Honestly I didn't find it all that disturbing/scary, but YMMV (I'm uncommonly resistant to most forms of horror so probably not the best person to ask if this book will mess you up). It mostly just required a lot of focus.
Rinn
joined 2 years ago
Finished House of Leaves (very weird, very interesting, would require like 4 more re-reads to actually understand it and I'm not sure I have the strenght for it), started my... 4th? 5th? Re-read of The Goblin Emperor bc someone here asked me for a few words on it and it put me in the mood to dive right in ^^
Sure! I'll try to be fairly general to avoid spoiling anything.
It's about the youngest, half-goblin son of the elven Emperor, living in exile with his abusive uncle, until a message arrives that his father and older brothers have all perished in a totally-not-suspicious accident and he has unexpectedly inherited the throne. It follows him learning about and navigating courtly politics (and flailing. so much flailing.), his struggles with tradition and the intense alienation he feels as he is suddenly elevated to the top of society and finds that it kinda sucks to be there (and all the reasons why). I really enjoy the tone of this book - it's quite meditative and depicts certain political/social mechanisms in a somewhat realistic way, but is quite hopeful overall (without being preachy). It's very character/feelings focused and doesn't really have one "core" plot beyond following the protagonist's arc. The writing is excellent - especially the way it gives depth to characters who appear only very briefly and how much it conveys through characters' body language.
Word of caution: the jargon and the amount of names and terms that get thrown at you is overwhelming. This is intentional - you are made to feel exactly what the protagonist is feeling - but it still is too much for some. There is a glossary at the end that's helpful and often missed.
Most people seem to love this book, but those who don't tend to bounce off very hard, mostly because of aforementioned jargon/lack of one central intrigue. It's one of my personal faves and I've read it 3 or 4 times so I'm obviously in the first group ^^
Well then... hi, I'm Rinn (it is so nice to be able to grab the short names on new social media sites), I'm 28 and live somewhere in the EU. I like cats, video games, and learning new things (learning crochet atm). Reading wise I'm mostly into sci-fi/fantasy + ungodly amounts of fanfiction when the mood takes me + RPG sourcebooks - I regularly play The One Ring 2e with a group and do some solo roleplaying in various systems (I journal extensively so to me solo roleplay is pretty much writing with dice). My fave books I've read last year: the Calculating Stars, the Goblin Emperor (one of my overall faves, I reread it every 2 years or so), the Empress of Salt and Fortune. It's nice to be here, I'm looking forward to watching this space develop ^^
I alway feel like... somebody's watching meeee