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A review by sophee_568
What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher
dark
tense
medium-paced
5.0
Edit: I had to edit most of the names bc I got them all wrong. Sorry to everyone who read my unedited review 😶
I loved everything about this book. It's short and sweet. I think it's even better than Mexican Gothic. The story was simpler and more effective. In the endthe fungus wasn't evil, it was kind of sentient, and wanted to communicate. I thought that was cool. The writing is gorgeous; it flows perfectly and provides a chilling, and gripping atmosphere from the first chapter. Since the story has a historical backgroud, being set in the 1890's in the fictional country of Ruritania, the writer used invented pronouns for their characters. Three main characters are from the fictional land of Gallacia so it is natural they have a habit of using Gallic words - pronouns in this case.
This is a retelling of E. A. Poe's 'The Fall of the House of Usher', and you don't need to have read it before reading WMTD. It's self-sustaining. The main character, Alex Easton, is nonbinary in a way, which is cool. They are a retired Gallic soldier. The whole premise is about Easton getting a letter from their childhood friend, Madeline Usher, which says she is terribly sick. Easton decides to visit Madeline, and her brother, Roderick Usher, in their old spooky mansion. When they arrive at the mansion, they find it in a terrible state, and covered in mold on the inside. Madeline and Roderick have never looked worse but they don't want to leave. They have another visitor in the house, Dr. Denton, who has already spent a month trying to diagnose Madeline with something other than hysteria. Another quirky character is an Englishwoman, a self-proclaimed mycologist Eugenia Potter. That is a small cast of characters but they all have a clear role to play. Most importantly, my fav character is Easton's horse Hob. Both Miss Potter and Hob are a type of comic relief, in a sense that they have fierce but soothing personalities.
I must say despite the brevity of the story, I did get properly spooked. I recommend reading this late at night, with dimmed lights and heavy rain outside. I have nothing bad to say about the novella, so it's 5 stars from me.
I loved everything about this book. It's short and sweet. I think it's even better than Mexican Gothic. The story was simpler and more effective. In the end
This is a retelling of E. A. Poe's 'The Fall of the House of Usher', and you don't need to have read it before reading WMTD. It's self-sustaining. The main character, Alex Easton, is nonbinary in a way, which is cool. They are a retired Gallic soldier. The whole premise is about Easton getting a letter from their childhood friend, Madeline Usher, which says she is terribly sick. Easton decides to visit Madeline, and her brother, Roderick Usher, in their old spooky mansion. When they arrive at the mansion, they find it in a terrible state, and covered in mold on the inside. Madeline and Roderick have never looked worse but they don't want to leave. They have another visitor in the house, Dr. Denton, who has already spent a month trying to diagnose Madeline with something other than hysteria. Another quirky character is an Englishwoman, a self-proclaimed mycologist Eugenia Potter. That is a small cast of characters but they all have a clear role to play. Most importantly, my fav character is Easton's horse Hob. Both Miss Potter and Hob are a type of comic relief, in a sense that they have fierce but soothing personalities.
I must say despite the brevity of the story, I did get properly spooked. I recommend reading this late at night, with dimmed lights and heavy rain outside. I have nothing bad to say about the novella, so it's 5 stars from me.