Kam
So: this wasn’t all that bad a read, but I’ve got a few issues with it.
The concept is pretty entertaining: an entire street/neighborhood being haunted instead of just a house or a building. It allowed for an exploration of suburbia as the site of horror: of how evil hides behind a facade of civility, how the American Dream really is just a dream. I know there are other books that explore the dark side of suburbia, but this novel makes those evils very explicit - enough that I kind of wish it had dialed it back a bit and left some things to the imagination.
I think the author could have spent more time developing certain characters a bit more. While I understand the focus on Talitha, and how, because of the way this book is narrated, she and Brett get the lion’s share of character development, I think that the narrative overall would have been better-balanced if other characters had been given more opportunities to shine. Enid, in particular, could have used a lot more development, especially because of her role in the narrative. Her role was so important to the overall story that I was expecting she’d be a bit more fleshed out over the course of the novel, but unfortunately, that’s not the case. I also wish Grace had been more fleshed out, again because of her importance to the narrative, but that doesn’t come to pass either. This is unfortunate, as they seem to have very interesting stories of their own, and it’s a pity the reader doesn’t get more than a glimpse of those stories.
I also wish attention had been given to the research team, especially the way they treated Talitha. There really is something horrific about the tragedy of one’s life being reduced to research items for dissection and debate, how utterly dehumanizing that is. The narrative could also have explored the ethics of true crime and the fascination with it, as well as the industry of podcasts, Youtube videos, documentaries, and books both fictional and non-fictional that make bank off the tragedies that befall others. The story could have done a really deep dive into the horrors of that idea, and it was poised to do so, but it doesn’t really bother to go there.
Overall, this wasn’t that bad a read, but it did feel like it could have done more in a few places. While the exploration of the hidden evils of suburbia and the concept of a haunted neighborhood are both interesting, the development of some characters wasn’t as strong as I wanted it to be, and certain themes were left unexplored when they really should have been delved into.
Originally posted at kamreadsandrecs.tumblr.com.
So: this wasn’t all that bad a read, but I’ve got a few issues with it.
The concept is pretty entertaining: an entire street/neighborhood being haunted instead of just a house or a building. It allowed for an exploration of suburbia as the site of horror: of how evil hides behind a facade of civility, how the American Dream really is just a dream. I know there are other books that explore the dark side of suburbia, but this novel makes those evils very explicit - enough that I kind of wish it had dialed it back a bit and left some things to the imagination.
I think the author could have spent more time developing certain characters a bit more. While I understand the focus on Talitha, and how, because of the way this book is narrated, she and Brett get the lion’s share of character development, I think that the narrative overall would have been better-balanced if other characters had been given more opportunities to shine. Enid, in particular, could have used a lot more development, especially because of her role in the narrative. Her role was so important to the overall story that I was expecting she’d be a bit more fleshed out over the course of the novel, but unfortunately, that’s not the case. I also wish Grace had been more fleshed out, again because of her importance to the narrative, but that doesn’t come to pass either. This is unfortunate, as they seem to have very interesting stories of their own, and it’s a pity the reader doesn’t get more than a glimpse of those stories.
I also wish attention had been given to the research team, especially the way they treated Talitha. There really is something horrific about the tragedy of one’s life being reduced to research items for dissection and debate, how utterly dehumanizing that is. The narrative could also have explored the ethics of true crime and the fascination with it, as well as the industry of podcasts, Youtube videos, documentaries, and books both fictional and non-fictional that make bank off the tragedies that befall others. The story could have done a really deep dive into the horrors of that idea, and it was poised to do so, but it doesn’t really bother to go there.
Overall, this wasn’t that bad a read, but it did feel like it could have done more in a few places. While the exploration of the hidden evils of suburbia and the concept of a haunted neighborhood are both interesting, the development of some characters wasn’t as strong as I wanted it to be, and certain themes were left unexplored when they really should have been delved into.
Originally posted at kamreadsandrecs.tumblr.com.