another 3.5, maybe. weirdly enough, the horror in this worked better for me than <i>the twisted ones</i>, but the non-horror stuff worked worse.

the actual horror novel plot setup (based on algernon blackwood's <i>the willows</i>, this time) was really interesting and unsettling, and the scares felt better distributed throughout the story. you're still left with some unanswered questions, but it works with the nature of the plot. and while this won't be keeping me up at night, there were definitely scenes that made me shudder. 

i just didn't care for any of the characters much, and the humour just didn't gel with the rest of the story for me. i don't mind humour and horror being mixed - it can definitely work if all the elements are right - but here... just didn't work for me. too pop-culture referential, maybe. i haven't had this issue with kingfisher's works that aren't set in 'our' world. i will say that this bothered me much more in the first like, quarter of the story - once the plot kicked in more, i noticed it less. but i noticed it.

(i will also admit that there was one petty-ish thing that drove me nutsss - carrot, the protagonist, is mind-numblingly slow on the uptake regarding one particular plot element, and every time it came up i wanted to tear my hair out. i didn't find her to be a dumbass <i>overall</i> but this one thing is SO clearly signposted to the reader SO early on, and she doesn't figure it out until like fully 80% into the story.)

no regrets on reading this and i would say it's worth checking out if the premise appeals - whatever its faults i found it very readable, much like <i>the twisted ones</i>. i do think i may go back to kingfisher's purer Fantasy stuff for a bit, though.