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)
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