Book #19 of 2019: The Dogs
Feb. 11th, 2019 08:43 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thistlechaserThe Dogs by Allan Stratton
Traditional or self-published: Traditional
Rating: Liked (Hated-Disliked-Okay-Liked-Loved)
In every way, this was not a book I would usually read. Horror. Set in the real world. All characters were real people. There was a maybe-supernatural element, but I don't usually read books about supernatural stuff either. I have no idea why I picked this book to download, other than I guess I liked the idea of a pack of ghost dogs. Usually I'd need a lot more reason than that...
I liked this book, I liked reading it, but I didn't enjoy it (if that somehow makes sense). I do not like horror at all, and by the end of the book things were really creepy/disturbing (and there was a downright scary moment). I didn't enjoy it, but I couldn't stop reading it.
Set in the current world and current time, a mother was on the run from her very abusive (psychopathic?) husband. Her and her young son used fake names, moved from place to place every time she thought he had found them again. It was not a comfortable situation to read about, even more so because my family had similar issues (though not as bad as were in the book).
As the story opened, the mother moves to a new town. Completely understandably, the son has a ton of mental and emotional issues (the father abused him badly, nearly killed him multiple times, but the son blocked most of it from his memory). He meets a ghost (or is it his mental issues?), the ghost tells him things (or does he figure them out because, issues aside, he's an intelligent kid?) and through the story, the boy finds out the dark history of the house he and his mother are renting.
I really liked how the reader never knew if the supernatural stuff was real or if the boy only thought he was seeing it.
The ending bothered me a hell of a lot, but only because of the reasons I mentioned above. I don't like horror, and it was too close to what could have happened to me RL.
Amazon has this listed as a YA book, which really surprises me. It was scary to adult-me; I can't imagine reading it as a teenager.
As well-written as the book was, I can't say I'm happy I read it. It bothered me. I finished it last week, and it still bothers me today. However, if you do like horror, you should totally check this book out. It really was good, even if I didn't enjoy it.
Currently reading: The Hunter, M/M steampunk fantasy.
Traditional or self-published: Traditional
Rating: Liked (Hated-Disliked-Okay-Liked-Loved)
In every way, this was not a book I would usually read. Horror. Set in the real world. All characters were real people. There was a maybe-supernatural element, but I don't usually read books about supernatural stuff either. I have no idea why I picked this book to download, other than I guess I liked the idea of a pack of ghost dogs. Usually I'd need a lot more reason than that...
I liked this book, I liked reading it, but I didn't enjoy it (if that somehow makes sense). I do not like horror at all, and by the end of the book things were really creepy/disturbing (and there was a downright scary moment). I didn't enjoy it, but I couldn't stop reading it.
Set in the current world and current time, a mother was on the run from her very abusive (psychopathic?) husband. Her and her young son used fake names, moved from place to place every time she thought he had found them again. It was not a comfortable situation to read about, even more so because my family had similar issues (though not as bad as were in the book).
As the story opened, the mother moves to a new town. Completely understandably, the son has a ton of mental and emotional issues (the father abused him badly, nearly killed him multiple times, but the son blocked most of it from his memory). He meets a ghost (or is it his mental issues?), the ghost tells him things (or does he figure them out because, issues aside, he's an intelligent kid?) and through the story, the boy finds out the dark history of the house he and his mother are renting.
I really liked how the reader never knew if the supernatural stuff was real or if the boy only thought he was seeing it.
The ending bothered me a hell of a lot, but only because of the reasons I mentioned above. I don't like horror, and it was too close to what could have happened to me RL.
Amazon has this listed as a YA book, which really surprises me. It was scary to adult-me; I can't imagine reading it as a teenager.
As well-written as the book was, I can't say I'm happy I read it. It bothered me. I finished it last week, and it still bothers me today. However, if you do like horror, you should totally check this book out. It really was good, even if I didn't enjoy it.
Currently reading: The Hunter, M/M steampunk fantasy.
