The Twisted Ones

🦌“One’s own idiocy is often a cheering thought” Dopo la non proprio apprezzatissima lettura di A House with Good Bones mi sono buttata su un altro libro di Kingfisher, quasi certa che non sarei rimasta delusa: The Twisted Ones. Mouse, editor freelance, accompagnata dal suo cane Bongo si ritrova in viaggio verso la parte rurale del North Caroline per andare a ripulire la casa della sua defunta nonna. Che cosa potrebbe andare storto? Più o meno tutto, ma dettagli! Non solo ritrova la casa strapiena di cianfrusaglie accumulate dalla perfida nonna, ma scopre un vecchio diario del nonno, che inizialmente sembra solo un insieme di frasi senza senso…almeno finché non incontra alcune delle cose descritte nel diario. In breve The Twisted Ones ha tutto quello che A House with Goog Bones ha solo nell’ultima parte. Weird e creepy al punto giusto e sin dalla prima pagina accompagniamo Mouse e Bongo in una discesa da incubo per scoprire, beh…che diamine sta succedendo! Seppur l’ironia non manca mai tra le pagine dei libri di Kingfisher qui ho trovato l’atmosfera più densa, cupa e inquietante. La tensione cresce via via che si scorrono le pagine ma fin dall’inizio c’è un senso di inquietudine strisciante che spinge a divorare ogni parola per scoprire se le parole del nonno di Mouse sono solo l’espressione di un uomo delirante o…qualcosa di più. Tra passeggiate nei boschi, incontri da incubo e, per fortuna, amici pronti ad aiutare ci ritroviamo in un viaggio pieno di pericoli e folklore da brivido…non è un caso che l’ho letto tutto d’un fiato in poco meno di 24 ore! Questo è sicuramente tra i libri di Kingfisher che più consiglio, anche se verso la fine tende ad essere un po’ confusionario è stata una lettura appassionante e perfetta per la spooky season!

Llego golpeado y roto el libro, me hicieron la devolución lo compre de nuevo, llegue a leerlo acostado en cama y me daba miedo bajar el libro para ver lo que estaria detras de el.

This is one of the most well-written, tautly plotted, and frightening books I’ve ever read. I started reading horror stories in 4th or 5th grade, and was a Lovecraft and Steven King fan before they became popular, but the first time I read THE TWISTED ONES I had to stop reading every half hour or so just to breathe and calm my racing heart. Ursula Vernon, aka T. Kingfisher, is a truly gifted writer, and my adult children and I are metaphorically devouring her works. One of Kingfisher’s great literary gifts is to take a well-known fairy tale or folklore trope, or an idea used by another author (in this case Arthur Machen’s THE WHITE PEOPLE, and inject her own brilliant plot ideas into them. NOTE: fans of horror slasher porn or romantasy — this book may not meet your needs. There are no sexy elves or darkly handsome vampires in these pages — but plenty of bone-chilling scenes. The monsters in this tale are the most original I’ve ever come across, in over 60 years of avid reading.

Nothing happens in this story but stupid internal dialogue of the main character..And the irony is the character notes at some point that the tone of the book that she read is looking like been written by some one adult but pretending to be a teen writing it, while this book itself feels like a teen editor writing to be like adult 30 something...I really liked this author's another book Minor Mage which was categorized as YA book but that book handled some adult themes like how scared people become cruel, how it feels to find help and kindness in unlikely places, how to not stereotype people based on our beliefs etc. that book was classic YA literature handled well so I wanted to read form this author but this book The Twisted ones turned out to be utter waste except an occasional grin that this could elicit with regards to Dog emotions and antics.

I did very much enjoy this book. It was atmospheric, perfectly paced and humorous. I believe this was my first ever folk horror read, although I didn’t much care for the centre plot of the story so to speak. However, I did throughly enjoy the book. Straight away from the synopsis I got MPHFP vibes. Step-grandfathers journal and a series of horrible terrors. I found the characters very strong and likeable. It really brings back that old fashioned neighbourhood spirit. I thoroughly enjoyed the writing and found it so humorous at times. Back the issues I had with the plot. What I liked was a unique twist, normally it would be a teen and her family, not perhaps a young women on her own. This did add a good perspective to the story. Before you found out what the mystery was the author definitely kept you guessing, planting different theories through the narration. It was such a huge premise and build up that I struggled with the idea that revealing the big mystery would perhaps ruin the book but this wasn’t entirely the case, For me even when the mystery was revealed it fell short for me and I didn’t much care for it. The way it was delivered was good but I didn’t like the idea. It was just missing something.For me there are so many loose ends and things weren’t really explained enough to help understand what was going on. I feel like the book should of been been longer. In short I very much enjoyed the story but it was the centre of the plot and idea I didn’t much care for. It wasn’t what I was expecting. From the quote on the cover I guess I was expecting something more demonic & paranormal. I find it so hard to explain 😅 but was a good read.