Curtis’s Reviews > Cunning Folk > Status Update
Curtis
is on page 58 of 336
I’d love to comment on the story, but the prose is distractingly bad. Overwritten, melodramatic, pretentious; author describes like a thesaurus. Like nails on a chalkboard at times. Also, main characters act ridiculous. Not greeting neighbors after 2 days in the house, but Tom says he’s used to knowing all his neighbors? Buying a massive fixer-upper project of a house you can’t afford? Dummies. Gonna be a rough read!
— Oct 22, 2023 12:02PM
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Curtis
is finished
Very underwhelming. Paint-by-numbers horror with a big gory climax that feels weirdly short. Nevill seemed hedged between a twist ending & not a twist, so the 'reframing' that happens isn't substantively different from what we were assuming all along. Prose remains embarrassingly bad throughout; even during climax I had a few laugh-out-loud moments that completely took me out of it. Some good scenes & ideas though.
— Oct 25, 2023 03:42PM
Curtis
is on page 229 of 336
Rough copy of Pet Semetary except clumsier execution. Stuff is really happening now though! Entertaining but very hokey--unintentionally funny in places & Nevill continues to overuse similes at inappropriate times: someone angrily gets in Tom's face, spittle hits his face like ocean spray). Logistic issues show Nevill puts little thought into scenes--stopping car to check if someone's dead on way to hospital? What???
— Oct 25, 2023 10:54AM
Curtis
is on page 187 of 336
Okay, it's finally becoming a horror book, & easier to ignore the prose. It's still fairly paint-by-numbers so I can only assume whatever makes this book notable happens in the last act. Characters flat; we don't learn anything about them outside of their basic utility to the story--hobbies, interests? What does the wife want? What led her to agree to move in the first place? At least it's more readable now!
— Oct 24, 2023 02:36PM
Curtis
is on page 119 of 336
Some plot developments help make things interesting, but still hard not to be distracted by the bad writing. Lots of things told instead of shown; sometimes narration contradicts what we've seen (Tom says Gracie's been scared & clingy since moving there even though the literal previous scene was her happily exploring deep into the woods. She's been confident & curious. Minimal character development, tropey.
— Oct 23, 2023 11:26AM
