This book was painfully unreadable. I was drawn in by the gorgeous cover and the interesting premise, but the book itself just was not good. 

It follows two different characters, Noah and Malachia, every other chapter as they navigate the strange world proposed by the author. Noah seems like a character from our world, drawn in to the strange monster-like building as a salesman because he needed a job. Malachia’s chapters are something else entirely, and make almost zero sense. She doesn’t appear human, she’s some kind of acolyte or something, and there’s something about bones, godlike creatures, and a desire to restore something (?).

This book just did not make any sense. I could tell the author was going for a cheeky tone, making the horror absurd and funny—but it did not come off as funny, just juvenile and ridiculous. None of the descriptions or dialogue felt real or natural, it felt like the author was just trying to say “Ooo this is weird right? This is so weird, fuck, I’m weird ooo”. It felt like a high schooler trying to be creative in english class, trying to come up with a scary story in a time crunch using a thesaurus. The footnotes were pointless, and there were constant references to things that just didn’t work. 

I’ll say the only enjoyable part of the book was the actual newspaper sections, particularly the person on the island. Those sections I found genuinely engaging, and the moss reminded me of Annihilation. If the whole novel had that tone /  similar story structure, I think it could have been very good! That being said, that one small part did not make the book worth reading. I wouldn’t recommend. 

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC!