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mbpartlow's review against another edition
3.0
Honestly, I didn't finish this book. I think the horror element was too restrained and too slow to build for me. Might not be so for others.
justgj's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-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
1.0
humdrum_ts's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.5
From the herky-jerky pacing (whiplashing the reader between competent scares at the end of a section and detailing so excessive it verges on parody at the start of a new one) to the interesting-if-half-baked framing story (resolved with a pair of expository monologues in place of a climax) The Croning gives off the whiff of a poor fix-up. I’d be more inclined to be charitable if the constituent parts were decent but its best moments - a hike gone wrong and a decent ghost story - are far outweighed by bad and/or semi-offensive sections, like a dark and gritty Ruplestiltskin retelling and a bad trip to Mexico. I’ve heard too much praise for Barron’s other collections to write him off entirely, though I’m certainly not going to rush to pick up more of his work.
pagingdrmudkip's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
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? It's complicated
3.75
Don’t get me wrong, overall I did enjoy this book. However its faults made it difficult to love this book.
The good:
The prose and tone of Baron is masterful. You can feel the dread and horror with his words and that alone was worth the read. I also thoroughly enjoyed the slow-burn escalation of cosmic horror that begins and ends strong.
The bad:
Prose and tone were not enough for me to enjoy the middle of this book. It became a slog to get through it until the finale. I nearly put it down and didn’t return several times, but I can say if you enjoyed the first quarter/third of the story, stick with it, because it does pay off in the end.
Overall, I can recommend this one to fans of slow burn cosmic horror and people wanting a taste of a greater story with Old Leech. I will definitely be reading more from Baron in the future.
The good:
The prose and tone of Baron is masterful. You can feel the dread and horror with his words and that alone was worth the read. I also thoroughly enjoyed the slow-burn escalation of cosmic horror that begins and ends strong.
The bad:
Prose and tone were not enough for me to enjoy the middle of this book. It became a slog to get through it until the finale. I nearly put it down and didn’t return several times, but I can say if you enjoyed the first quarter/third of the story, stick with it, because it does pay off in the end.
Overall, I can recommend this one to fans of slow burn cosmic horror and people wanting a taste of a greater story with Old Leech. I will definitely be reading more from Baron in the future.