My Darling Dreadful Thing
Ratings6
Average rating3.9
15
Ratings6
Average rating3.9
Roos Beckman has a spirit companion only she can see. Ruth—strange, corpse-like, and dead for centuries—is the only good thing in Roos’ life, which is filled with sordid backroom séances organized by her mother. That is, until wealthy young widow Agnes Knoop attends one of these séances and asks Roos to come live with her at the crumbling estate she inherited upon the death of her husband. The manor is unsettling, but the attraction between Roos and Agnes is palpable. So how does someone end up dead?
Roos is caught red-handed, but she claims a spirit is the culprit. Doctor Montague, a psychologist tasked with finding out whether Roos can be considered mentally fit to stand trial, suspects she’s created an elaborate fantasy to protect her from what really happened. But Roos knows spirits are real; she's loved one of them. She'll have to prove her innocence and her sanity, or lose everything.
Reviews with the most likes.
This book is going to stick with me. It was slow, but deliciously so. I loved how conflicted I was if what Roos said was true or if she truly was mad due to her past trauma. I felt so much when reading this - sadness, happiness, nervousness. This one will stick with me for a long time.
The writing was beautiful. I love the old style of speaking language that Roos had in both conversations, but also in her POV. I really hope she gets her happy ending.
I think my favorite thing about My Darling Dreadful Thing is the overall idea. If I just read an outline of the concept with the biggest plot points and the ending, I’d love it. So basically I’d love a synopsis, I guess.
Agnes and Wilemijn felt very one-dimensional, and even Roos, the MC, didn’t feel fully developed to me. We got more information about her than anyone else, and it was easier to understand her and relate to or sympathize with her because of that, but it’s still not enough as I think it could have been. I felt bad for Roos because of her upbringing and her life experiences, but I also found her kind of annoying and it was hard to get past that.
Every couple chapters, there’s a short transcript of an interview between Roos and a doctor that takes place after the events of the book. The interviews make it clear that Roos is an unreliable narrator, and I did enjoy that aspect quite a bit.
I did love Ruth, and that Johanna van Veen took inspiration from bog bodies to explain her origins and why there aren’t a ton of spirits wandering around everywhere. Ruth’s fierce overprotection of and loyalty towards Roos was creepy, but kind of in a sweet way, considering the lack of affection Roos had all her life. I loved the descriptions of the way Ruth possessed Roos and used her body for various tasks, like performing the séances.
The writing in general was great, in first person from Roos’ perspective (with the exception of the interview transcriptions). The story takes place in the 50s but Roos uses somewhat antiquated language which is both lovely and a bit haunting. There’s some descriptive language in My Darling Dreadful Thing which paints a beautiful picture I truly wish I could see. For those who can visualize, I bet something wonderful can be found in the descriptions of the house Roos is brought to live.
Aside from a few character complaints, I feel like this is a book I should have loved, but I when I ask myself if I liked it and attempt to answer the question simply, my answer is “it was okay.”
Before you decide to read this book, look into the trigger warnings!
This book was so intriguing, and I think the author does a very VERY good job of treating these harsh subjects with the weight and respect it needs.
This book left me aching for more, while also having a great ending.
Contains spoilers
Oh my god I love this! I just wanna give Roos a hug. I think I'm gonna need some time to process this beautiful story. But I for sure found myself another comfort book. There's just something about Gothic literature that really attracts me so easily.
And the addition of the Doctor's transcripts lowkey gave me Sucker Punch vibes for some reason.
I also did not expect this to be a love story. It's quite beautiful yet so very tragic.
