Welcome to Litsy!

I really liked this creepy little book! Horrible people doing stupid stuff in a haunted mansion, but with creative storytelling and poetic language. Even for the really gross parts. 😖

⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

It doesn't condescend by spoon-feeding Japanese folklore, and it waltzes between whimsy and tension; overall, this is a simple and eerie ghost story.

I really really didn't like this book.. at all. I was so ready to be scared and not be able to sleep and I was SO. LET. DOWN. It was not scary in the slightest, and the story was told very weirdly. Almost like someone made poetry then tried to add dialogue, if that makes sense? This book is not long at all, and everyday I was dreading having to finish it. 0/5 stars sadly.

Some cool books in this month's Abominable Book Club box! 👻

I've been wanting to read the tagged book, so that worked out great.

Anyone read The Bad Place by Dean Koontz? Or Black Static, I'm unsure what that even is right now. 😄

I love the pink shiny ghost sticker! 😍

Super creepy audiobook

Even with the bad reviews I wanted to give this one a chance because it sounded so good. I think where this struggles is as a novella I feel like it should have focused more on the ghost story and not the melodrama of the unlikeable characters. The language was also a big turn off. #pop22 #popsugar #abookyoucanreadinonesitting

some #japanesehorror for my 2.40 hour flight. #bookclub #vacation

I don‘t know how I feel about this. I guess I was expecting something different. The characters were flat and the writing was unclear at times. The plot seemed to be going one way but ultimately doesn‘t make sense. Seemed like it couldn‘t decide what to be, a ghost story or a comment on horror movie tropes. The whole story was just meh.Loved the idea and use of Japanese mythology, but fell flat otherwise. #bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks

My #WorstOf21
Nothing But Blackened Teeth - Really disliked this! My pick for worst of the year. Waste of a great story idea.

BAILED-
The Flight Attendant - 👎🏻book; ❤️ TV show.
Bitter Orange - boring.
Hiding in the Bathroom - not what I was hoping for.
The Only Good Indians - ❤️ the story, but... there was way too much basketball and motorcycles. I‘ve read a few of his books and love his stories, but not his writing style. #unpopularopinion

Got to the Barnes & Noble 50% off sale before the snow got too intense and picked up these beauties! Made great use of my Christmas gift card before coming back for games and cocoa. 📚☕❄

#bookhaul #wimtergames2021 #mistletoemaniacs

⭐️ The only good thing about this book is the cover! What a disappointment. The only horror in this book was the atrocious writing.

3.5 stars. The story didn't quite do it for me. It just didn't grab me. It was a bit creepy so probably worth the read if you're looking for something short, weird, creepy title & has rad cover art.

Great cover, great title, great premise, but terrible characters and over-the-top writing/metaphors that ruined the entire thing for me. This could have been so good if the author really leaned into the Japanese folklore and the horror elements. 2⭐️

Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw ⭐
This "book" fell short, literally, it's a short book. So much potential, so much disappointment. There was no story here, no substance, but there could have been. The writing was decent but the characters were emotionless, and the story was nothing but nothing. This book seemed to be everywhere and publicized very well but it's a prime example of not believing in the hype.

I liked the way this was written, I think this suffered from the hype train and I was a little let down because of that. Nothing groundbreaking but I am very happy that it was creepy!

I‘m still not over the spooky scary month, dang it!

A quick, gross, creepy listen. It is a little purple prose-y, but in a way that but the descent into creepy crawly crazy.

Very creepy, definitely worth a read. I just couldn't get into the flow of the writing. The cadence forced me to read slowly. Not necessarily a bad thing, just gave me pause.

This was a good creepy novella about a bunch of friends who decide to spend some time in a haunted mansion in Japan so two of them can get married and of course it goes really really wrong 🖤
#BookSpin #BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

For me, this one was just okay. Really annoying friend group goes to haunted castle where a dead bride is supposedly waiting for her dead groom to come back. The friend group is petty and there‘s lots of drama and some horror-lite events occur. This book is super short, really a novella, and IMO the author could have used some more pages to flesh out those characters and the backstory of the castle. Complete meh for me.

I really really enjoyed her writing, but obviously with this one being so short, there‘s a lot left out.. and a lot of googling for me, because I‘m unfamiliar with Japanese folklore.. but I still enjoyed it as a quick, engaging read! Definitely borrow this one from the library though unless you‘re a re-reader.

I‘ve seen this book on my horror and thriller lists, but never thought to pick it up until I was releasing it from processing on Friday and saw how small it is! So I snagged it on a whim and am starting this dreary Halloween day with it! 👻

I‘m on the fence with this one, it‘s very atmospheric, but the characters were very annoying. It seemed to not quite know what tone it wanted. Half slick Japanese horror, half bad camp teen slasher. In the end it came out meh. 3⭐️
+15 +1 = 16 points for #teamhendrix
#Scarathlon2021 #20in4 #Halloween #littenlisten

I loved this. The writing, evocative and sharp, had me hooked from page one. Have you ever known someone for a while and shown up to an event for them and then wondered why the hell am I here? I don‘t even like this person. Imagine having that toxic friend tipping point at a wedding in a haunted mansion in Japan. My only complaint was that it wasn‘t longer.

The premise was golden, the cover is beautiful, but it fell flat. The writing is good, but did a lot of telling over showing, sucking the power out of the atmosphere. The characters are all very unlikable & don't really get depth. It didn't grip me enough to make me care & there were a lot of missed opportunities. I needed this to be longer & more fleshed out. The bones are there, but this felt more like a pitch than a finished tale. I'm bummed.

🎧 I normally don‘t like endless metaphors & flowery prose! After the first few instances I knew it was going to be “one of those books”.

BUT I found that as long as there wasn‘t a cheesy romance involved, I‘m good, the purple prose balanced the chilling story.

I LOVED IT & I can‘t emphasize how much I shouldn‘t have liked the writing style.

I was on the edge of my seat & compelled to read it strait through!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️3/4 👇🏻

The prose won‘t be for everyone, but I really enjoyed this devilish haunted house story. Some great horror in here. And this is one of my favorite book covers that I‘ve come across recently.

I preordered this novella mostly based on the cover art. It was incredibly hyped on social media and it ended up falling short of most people‘s expectations. I personally did enjoy it but wish it would have been a full length novel. This almost felt like a rough draft or outline of a fantastic novel.

First super quick read. And although it was set in a great location (creepy haunted mansion in Japan) I felt as if I was dropped into the story at the midway point. Really needed to be longer in order to flesh out the characters. But if you‘re looking for a creepy Halloween themed read here ya go. You may like it I just like a little more flesh out reads

😕
I wanted to love this book. I really did. It had a great premise. But I didn‘t like the vague writing, all the characters were super annoying and one dimensional, and the end fell flat for me.
Hades didn‘t care for it either. 🐈‍⬛
Thank you to #netgalley for a copy of this novella in exchange for an honest review.

This is a dark and twisted story that packs a lot of punch for being under 130 pages. Cassandra Khaw uses vivid descriptions and can truly turn a phrase and there is also a youthful energy to her writing and characters she creates. The story also had unexpected turns as she took what the reader was expecting and purposely pivoted. I recommend this one for horror lovers looking for a fresh haunted house story
4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The most scary part of the book is the front cover. It was icky rather than creepy for me and the trope were everyone has secrets and you have an unreliable narrator was not well deployed. The ghost/supernatural portion of the story seems like an afterthought. I was expecting better given the hype. Thankfully it is a very short book.

I loved this! Quick, gross, and scary. Definitely could make a good movie. Happy spooky season!

Super fun and very creepy novella. Perfect for the Halloween season. This cover is both awesome and completely terrifying!! #ARC #Edelweiss

#BookHaul ! 📚

This was a good short spooky 👻 story. Worth it.

Listening to this short one today. I love the cover.

3⭐️ This is a tale of a haunted house In Japan. In modern times a group of people decide to have a haunted wedding. This was a short Gothic read that was quite interesting but not really long enough to build the story. I enjoyed the story but didn‘t find it spooky or haunting or scary. Maybe for newcomers or people who don‘t need horror very often this would be a great jumping in novel. A book for people who like the haunting of hill house.

Meh, creepy but with no character development and barely digging into the backstory of the crumbling mansion, this one didn't live up to the hype for me.

This haunted house story brings together five friends for an intimate wedding- in this Japanese haunted mansion. Both the house & the people have backstories- but this novella doesn‘t delve too deeply into them, which I think makes it harder to connect with the characters. There‘s some graphic imagery but I must admit the cover art is probably the scariest part of it… I just wanted a bit more from this story to get me in the mood for Halloween!

#NetGalley

This is my first read by this author, but I can't wait to read more now!

Cassandra Khaw scared me with this book and kept me guessing and quickly turning pages needing to know what was going to happen next.

Such a creepy atmospheric book about a haunted house. 👻

Thank you #Netgalley for this audio book. It's has a perfect balance of creepiness and funny. Each character had its unique roll, from funny, serious, and analytical. A group of kids end up in a haunted mansion seeping with death and a mythological dead wife seeking her husband. It's a short quick read.
4 💫💫💫💫

I adored this book from the start. A group of 5 friends, who all really hate each other, are vacationing in Japan, in an ancient haunted mansion.

I enjoyed the shorter length. The creepiness started almost immediately and escalated quickly. The ending was nicely gory. I loved the Japanese setting, but felt that many Japanese words were used that I had no idea what they were. I would have gotten more from the story if there had been explanations.

This was a wierd reading month for me. I read so much the first two weeks, then very little next two. Hands down my favorite book was Nothing But Blackened Teeth which I received from NetGalley. It was excellent.