant. And gross, so gross.
Malerman is at his best, delivering readers with something to think about for years to come, especially before we turn out the lights. I genuinely feel for any reader that has a young daughter.
A huge thanks to NetGalley and Del Rey for the e-ARC! Malerman has been an auto-buy author for me since reading Bird Box and he does not disappoint!
Incidents Around the House is written entirely in the perspective of Bela, and eight-year-old that has frequent nightly visits from the Other Mommy in her closet. Unsettling, creepy, and often nauseating, the prose is somehow simplistic—as a child’s writing demands—yet surprisingly elegant and powerful. I was so impressed by the balance the author struck between the two, and it heightened my enjoyment throughout. I really found it hard to put this down (while sadly training at the new job).
Focusing heavily on what goes bump in the night, Malerman takes childhood fears and turns them into adulthood traumas. There was a single line about how Other Mommy was hiding in the dark corner, but her eyes were up near the ceiling that truly gave me chills. And that’s where this story excels, within its endless possibilities, within what it leaves unsaid. It’s childhood stories, it’s Goosebumps and Fear Street and Are You Afraid of the Dark, yet it’s deconstructed, enhanced, and rewound into an entirely unique and adult novel.
Bela’s Mommy and Daddo are great characters in their own right, but they’re also great characterizations of polar opposites in parenting. One feels trapped, ungrateful, and the bearer of bad news. The other is the optimistic, uplifting one, and Bela’s best friend. The light and the dark to their daughter. But what I enjoyed about this dynamic the most, was Malerman’s ability to showcase them so well that I stopped believing that I knew which parent was the “good” one. The rock-bottom feel of their desperation and disparity is something I would say is wholly unique and integral to the experience. And Bela is constantly drawn to the two for different reasons. And to Other Mommy too.
I also really enjoyed that the author gives us a mixture of modern things thrown in. A modern “hippie” exorcism that goes a bit wonky, a slew of cameras and alarms that could make my crew in BestGhost’s heads spin, two well behaved guard dogs that never seem to take a break, running away from home, both short and long trips, and of course, an occult specialist that’s absolutely not a sham. It kind of felt like taking absolutely everything you could do to save yourself, and finding out that all of it wasn’t the right thing.
I happened to be reading this at the same time as Baptiste Pinson Wu’s historical fantasy, Undead Samurai. The juxtaposition of zombies, swords, and action against Malerman’s slowed down, slithering, creepy-crawly horror, just really sold the experiences. And it really sold Malerman’s ability to sell an incredible story with a slower burn.
Can Other Mommy be trusted? Can she be let into Bela’s heart? Why is she named that? The absolutely unhinged act of twisting the dynamic of mother and daughter into something OTHER is truly brilliant. And gross, so gross.
Malerman is at his best, delivering readers with something to think about for years to come, especially before we turn out the lights. I genuinely feel for any reader that has a young daughter.
