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shanacorrin's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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
4.5
This book is strange — but I don’t mean that in a bad way. In fact, quite enjoyed reading it, but it’s a slippery thing, not unlike moss-covered rocks.
The writing is evocative, and it pulls you along deeper into a story with dark and unexplained (or unexplainable?) magic. There are mysteries here and questions, but most will not be solved or answered, so if that isn’t okay with you, I’d steer clear.
However, if you like a book that conjures a dark and magical if not completely fair or benevolent world, if you like writing and characters that pull you in, if you like the feeling of being haunted in the best possible way by a story — then Smothermoss is well worth your time.
The writing is evocative, and it pulls you along deeper into a story with dark and unexplained (or unexplainable?) magic. There are mysteries here and questions, but most will not be solved or answered, so if that isn’t okay with you, I’d steer clear.
However, if you like a book that conjures a dark and magical if not completely fair or benevolent world, if you like writing and characters that pull you in, if you like the feeling of being haunted in the best possible way by a story — then Smothermoss is well worth your time.
brulereads's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Deliciously weird and slightly creepy. Mountain rural, magical realism, sisters become closer, nature is a character.
I just wish some of the threads were tied up with answers. I don't need an answer to everything, at least one or two.
I just wish some of the threads were tied up with answers. I don't need an answer to everything, at least one or two.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Toxic relationship, Bullying, and Death
uvahoogirl's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
mrsoz's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Very enjoyable and hard for me to describe well, doesn't really fit into any one genre. Uses lovely atmospheric and lovely nature-evoking prose to tell as story that is part coming-of-age tale of sorts, as well as a whodunnit at the same time, with both paranormal elements and some spooky folk-horror witchy type fantasy woven in. An earlier reviewer used the term "Appalachian Gothic" and I have to concur, as that sums it up better than anything I was able to articulate. Very unique!
robynbarrow's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
fiendfull's review against another edition
3.0
Smothermoss is a novel about two sisters in 1980s Appalachia, drawn into the mystery of two murdered hikers. Sheila is seventeen and spends her time tending their garden and rabbits, worrying about her growing certainty that she likes girls, and trying to tame her younger sister, Angie. Angie is twelve, obsessed with Rambo, Russian spies, and her self-created deck of cards that seem to speak to her. When two women are killed on the Appalachian trail, Angie wants to find the murderer, and Sheila is contending with strange visions and a rope-like weight around her neck.
This is a difficult book to define, perhaps marketed with horror and murder mystery elements, but really feeling like an uncanny coming of age novel, perhaps with hints of Appalachian gothic. It is a hazy novel that moves through a summer without that much actually happening, and even the climactic end felt a bit underwhelming, but if you read that as more of a story of two teenage girls and their weirdness, that works a lot better. Sheila and Angie are really memorable characters and were definitely the highlight of the novel, whilst their mother felt like a very absent character, reflecting how much she's not in their lives.
Whilst I was expecting Smothermoss to have more of a horror/mystery plot, I did like its slow uncanny coming of age vibe. It reminded me of other rural gothic type novels about girls coming of age, though I feel like I've not read any Appalachian ones before.
kilayman10's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
gracepickering's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0