Caro
Preaching to the Choir was a decent read but not what I expected from Tchaikovsky. I picked it up because I love his sci fi stuff and I was hoping for something twisted and gory in that gothic old money mansion setting. The atmosphere is definitely there, the Enderbough family estate is creepy and the vibes are on point, but the horror stays pretty tame the whole way through. If you are going in expecting real gore or shock value you will be a bit let down like I was.
The setup is fun though. Elena tagging along to her boyfriend's once in a generation family reunion and slowly realizing something is very wrong with this "old money" family works well as a premise. The family dynamics and the sarcastic British old money insults were honestly some of the best parts for me. Tchaikovsky is good at building that slow dread and the mansion itself feels like its own character.
Where it fell short for me was the payoff. The reveal felt a little underwhelming and safe, especially coming from an author who usually goes all in on wild sci fi concepts. It is not a bad novella at all, just more restrained gothic horror than the visceral gore I was hoping for. Solid but not his best work in my opinion, 3.5 stars.
Preaching to the Choir was a decent read but not what I expected from Tchaikovsky. I picked it up because I love his sci fi stuff and I was hoping for something twisted and gory in that gothic old money mansion setting. The atmosphere is definitely there, the Enderbough family estate is creepy and the vibes are on point, but the horror stays pretty tame the whole way through. If you are going in expecting real gore or shock value you will be a bit let down like I was.
The setup is fun though. Elena tagging along to her boyfriend's once in a generation family reunion and slowly realizing something is very wrong with this "old money" family works well as a premise. The family dynamics and the sarcastic British old money insults were honestly some of the best parts for me. Tchaikovsky is good at building that slow dread and the mansion itself feels like its own character.
Where it fell short for me was the payoff. The reveal felt a little underwhelming and safe, especially coming from an author who usually goes all in on wild sci fi concepts. It is not a bad novella at all, just more restrained gothic horror than the visceral gore I was hoping for. Solid but not his best work in my opinion, 3.5 stars.