Reviews with content warning for Pregnancy - Old Country

ok the voice acting (specifically Harry in the fall)… i was blown away actually. Definitely a fun, messed up story. not my usual fare (one of the main characters is a war vet and there’s a lot about that it’s kind of actually a main plot point) but I actually liked the way it was handled eventually. also Joe.. slay.

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a_novel_craving's review against another edition

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dark emotional inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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starrysteph's review against another edition

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dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

Oof. This one was - painfully - a bummer.

We follow Harry & Sasha, a young couple who spontaneously purchase the rural house of their dreams and move in with their sweet golden retriever to live the country life. But their neighbors quickly warn them of a seasonal spirit - one with strict hauntings and stricter rules. If they don’t play along, their idyllic rustic lifestyle will turn deadly.

The plot of Old Country came from a viral Reddit thread (from /nosleep, which is a whole lot of fun if you’ve ever poked around in there). I vaguely remember reading the initial concept and enjoying the spookiness. But it simply doesn’t work expanded in this way, particularly because the writing is not very skilled.

The text was filled to the brim with random italicized words for emphasis. Here’s a particularly ridiculous passage: “It was a beautiful time of year, but there was something somber about it, maybe even a little bit depressing … It wasn’t depressing in a depressing way, though, it just brought a sense of foreboding, like the wind had a motherly, cautionary tone.”

It has a little bit of originality going for it. The hauntings are unique; it clearly worked as a handful of sentences. The dog was cute (best character, lol) and the setting was cool. But there’s no narrative skill here and no depth to the story.

There is just SO much filler. Random fluff to add pages, not thoughtful character-building.

The two voices are practically indistinguishable (same with just about every speaking character), often unnatural/stilted, and Sasha is just there to blandly echo the voice of her husband. When she was charmed by a random instance of animal abuse (he straight up CHUCKS an animal and injures it for startling her), lovingly refers to him as a toddler, and whines about his $3000+ monthly income from the government from his six years as a marine … it was pretty clear she was written by two men. Let me revise that: her DEFINING character trait was that she was written by two men.

Harry is just … so unlikable. His highlights include going up to the spirit forms and saying stuff like “this is MY LAND NOW >:)” and throwing around racist dialogue. Also, I don’t know any marines, but it seemed a little wacky to me that two former soldiers would eagerly start up a conversation about the men they killed - how many and how and why. Especially when one is a friendly older neighbor and they really don’t know each other.

And don’t even get me started on how the one indigenous character was described and how he spoke. Euuuughhh.

And the plot? Basically nothing happens. The book is divided up into four sections (one for each season), and each season has a particular haunting. So … over the course of a 350 page book, you read about four hauntings (a couple happen more than once, but still). The hauntings go by in a FLASH and the entire premise is wasted on a few pages. The rest of it is horseback riding and hunting and gardening and extremely repetitive dialogue.

The characters don’t make a single logical choice. For example, they need to have 5 lit candles in order to prevent 5 ghosts from entering their home overnight.. So they light … exactly 5 candles. WHAT?! I would have had 30 candles per room. No chances here.

There were also dropped plot points aplenty, and the internal supernatural logic simply did not add up.

And finally *spoiler alert for the poorly written ending*

, the two white people move in and somehow “solve” the spirit issue that generations of indigenous people couldn’t? Hmm. And after they get a speech about how they couldn’t make the spirit about their personal issues and that the whole world doesn’t revolve around them … the “solution” is to “deal with their shit”? Oh my god.

(Disclaimer: I received a free review copy of this book. This is my - clearly VERY honest - review.)

CW: murder, violence, blood, injury, animal death, animal cruelty, racism, misogyny, sexism, gun violence, war, pregnancy, car accident

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soobooksalot's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

It's spooky season all year 'round in Old Country.
Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for my gifted ARC for review!
I've seen mixed opinions on this one, but my opinion is anything but - I thoroughly enjoyed this creepy tale by Matt Query and Harrison Query!
I was intrigued before even starting the book by the fact that it started out as a story on Reddit and grew a huge fan base.
Old Country is about newlyweds Harry and Sasha, who purchase a house and land in rural Idaho and soon learn about the "extras" the real estate includes.
A spirit lives in the valley and each season brings forth a new series of ominous events.
These scares are truly unique, and any deviation from the measures to conquer them can result in new danger. And eventually, each draws parallels to Harry's experiences in Afghanistan - the inverse of human nature is meant to keep you safe.
As with any horror, this isn't a read for everyone - there are some descriptive portions of the hauntings and strong language, for those who are bothered by that (not me, obviously).
But I absolutely recommend it for those who are a fan of the genre and looking for something memorable and atmospheric!
Released on July 26.

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ems_rxlibrary's review against another edition

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dark reflective tense slow-paced

2.5

I thought this story was unique and had some legitimately spooky scenes in it. The book is set near where I live and was pretty on the nose as far as description goes.

The few scary scenes were intense and had me on the edge of my seat wanting to know what was going to happen.

The two main problems I had with this book were: the two main characters had nearly indistinguishable voices and it was just TOO DANG LONG! Honestly, so much of this book could have been cut out. It completely ruined the suspense they were trying to set up by talking about the hiking and planting and fencing and horseback riding the characters were doing. A suspenseful theme would be introduced, but then it would be a chapter or two before anything came of it. It really threw the pacing off.

Do I think there will be people out there who will love this book? Absolutely. I’m just not necessarily one of them.

I received this eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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