Book Review: “Nothing But Blackened Teeth” by Cassandra Khaw
Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw
Genre: Gothic Horror
First things first; can this be adapted, because this would make an absolutely excellent film.
I can understand why some people don’t particularly get on with this book, but the biggest drawback for me was how short it was. The novella length means we actually spend a really short amount of time in this place with these characters, and because of that it feels like the pacing is a little off – the first part is slow, the second almost rushed, and it would have been great for this to have had more room to breathe and build up the tension.
Safe to say, however, I was totally hooked on this, from beginning to end. A small group on a destination wedding, where the bride has always wanted to get married in a haunted house, so the friends end up in a Heian-era mansion in Japan. Like the best old buildings, this one comes with a ghost story; a bride asked to be buried alive when her groom-to-be didn’t show for their wedding. But now a sacrifice must be made, yearly, because the bride wants warm bodies for company, and brides must always get what they want, right?
This group don’t really feel like friends, and there’s a question that almost hangs over all of them: what are they doing here, together? What actually connects them? There’s a lot of under the surface tension, with various types of relationships between them, and a bride who isn’t happy about the Cat’s, the POV character, presence, but dealing with it because it’s what the groom wants. Cat is recovering from a suicide attempt and struggling with her own emotions here. It really felt like the writing itself matched her completely as a character.
The characters themselves almost feel like more selfish versions of the archetypes you tend to see in “group of young people gather in haunted location” stories, and it works really well.
I loved the Gothic atmosphere, I loved the underlying complications between the friends, and I loved the use of Japanese folklore and mythology underscoring the book, as well as the almost-commentary of the Hollywood horror movies with these types of characters. It reminded me (in a good way) of a darker, more thoughtful, less American-centric version of Cabin in the Woods. The only drawback was the pacing, but overall this was a book I very much enjoyed.
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B093BM3G76/
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Nothing-Blackened-Teeth-Cassandra-Khaw/dp/1250759412/
Bookshop UK: https://uk.bookshop.org/books/nothing-but-blackened-teeth/9781789098570
Review by Elle Turpitt
Twitter & Instagram: @elleturpitt
I received this ebook from Titan Books via NetGalley for review consideration.
