The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher

Freelance editor, Mouse agrees to clean out her grandmother’s house at her father’s request. Located in an isolated town in North Carolina, the house is a hoarder’s heaven full of boxes of trinkets, shelves of creepy dolls, and old newspapers.

When Mouse finds her stepgrandfather’s journal entries hinting at strange beings holed up in the forest behind the house, Mouse gets a little too close to the mystery.

I got introduced to T. Kingfisher’s works just a few months ago. And I’m surprised that I hadn’t heard about these books before because they are right up my alley.

While I was initially going to start with The Hollow Places, when I read that The Twisted Ones has cryptic diary entries, an abandoned house, and a forest-y terrain, I caved and started reading it.

I think the author hit a bulls-eye with Mouse’s characterisation. Had it been any other person, I don’t think they would’ve been as sceptical or even foolhardy at times.

The plot developments can be justified only because of who Mouse is. I liked her constant chatter with her dog, Bongo, and her sense of humour. Her character voice is easily one of my favourite aspects of the novel.

Just thinking of the potential this book had makes me wish it had been executed better. Unfortunately, I wasn’t as engaged by the story as I had hoped to be.

It’s been a couple of weeks since I finished reading it, and to be frank, all of it is just a blur in my head.

I even contemplated DNF-ing the novel several times. My curiosity to know what Mouse would discover and how she would get out of that dangerous situation was the only reason I persevered.

There are a couple of scenes that are spooky in hindsight. But I wouldn’t say that I was terrified while reading them.

The book has a perfect atmosphere, and the author crafts some great dark imagery. It’s the execution that takes away from the impact of the storytelling.

And to make matters worse, there were many instances where I couldn’t follow what Cotgrave (Mouse’s stepgrandfather) had written. There were just too many layers there, which left me baffled.

All in all, I liked reading some parts of The Twisted Ones. I just wish the writing was better poised to make the horror of it all truly unsettling.

I’m currently reading What Moves The Dead by T. Kingfisher. This one has made it to the final rounds of the 2022 Goodreads Awards, and I can see why!