TBR & Tangents by Rachel

If you like horror retellings of childhood stories, then this might be for you. I’ll be honest, it took me a while to get through this. Even though I have a pretty strong stomach for horror books (at least so far) there was something entirely unsettling about the storytelling. Which I promise is a kudos! But just be warned of triggers. Besides the horror aspect I was surprised to find how much this story prompts deeper though about greed, fear, and power of family.

It would have been helpful to have additional insight given regarding Marta and her practice. We see some of it once the story progresses, but I still felt like a huge opportunity was missed, and the information given to us felt glossed over. Even as I reached the end, I still felt that the lore and world-building didn’t feel complete.

A lot of the story is focused on the positive and very negative impact of family. It wasn’t made to be the spotlight, but a pretty close second. I appreciated how it never overshadowed the additional themes but kept reminding us as the story progressed.

There is a pretty decent amount of gore and uncomfortable situations spread throughout. It definitely keeps you on your toes and may make you pause once, or twice. They were artfully done in my opinion and absolutely kept the fear of the unknown on your toes.

⭐️⭐️⭐️