Scan barcode
A review by alilbitofmonica
My Darling Dreadful Thing by Johanna van Veen
3.5
I would say that most of this book was trending as a 4 star read, but once I started thinking more about it, I lowered it to 3. It was overall a very fascinating story with very interesting characters.
- The format really helped this story feel like it was moving along. Roos is being investigated for murder and is telling her story to the doctor who is trying to decide if she can be tried for insanity or not.
-- This does lend itself to a very "told not shown" kind of feel at times because Roos is literally telling the doctor what happened.
- Roos and Ruth have such an interesting dynamic - exploring this was fun but also contributed to me lowering my rating in the end. I loved the complication that Ruth added as she was always around and her and Roos were a package deal. BUT when I thought about it, I am honestly a little weirded out by the relationship given that Roos was a child when the very adult and very centuries-dead Ruth connected to her. They ended up having a very intimate kind of relationship that would have been fine if Roos had always been an adult when she was around.
- Roos felt very infantile at times which was not great. She was made to act younger because of Mama, which I completely understand, but by making Roos feel younger, it then makes the relationships she has with Ruth and Agnes, both assumedly older, feel a little strange.
- The abuse Roos experienced at the hands of Mama was intense and troubling. I do appreciate how we can see the way this formed Roos in many important areas of her life.
- The relationship between Roos and Agnes was so complicated but I actually loved the buildup here. We see Roos making bad decisions but with the best intentions all because she is experiencing a new emotion and attachment to Agnes - and vice versa.
- The plot carries itself pretty slowly, but not overall boring. The constant eeriness of the supernatural lingers throughout the book and keeps you on your toes just a little.
- The ending kind of leaves it to reader interpretation - is Roos living in her own delusions or did these things regarding the spirit world really happen??
Overall, I liked the gothic atmosphere and the supernatural focus. And the central focus of this being a test of determining Roos' sanity as it pertains to the murder trial makes this feel more substantial.
- The format really helped this story feel like it was moving along. Roos is being investigated for murder and is telling her story to the doctor who is trying to decide if she can be tried for insanity or not.
-- This does lend itself to a very "told not shown" kind of feel at times because Roos is literally telling the doctor what happened.
- Roos and Ruth have such an interesting dynamic - exploring this was fun but also contributed to me lowering my rating in the end. I loved the complication that Ruth added as she was always around and her and Roos were a package deal. BUT when I thought about it, I am honestly a little weirded out by the relationship given that Roos was a child when the very adult and very centuries-dead Ruth connected to her. They ended up having a very intimate kind of relationship that would have been fine if Roos had always been an adult when she was around.
- Roos felt very infantile at times which was not great. She was made to act younger because of Mama, which I completely understand, but by making Roos feel younger, it then makes the relationships she has with Ruth and Agnes, both assumedly older, feel a little strange.
- The abuse Roos experienced at the hands of Mama was intense and troubling. I do appreciate how we can see the way this formed Roos in many important areas of her life.
- The relationship between Roos and Agnes was so complicated but I actually loved the buildup here. We see Roos making bad decisions but with the best intentions all because she is experiencing a new emotion and attachment to Agnes - and vice versa.
- The plot carries itself pretty slowly, but not overall boring. The constant eeriness of the supernatural lingers throughout the book and keeps you on your toes just a little.
- The ending kind of leaves it to reader interpretation - is Roos living in her own delusions or did these things regarding the spirit world really happen??
Overall, I liked the gothic atmosphere and the supernatural focus. And the central focus of this being a test of determining Roos' sanity as it pertains to the murder trial makes this feel more substantial.