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The Twisted Ones
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(Yet Another) Buddy Read for February 2021
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I’m 130 pages into it so far. It’s a little slower paced that The Hollow Places (not a bad thing, just an observation) but a lot of the charm of the other book is on display. Likable protagonist, pet that steals every scene it’s in, and a good sense of humor (without people coming across as simply there for comic relief). I’ve noticed a couple of similarities (though these may just be tropes or ideas the author likes and reuses) such as the friendly barista, a protagonist who just broke up with someone (previous novel it was a divorce) and again the lovable pet. While there’s some repetition in this, it’s not off putting.
I have a slight disadvantage on this one, as I was familiar with the source story in The Hollow Places, but have not actually read this one’s (The White People). That said, it’s very much it’s own story, and Kingfisher introduces the concepts in such a way that I don’t feel lost. More likely I’d just be catching details had I read the other story prior.
Okay, obviously a personal thing because “unsettling” much like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder, but this one is far more unsettling than her other book for me. Honestly, one scene had me staring at the page in that “I feel I should recoil from a book, but that’s just silly” feeling.
Tim wrote: "Okay, obviously a personal thing because “unsettling” much like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder, but this one is far more unsettling than her other book for me. Honestly, one scene had me staring at the page in that “I feel I should recoil from a book, but that’s just silly” feeling."Oh, intriguing! I'm only about 60 pages/20% in so you're way ahead of me. I found the first couple of chapters a bit dull as there was no one but the narrator and her dog and they spent most of their time cleaning a hoarder's house but now that other characters have been introduced and there is clearly something odd going on in the woods the story has picked up and I imagine I'll be speeding through this tonight.
Marie-Therese wrote: "Oh, intriguing! I'm only about 60 pages/20% in so you're way ahead of me. I found the first couple of chapters a bit dull as there was no one but the narrator and her dog and they spent most of their time cleaning a hoarder's house but now that other characters have been introduced and there is clearly something odd going on in the woods the story has picked up and I imagine I'll be speeding through this tonight. "I agree that those early chapters are slow paced, and a few times I did sit there going "alright, we've catalogued enough hoarder material, can we get to the monsters now?" Then that scene hit I mentioned above (view spoiler)
I'm past the 200 page point, and I've got to say that thus far this one is a much slower read, and while more unnerving, not as "fun" of a novel as The Hollow Places. It may just be that I was more invested in the museum in the previous novel than Mouse's grandmother's house, or perhaps I enjoyed the side characters more (I definitely like Simon more than the side characters in this... though as a former barista, I appreciate the barista in this one as well because I can vouch that most of the night crew when I worked there would act the same way). I'm still enjoying this one, but I think, thus far at least, I prefer the other.
I just finished it and I’ve got to say I’m overall a bit disappointed. It’s not a bad novel by any means, but pales in comparison to The Hollow Places. I stand by my comments above that I think the “creepy” parts are... well, creepier, but I think the pacing of this one drags and also it suffers from some interest problems. I was invested in the museum and I got why our lead went through everything more in The Hollow Places. Here I sat there going “It’s a horrible old house filled with things you don’t want. Leave.” (view spoiler)
Tim wrote: "I just finished it and I’ve got to say I’m overall a bit disappointed. It’s not a bad novel by any means, but pales in comparison to The Hollow Places. I stand by my comments above that I think the..."I somehow missed that there was a buddy read going on for this novel, which is fine as I read it last month. I liked it a lot, but I found the end a little disappointing. However, I haven't read The Hollow Places yet, so I'm glad to hear you liked it better!
I finished this a couple of days ago and, essentially, Tim and I are the same reader! ;-) But really, his creepy spoiler moment was my creepy spoiler moment (I read that bit late at night and then kept waking up during the night fearing to see that horrific thing peeking in my window), and I also felt that all of the things I liked best in Kingfisher's later book were somewhat attenuated shadows in this one.
This book wasn't "bad" but it wasn't nearly as good, or as effective as 'The Hollow Places'. It was almost like this book was a rehearsal for the later one, despite the originating story being so different. I think the only thing I found more interesting here was the editorial comments Mouse makes regarding what is clearly a reimagining of Machen's 'The White People'. As Cotgrave, her step-grandfather, writes his reminiscences of a story he calls 'The Green Book' (the name of the diary of the young girl in Machen's 'The White People), Mouse critiques the very late-Victorian male-authored story of a young woman caught up with the fairies. Mouse is ruthless in pointing out how ridiculous and grossly sexist much of the narrative is and I loved her for that because much of 'The White People', brilliant as it is, is also absurdly sexist and imagined by a man who has little understanding of how adolescent girls' minds and hearts work. Kingfisher's story does set some of that right (although with much more mature heroines), but it's not as atmospheric as Machen's original and doesn't work as well in this more modern setting.
I liked this but not the way I really, really liked 'The Hollow Places". Nothing here felt as urgent as in the previous book and there were so many moments when our protagonist here could have/should have walked away. As I said above, this just felt like a rehearsal, a testing ground, for a later, better book. I'm curious to see what Kingfisher does next. I hope it doesn't involve a thirty-something woman fleeing a recently ended relationship with a faithful pet in tow, though.
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Literary Horror
Books mentioned in this topic
The Twisted Ones (other topics)The Hollow Places (other topics)
The Collected Connoisseur (other topics)
Tim and I read Kingfisher's excellent The Hollow Places last year and enjoyed it so much that we're back and planning to read her earlier horror novel, 'The Twisted Ones'. Where 'The Hollow Places' drew on Algernon Blackwood's classic novella 'The Willows' for inspiration, 'The Twisted Ones' is inspired by Arthur Machen's 'The White People'. (For more Machen mania, see our latest group read The Collected Connoisseur).
'The Twisted Ones' garnered much press and many laudatory reviews on publication. NPR says that though the novel is "...laden with cosmic fright, The Twisted Ones connects the foreboding of ancient folklore with the horrors of modern life. But it does so with a sharp, witty voice and a compelling first-person protagonist..." and The Book Smugglers note that "The voice and setting are all very expertly done but perhaps my favourite thing about the novel, which tends to be my favourite thing about T Kingfisher’s work overall, is the unpredictability of how the story progresses, the subversion of the most common horror tropes. Instead of the Lone Heroine who endures her horrors alone, Mouse shares the stories of uncovered horror very early on with her friendly neighbours Foxy and Tomas. The strength of the novel, lies in this shared horror – instead of suffering and enduring alone, Mouse has friends who help her, who go through the events alongside her. She never stands alone – and that was fistpumpingly awesome and wholesome. " This "wholesome" quality, the sweetness and kindheartedness of Kingfisher's work is something both Tim and I noticed and appreciated in 'The Hollow Places'* and I look forward to seeing it in action again here. Despite that sweetness, critics have noted that this is a seriously scary novel: Emily Hughes at Nightfire writes "I read two-thirds of The Twisted Ones over the course of a single evening, staying up past midnight because it’s the first book in ages that has had me too scared to stop reading, and then I finished it the next day after work" and Meghan Ball at Barnes and Noble says "T. Kingfisher’s The Twisted Ones is the first book in perhaps a decade that genuinely terrified me. We’re talking hands-shaking, uncontrollable whimpering, talking-back-to-the-book fear as I turned the pages. I never put it down—I had to know what happened next, even though I was scared witless. It is a magnificent work of Southern Gothic horror, and if you have any affinity for literary terror, you need to read it immediately."
So, if you're looking for a spooky read featuring a Southern Gothic setting, interesting, likeable characters and a loveable hound dog, join us for 'The Twisted Ones'.
*See Tim's awesome review of 'The Hollow Places' for a much better and more thorough explanation of what this all means.