Reviews

Los elementales by Michael McDowell

autocorrecttodemons's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

tristan_lince's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

readingwmiles's review against another edition

4.0

masterfully written horror. mcdowell presents a set of haunted houses that can only be compared to hill house. the setting is the highlight of this book, and the homes are characters of their own. i loved that the horror here largely took place during the daytime. great elements of family drama, southern gothic, and some good scares. one of the best openers to a horror novel i’ve read in quite a while. unfortunately has some “product of its time” moments that made it difficult to read at points. overall this is very worth your time if you’re looking for the perfect summer horror read. mcdowell is a legend

jovethg's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

beu_94's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.75

againanew's review against another edition

5.0

This is the horror book i have been searching for.

I'm an avid horror reader and its incredibly hard to find a book in this genre that is well written with a solid plot line but the elementals is exactly that. I enjoyed every sentence of this book.

tafrito's review against another edition

dark funny tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

12rhys23's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Loved everything about this book except maybe the last 20 pages. The ending just didn't hit for me. 

margaret002's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

trin's review against another edition

3.0

Wonderfully atmospheric, as McDowell almost always is. The plot didn't wholly hang together for me -- I wish Dauphin and his mother's relationship had been delved into a little bit more, and the curse on the Savage family and on Beldame itself felt a little too disparate to me, when I think they were meant to be/should have been more obviously connected. Also, I could have done without the magical negro/mammy trope -- McDowell almost makes Odessa a character with her own agency and power, and then stumbles rather badly, which is disappointing. Still, his books are always a trip.