The Twisted Ones

It's possible this would five stars if I hadn't also read The Hollow Places, recently. (Go read that one!) The set up of two the books is similar which caused me ( I swear this was involuntary) to make some direct comparisons. On to the actual review!
I used to watch the show Hoarders and if you enjoy that show you will get out of the mundane elements of this book. The main character helps to unhoard her grandmothers house and then spooky things happen. I unfortunately, do not read horror very often so I didn't know the White People were an established horror thing the author was referencing. If you truly want to enjoy this story I would at least google a summary of the original story. Since I didn't have that background I went into the book unprepped and that led to me not enjoying the magic part as much. As a fantasy reader I am used to all the world building and I was left unsatisfied with the amount of information I was given. Even the magic people seemed like they didn't fully know what was going on. I enjoyed the read, but if forced to recommend a book by this author I would choose The Hollow Places.

Pages ‘n Pines Grading Scale:

5 - Amazing
4 - Really liked it
3 - Liked it
2 - Okay
1 - Didn't like

Unfortunately, this one was a DNF for me. I wanted to like this book, really I did! It has everything I like in it: loveable animal companion, snarky/wisecracking MC, folklore inspired horror, and a setting I'm intimately familiar with irl. For whatever, despite all these things coming together, I just couldn't click with the book. 

I don't blame the writing or the plot, I think Kingfisher did a fine job with her writing, I just think the pace was the main problem for me. I noticed other people mention in their reviews that not enough was happening for over half the book and I find myself agreeing with them.

I got roughly 200 pages in (give or take) and by that point only one particularly creepy thing had happened. I don't feel the book, at least up to this point, had enough suspense in the atmosphere to keep me turning pages and there certainly weren't any sort of jumpscare or gross outs in my opinion. 

Other issues I had with the book include Mouse being, perhaps, a bit too snarky? She suffers the same problem movie characters often do, Marvel movies for example. Many people feel that Marvel movies use jokes far too often, particularly immediately after an important moment. For most people, I think, this lessens the impact of said moment and I feel that's what happens here. What was charming and genuinely funny at first quickly became unrealistic and a touch annoying while also ruining any suspense or sense of danger there might have been. 

A few other nitpicks I had were things like Mouse constantly talking about Bongo and his DNA ingrained hound behaviors. It's cute to mention how hounds go blank when they catch a smell or how dopey your dog is but after a while it gets pretty repetitive. Another would be the supporting characters. Now I'll admit I only read about half the book and I understand this story is first and foremost about Mouse (and to a lesser extent Bongo) but I just didn't feel very attached to the supporting cast and they didn't seem fleshed out much beyond the stereotypes they were based on. One last thing, and this one may just be me and I acknowledge that, I didn't really care for the part where Mouse considers asking Officer Bob about her neighbors and the reason she doesn't ask about Tomas specifically is because since he's Hispanic she just assumes he doesn't get along well with the law? Idk maybe it was just me and I'm making something out of nothing.

Anyways, that about wraps it up. I absolutely see how folks could enjoy this read and for those that do, I'm so happy you could get a scare in! Unfortunately for me, it wasn't a good fit but that's alright, I've got more books on my TBR than I know what to do with anyway!

Pleasant and fun to read with a likeable narrator (and her charismatic dog Bongo) and a touch of humor, but it seemed a little lightweight. The Twisted Ones is a spooky story that's very carefully bland.

Part of the horror of these types of stories should be carried within the main character. Their own mistakes, their own internal conflicts, and angst should be just as much a part of the darkness explored as is the “monster.” Other than learning about the existence of other-worldly stuff, the narrator is no different at the beginning of the story than she is at the end.

Maybe as a short story the animated effigies and creepy dolls would have felt like enough to make it chilling. As a full length novel, it was dragged out and all the characters just a little too nice or poorly-defined (except for Grandma of course, who we're told second hand was quite nasty.) No risks taken here.