Book Review: The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher

A tale of a woman called Mouse (Melissa) and her trusted dog Bongo goes to clean her deceased grandmother’s house in rural North Carolina on behalf of her father and gets into a messy situation. The woods are scary, and her family history is equally chilling. Again, I find myself unable to get into more details without spoiling the concept. Such is the case with mysteries and stories you need to experience to enjoy them. The Twisted Ones is a horror-light story as the quick jokes and fast moving situations defuse any possible creepiness factor. This was so light that I listened to this while I was alone in the woods for several hours. The story is easy to listen to, and it sucked me in; that is usually the case with relatable first-person narratives.

Mouse, as a character, is witty, sophisticated, and compassionate towards others with inner monologue bashing herself for having crude thoughts. The last point is highly familiar to us conscious creatures. Yet, I sometimes got annoyed by her bit of a snobbish attitude, especially with her editing commentary. It was one of the things that broke the immersion, and not in a good way, meaning this is those scary comedy movies commenting on scary movie tropes but with books and writing. I’m not a fan of that. So that is on me. Spoilers: _{In the end, I didn’t especially care for how the scariness factor was taken a way by adding Foxy to tag along and sudden appearances of items that render any need to solve sticky situations with wit. But as I said, this isn’t a horror book.} 

I enjoyed this book enormously as a quick, entertaining read. T. Kingfisher can write compelling stories. But when it comes to horror, seemingly witty interruptions, and some of the editing jokes, I was left somewhat cold. Also, I am not sure if I was sold by the mystery. So weirdly mixed feelings about the book. I still would say you should read it. Books are highly subjective, and what works or doesn’t in one moment in time is questionable at the next. And as I said, this was an enjoyable read.

Thank you for reading, and have a spooky day ❤