Book Review-Od and Ed: An Odd Read

 

 

 Author: Shanti Leonard

Genre: Horror 

Medium: Kindle e-book (although some really cool physical editions are available）

TW: child endangerment, mentions and depictions of violence towards children, child death, mentions of animal abuse

 

When I first opened the book on my Kindle--I had no idea what to expect. The excerpt was vague, and the premise was well, odd. A child who lives in a real haunted house with his adopted sister gets the soul scared out of him, and his sister has to find a way to reconnect his body and soul. This deceptively simple premise serves as the skeleton for a very surreal experience. For example, right at the start, we are treated to a chapter where the cousin of the titular Odd and Ed has a fantasy of opening Od's underwear drawer with his mind, and the book only gets more disturbing and fascinating from there. It's definitely not meant for the faint of heart, (heed the trigger warnings, people!) but the further I got into the book, the more I felt like I couldn't put it down.

 

Sometimes, however, it is painfully obvious that this book was written by an adult trying to re-create a childhood from the late 80's . (A Commodore 64 features in the plot heavily, and there are references to the original He-Man and She-Ra, for example.) This childishness was definitely at odds (ha!) with the way that the narration described the children's bodies (the word ass and certain other swear words being used comes to mind). I understand that children do swear, (and Od and Ed are 12-13, so this would be their primary time to start) but to hear the narration engage in this as well was a bit jarring. The narration is in limited third-person singular, so we only truly see the perspective of these characters one at a time which does heighten the tension, but the perspective shifts are confusing if you are not expecting them. In addition to this, the plot can seem a bit out of left field sometimes, and some of the elements of the plot are not fleshed out at all (to possibly leave room for a sequel?), and that ambiguity sometimes hurts the story as a whole.

 

Another thing that may give readers whiplash is the amount of graphic imagery that the book contains, which I alluded to above.  There are dead bodies dragging around their intestines, many eyed souls grasping for release, needles being stuck into children to drain their souls, and permanent child death. There are terrible, ghoulish adults and shadows around every corner. Some of the imagery will undoubtedly stick with me for a while, which includes the setting. The town doesn't seem safe, and everything is almost haze-like (including the house which caused this trouble).

 

Aside from the imagery and setting, the child leads are relatively believable, and Od and Ed have a genuine sibling relationship, which is rare. (I do wish they fought a bit more, but maybe it's because I fought with my sister a lot.) Odd in particular is my favourite, with her ability to roll with the punches, so to speak. The antagonist is suitably terrifying, and deadly, along with her grisly children.  However, the book also does not have any characters of colour. The two main characters are two explicitly white and blonde children, and so are the people that help them. I only wish that there was more diversity in the cast.

 

All in all, I recommend the book if you like slightly ham-fisted 80's nostalgia, dead bodies, interesting death mechanics, well-written sibling bonds and scares. Just be warned, this isn't a light story.

 

Final Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars 

 

Drink Pairing:  Anhui Black Tea (2020) with a tiny spoonful of sugar (for the wholesome sibling bond)

 

Travelogue 2: An Examination of Beijing Airports

(This was originally going to be published in 2017, before COVID, but since I’m resurrecting this blog from the ashes, I’d figure I’d finish this. I’ll get back to the Travelouges when I can travel again.)

Before the Beijing airport, there was the flight to Beijing. Air China is no joke. When I finally got on the plane, after being raced up the plane ramp, I was floored. The plane itself was quite large, and looked like it could seat about 150 people. There were about ten seats in first class, and the rest were all for economy. They were all filled in record time. I had to help a lady work her screen. Their airline food came in 2 different flavors, a ‘Chinese’ style and a ‘Western’ style, and they were decent. They definitely have better food than United. 

When I finally got off the plane from Jersey, I was shuffled into a wheelchair after a wait of about 10 minutes while everyone else got off the plane. The stewardesses were kind of awkward around me. I knew little Chinese at that point (something that has been slow to change, even while I'm here) and trying to reassure them and keep my own cool was a bit of an ordeal. Luckily, I was able to leave the plane without much incident, besides a few stares.

The Beijing international airport is beautiful. Honestly, it could be a city onto itself. There are myriad shops and even tourist spots right outside of the international flights entrance. There are hundreds of people around the floors and it’s so loud. However, I could feel the air outside of the lane, and it makes me tear up every time. 

I don’t really get much of a chance to explore, however. The agents that helped me stayed with me, and that made it different. I suppose it was their jobs, but I was definitely chafing at the bit. Overall, the experience was exciting but limiting, which was like a lot of my time in Chengdu. Hey, foreshadowing! 

Thanks for reading

—TRR