Ring Shout

I loved the concept and how dang weird this was. I also loved the point of view from African American women dealing with the mundane horrors of racism, as well as supernatural forces linked to the Klan. The monsters were admirably disturbing and Lovecraftian as well. Shudder

My complaints can be mostly boiled down to: I wanted more. This is a short read, and while it can be good not to overstay one's welcome, I felt like I wasn't super engaged with the characters because I saw so little of them outside the strictly quest/battle-related activities. Most of the characters get only a blurb of development - this one is sassy and loves to shoot; that one learned explosives in the war and is gay. The individuals aren't fleshed out, and there's almost no development of relationships between them.

The other thing is the story has an improbably cheerful conclusion that doesn't fit the tone of the setup and main conflict. I'm not against happy endings, but this felt a little forced and pat.

Still, this was well worth the read, and I would happily read a sequel!