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astrymia's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide and Self harm
stargirllxo's review against another edition
4.0
I actually finished this a couple days ago but didn't have the chance to update this. Honestly, this book was thrilling and crept under your skin. There's not much for me to say about it because I read this book over a really long period of time and I remember what happes, I just can't describe the writing style and other things about it in the best way.
abaugher's review against another edition
3.0
Sadly, nope. Nope. Nope. This is only a three star because if I admitted to myself that I thought it was a two star, I wouldn't have bothered to finish it. Awkward storyline, dreamlike lack of plot coherence, almost desperate effort to be scary, abrupt and unfulfilling end. How many hours of my life have I just spent reading a book that has left me so very unsatisfied? I don't even like to think. The one good thing about this is that, the next time I start a book like this, I'm going to stop immediately and not hold out useless hope that it will be a good book.
With all that said, it might still be just the thing to strike someone else's fancy; just not mine.
With all that said, it might still be just the thing to strike someone else's fancy; just not mine.
the_horror_maven's review against another edition
3.0
I first came across Amy Lukavics' work when I picked up her novel, Daughter's Unto Devils. That novel originally drew me in because it was marketed as "Stephen King writing Little House on the Prairie", and that concept couldn't have been a more perfect fit for me. However, that novel fell short in many ways, and I am sad to say that The Women in the Walls did exactly the same thing.
Lukavics comes up with some great ideas for horror novels, but her writing is dull and unimaginative. Even though her novels are generally short, they take me a long time to get through because they simply do not catch my attention. It is obvious to me that Lukavics tried to stay as mild as possible since her novels are in the young adult genre, but with such young adult horror novels out as The Merciless, it should be known by now that young adult horror novels do not need to be dumbed down. In short, this novel might be a good novel for young adults who are new to the horror genre and want something mild to start out, but for seasoned horror fans, it is not very remarkable.
With that being said, let me begin my analysis.
The main character in The Women in the Walls is a young girl named Lucy whose mother has died, and she now lives in a house with her father, aunt, and cousin. She ended up being closer to her aunt than her own mother, and her cousin has problems with her because of this. It is through this relationship and the presence of the large house that seems to encase secrets and dark events that I found Lukavics was clearly drawing from V.C. Andrews', My Sweet Audrina. Lucy even has the same strained relationship with her father that Audrina had with hers, but the only difference is that Lucy is a cutter and deals with her family in that way. But where Andrews' Audrina was mysterious and mystical, Lucy ends up being self-centered and dull while she watches multiple deaths occur in her house and she does nothing to try and stop it.
I don't want to give too much away here, but throughout the novel, we follow Lucy as she thinks about things endlessly and tirelessly repeats herself over and over as she tries to understand what is going on around her. While those around her are slowly falling into madness, she seems to be going mad herself, but the intrigue of this concept is not present in the novel. Instead, the writing becomes strained and unsure of itself as though Lukavics were trying to write a story that someone else told her to write. Even though this novel does present a lot of death and gore, the scare factor isn't present. And I don't know about you, but I would choose the scare factor over gore any day of the week.
Even though the premise of this story is intriguing, Lukavics' language was unremarkable, her characters were flat. Her loose ends were also not woven into the story properly by the end. In my opinion, this novel reads like an unfinished piece of work that is trying to be a V.C. Andrews novel, and if only it were re-examined and re-structured, it would have more of a chance.
Keep improving Amy, I have faith in you.
Lukavics comes up with some great ideas for horror novels, but her writing is dull and unimaginative. Even though her novels are generally short, they take me a long time to get through because they simply do not catch my attention. It is obvious to me that Lukavics tried to stay as mild as possible since her novels are in the young adult genre, but with such young adult horror novels out as The Merciless, it should be known by now that young adult horror novels do not need to be dumbed down. In short, this novel might be a good novel for young adults who are new to the horror genre and want something mild to start out, but for seasoned horror fans, it is not very remarkable.
With that being said, let me begin my analysis.
The main character in The Women in the Walls is a young girl named Lucy whose mother has died, and she now lives in a house with her father, aunt, and cousin. She ended up being closer to her aunt than her own mother, and her cousin has problems with her because of this. It is through this relationship and the presence of the large house that seems to encase secrets and dark events that I found Lukavics was clearly drawing from V.C. Andrews', My Sweet Audrina. Lucy even has the same strained relationship with her father that Audrina had with hers, but the only difference is that Lucy is a cutter and deals with her family in that way. But where Andrews' Audrina was mysterious and mystical, Lucy ends up being self-centered and dull while she watches multiple deaths occur in her house and she does nothing to try and stop it.
I don't want to give too much away here, but throughout the novel, we follow Lucy as she thinks about things endlessly and tirelessly repeats herself over and over as she tries to understand what is going on around her. While those around her are slowly falling into madness, she seems to be going mad herself, but the intrigue of this concept is not present in the novel. Instead, the writing becomes strained and unsure of itself as though Lukavics were trying to write a story that someone else told her to write. Even though this novel does present a lot of death and gore, the scare factor isn't present. And I don't know about you, but I would choose the scare factor over gore any day of the week.
Even though the premise of this story is intriguing, Lukavics' language was unremarkable, her characters were flat. Her loose ends were also not woven into the story properly by the end. In my opinion, this novel reads like an unfinished piece of work that is trying to be a V.C. Andrews novel, and if only it were re-examined and re-structured, it would have more of a chance.
Keep improving Amy, I have faith in you.
kindaspooky_reads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
4.0
So I found myself actually really invested in this dark, family story.
A secret coven creatureβ¦ (π€π‘π ππππ£? πππͺππβ¦)
ππππ π ππ πππππ πππππππ, πππππππ ππ πππ ππππ ππππ π ππ’, πππ πππ ππ’ πππππ ππππππ π πππ πππ ππππππ ππππ ππππππ πππ ππππ ππππ.
ππ‘π’π¬ π°ππ¬ π¬π¨ π π¨π¨π.
It sort of reminded me of the 2002 π’π€π«ππ ππ€π¨π πππ with its mysterious mansion vibes and secrets and also Rachel Harrisonβs π½π‘πππ πππππ₯.
coffeelitmama's review against another edition
3.0
The book was definitely creepy, but it didn't really start getting intriguing until towards the end. Once I got about 2/3 through then I couldn't stop reading.
The main character was a little dull (& super self absorbed). She's so focused on her aunt that she can't see all the things going on around her, or figure out when she's being tricked.
The summary sounds really interesting and it certainly is, but the pacing of it is what impacted my review. Some of the "horror" is gruesome description, for me it added to the shock factor of the scene and make me want to find out what was going to happen. I can see how it would turn people off though, it all occurs at the end though where all the action takes place.
The main character was a little dull (& super self absorbed). She's so focused on her aunt that she can't see all the things going on around her, or figure out when she's being tricked.
The summary sounds really interesting and it certainly is, but the pacing of it is what impacted my review. Some of the "horror" is gruesome description, for me it added to the shock factor of the scene and make me want to find out what was going to happen. I can see how it would turn people off though, it all occurs at the end though where all the action takes place.
mrsclappreads's review against another edition
2.0
Wasn't bad but I don't know why I just wasn't that into it. The cutting. I know its a thing for some people today/yesterday but never having experienced it myself I don't really get why she is doing it and what it really had to do with the story. I felt it was thrown in like it was filler. She's sad, depressed so lets add cutting to the mix. I guess its to show mental illness. The decorated box is pretty messed up.