Reviews tagging 'Death'

Wild Spaces by S.L. Coney

3 reviews

indieandajean's review against another edition

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adventurous dark sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Is coming of age horror a thing? Because this dark and twisted love letter to the Cthulhu mythos and bildungsroman reads like it very much is a thing. I was thoroughly creeped out and uncomfortable which I think was the goal here. 
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ceallaighsbooks's review

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challenging dark mysterious tense fast-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? It's complicated

3.0

“The sea always rushes in, greedy for the land. His father says that one day—a bazillion years ago—a fish grew legs and walked on the land for the first time. And as funny as he thinks a fish with legs would look, he wonders how the sea felt when her inhabitants started walking away. He wonders if maybe that's why she keeps eating away at the land, trying to take back what it stole.”

TITLE—Wild Spaces
AUTHOR—SL Coney
PUBLISHED—2023
PUBLISHER—tor dot com

GENRE—horror novella
SETTING—South Carolina coast
MAIN THEMES/SUBJECTS—coming of age, family, beach caves, marine biology, fossils, visceral & protean horror elements, family dynamic, blood is as-thick-as salt-water?, pirate stories, hurricane, beach caves, naturalistic horror + science fiction fusion

“It isn't until later… that he understands it's not so much about what his grandfather said as what he meant, and he understands that the surface of something can be entirely different from what's beneath.”

Summary:
I thought the blurbs on the back cover of this book overhyped this book a little bit so. Maybe it’s better to go in blind.

My thoughts:
I straight up did not get this book. I wanted to like it because it took place very close to where I grew up and I was thinking this could be a good one to send my brother.

I liked the scientist father character, the writer mother character, the stories about pirates, the dog bestie, the setting, the atmosphere but like… I just have no idea why the story went where it did, the grandfather character was sooo flat, the pacing was way off, the ending was really unsatisfying basically just leaving me confused and a little annoyed, and Idk—I just have absolutely no idea what the point of it actually was. And tbh the kind of hints that I think I did pick up on just… idk. It didn’t sit quite right with me.

Maybe if I hadn’t *just* read Kathleen Jennings’s FLYAWAY, which felt very thematically similar and told a much more cohesive story with all the dots connecting and the point of the story being beautifully revealed at the end with lots of fantastic use of inherited & eldritch horror elements, but… WILD SPACES just didn’t do it for me.

Also, what was in that box? I reread the whole book over again thinking I’d missed something but the first time it was mentioned was when the boy was burying it and the next time it was mentioned was when he checked on it on like p 87 and it was gone and then it was never mentioned again? Idk. I was just confused the whole time.

I would recommend this book to readers who like dark, mysterious, monster horror stories with a beachside setting.

Final note: Idk if I should rate this one since it’s possible I didn’t get it but I also feel like the story could have been a bit more intentional so. Idk. My ratings are more about my personal experience of the book than a statement on the book’s critical or objective quality anyway.

“Maybe, he thinks, everyone's wrapper is small. Maybe we all have doors inside leading to cracked places and wild spaces.”

⭐️⭐️/⭐️

Season: Hurricane

CW // <SPOILERS/>: graphic deaths, deaths of parents, also the dog dies in this one but it might also be reborn at the end so 🤷🏻 idk it’s hard to tell (Please feel free to DM me for more specifics!)

Books I Liked Better with similarish vibes/themes—
  • OUR WIVES UNDER THE SEA by Julia Armfield
  • THE LESSON by Cadwell Turnbull
  • STONEFISH by Keri Hulme
  • FLYAWAY by Kathleen Jennings
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amandadevoursbooks's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.5

For a short novella, this packs a punch. It feels like it's either an anti-hero, hero, or villain's origin story. I'm here for it.
 
Synopsis: A boy lives an idyllic life with his mom, his dad and his dog Teach on the beach in South Carolina. It's filled with adventures and field trips, and each character is distinct. Their relationships are webs of love.

One day his grandfather shows up. Teach doesn't like him. The boy's mother fades a bit, and things don't add up. There's a monstrous secret kept between father and daughter, and the collateral damage shakes the boy's world.

Review: The writing here is sumptuous. I could feel the swampiness of the beach and the wind of the storm. It's a story about family, secrets, loss, and transformation.  

I would gladly read more in this world and with these characters. It's difficult to build setting, worlds, characters, and relationships and SL Coney does just that. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for the opportunity to read and review Wild Spaces. 

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