Not interested in watching my video review, then look below for the major bullet points.
Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links. If you click on one, we may receive a small commission at no cost to you.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Genre: Horror
Technical Reasons Points: Unique and Whimsical Horror Stories, Character Development, and Humor
Hello friends!
In this blog, I’m reviewing The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher. As usual, the first half of the review will be spoiler-free, and more about my overall thoughts, whereas, for the second half, I’ll be doing a technical review. There will be spoilers there to help you strengthen your craft.
Could Kingfisher be a one-hit wonder for me? Did I read the best book first? I’m going to give her one more chance because we’ve picked her for our August book club.
The first half of the book was amazing. It reminded me of The Hollow places. The whimsy was there. The writing was absorbing. And the mystery of what was going on kept me turning the page. Kingfisher’s choice to have this be a recounting of the events was excellent. The comments “this is where I could have turned back,” added a more sinister twist.
At the halfway point, I grew bored. The writing was confusing. The story wasn’t as scary. There was a lot more fantastical elements inside of spooky moments. It would seem that her other books can’t reach the terror I felt in reading The Hollow Places.
Again, this is another great pick for people who don’t like scary stories. Yes, there are monsters. There’s a specific scene that gave me “chills”, but Kingfisher added a lot of humor. This lightened the load.
The internal monologue worked in The Twisted Ones better than it did in A House with Good Bones. Instead of slowing the story down, it added some well-timed comedy and strengthened the protagonist.
And a slight spoiler. The dog does survive. Hats off to Kingfisher for keeping the dog alive.
Now look away if you don’t want spoilers.
Because here we be entering the technical review.
Once the rewritten manuscript was found, the book lost me. The manuscript was an info dump and I didn’t see how the two stories aligned. I know this happens a lot in horror books, but this info could be spread throughout the story. Kingfisher included a note at the end to explain her choice. I appreciate her desire to be accurate, but I struggled to follow along. Was that area as confusing for you, or did you follow along?
The second half of the book lost its whimsy. This could be due to my disconnection with the story. It could also be caused by the fantastical elements added in. Kingfisher lost me in the weeds of her descriptions. My imagination wasn’t up to the task of picturing what she wrote.
Read The Twisted Ones for the characters. Kingfisher is an artist in creating characters. As a side note, you also don’t need detailed backstories for all of the characters. The one or two mentions of the protagonist’s aunt and father gave all the information that the reader needed to understand them.
Yes, you can write a horror book where the dog survives
As much as Kingfisher info dumped in the middle of the book, I needed more information at the end. I didn’t not learn how the other world came about. Was this experience just in that location or were there other points to cross over? Or, who are the pale people? What’s the point of it all?
Happy Reading!
Love,
Kait