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quantumspook's review
2.0
Ehhh, it could have been better executed but it was still okay. I'd be interested in reading a revision in the future because I did really enjoy the premise.
jolietjane's review
4.0
The Ringers is a beautifully written short story. The prose flows elegantly and right off the bat, you find yourself wanting to know more about this town; which feels 1/2 like a sleepy town from the early 1900s and 1/2 like a high fantasy village. There is magic, horror, intrigue, and the author does an amazing job of writing meaningful characters that you attach yourself to despite a limited amount of time with them. I would read an entire book in this universe.
pauli273's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.25
orasmis's review
4.0
Free copy of book given in exchange for a honest review.
The Ringers is the story of a young girl named Elise who moves with her father and mother to the small town of Dekwood. Elise is an aspiring magician, working to be accepted into the Academe. Her father, a logger, is looking for work after the forest around his old home died. Unfortunately for them, the town is about to be visited by the mysterious Ringers. When no one in town will give her information on these mysterious figures or what their bells mean, she takes it upon herself to find out more about them.
I liked this story much more than I thought I would. Elise is a surprisingly well rounded character for how short this story is. She questions everything around her and is constantly seeking answers. I liked the relationship between her, her family, and the new town. There are very few side characters but they all add to the story in my opinion. The atmosphere is very creepy and unsettling but not in an over the top kind of way. The monsters are unsettling and unique. It's a very short story so it's easy to read through in one sitting in my opinion. I think that it's still a very well rounded story despite how short it is.
The story reads very young. I would say that this would be good for the higher end of the middle grade range or the lower end of the young adult range (although it can be good for someone of a higher age than that). Highly recommend for younger horror fans or horror fans that are looking for a story without extreme gore/violence/subject matter.
The Ringers is the story of a young girl named Elise who moves with her father and mother to the small town of Dekwood. Elise is an aspiring magician, working to be accepted into the Academe. Her father, a logger, is looking for work after the forest around his old home died. Unfortunately for them, the town is about to be visited by the mysterious Ringers. When no one in town will give her information on these mysterious figures or what their bells mean, she takes it upon herself to find out more about them.
I liked this story much more than I thought I would. Elise is a surprisingly well rounded character for how short this story is. She questions everything around her and is constantly seeking answers. I liked the relationship between her, her family, and the new town. There are very few side characters but they all add to the story in my opinion. The atmosphere is very creepy and unsettling but not in an over the top kind of way. The monsters are unsettling and unique. It's a very short story so it's easy to read through in one sitting in my opinion. I think that it's still a very well rounded story despite how short it is.
The story reads very young. I would say that this would be good for the higher end of the middle grade range or the lower end of the young adult range (although it can be good for someone of a higher age than that). Highly recommend for younger horror fans or horror fans that are looking for a story without extreme gore/violence/subject matter.
kirstycarson1's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
dany_casimiro's review
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
A copy of this book was kindly provided by NetGalley.
A good premise, but it could have achieved more in terms of its execution. Not that the story itself is bad – certainly there is worse published fiction –, but as someone who was expecting something more out of a Christmas-themed horror – an inviting and demanding initial proposition – it fell a bit off. Since Christmas is obviously not the holiday one associates with dreadful spirits or scary monsters, I had anticipated a fresh twist of the genre. But 70 pages are clearly not enough to reach such a point. The characters are not as developed or nuanced as they could have otherwise been, and the chosen setting of a Victorian cursed town feels like an outlet for yet another repetition of literary tropes, instead of a purposeful usage benefiting the story. By purposeful, I mean with intent, with more carefully planned characters (less one dimensional, they need to be fleshed out at some level). Characters who die in a story should serve more than a plot device goal; their deaths must be meaningful and straight-to-the-point and the reader should be made to care for them in some way or, at least, to worry about the stakes their demise implies. Here we have every category in the playbook: the sacrificial victims, the wise magician (who in this story is quite underused), the evil side, the oppressed and the hero. What we do not get is meaningfulness written alongside these characters: all of them serve a clear, contained objective, but they do not deliver in terms of feelings, of importance. It is a predictable, classic plot, that, despite its attempt at tackling a good mythological idea, does not deliver on its promises.
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