David reviewed The Hobgoblin of Little Minds by Vincent Chong
Review of 'The Hobgoblin of Little Minds' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Sometimes I’ll read a book and feel unqualified to write a review. When the author is one whose work I respect and enjoy, I often feel that anything I might have to say would simply be silly. Such is the case with The Hobgoblin of Little Minds by the always excellent Mark Matthews.
What’s so good about it?
First of all, this book was written by Mark Matthews. I know that anytime I crack open something he’s written that it’s going to be inventive and imaginative, and usually go in a different direction than what I might expect. THOLM is no exception; yes, it’s a werewolf story—but these are not your typical werewolves, and the direction the story goes is not what you might expect.
Which brings me to my second point: the best horror writing is typically either allegorical or functions on multiple levels, and that perfectly describes THOLM …
Sometimes I’ll read a book and feel unqualified to write a review. When the author is one whose work I respect and enjoy, I often feel that anything I might have to say would simply be silly. Such is the case with The Hobgoblin of Little Minds by the always excellent Mark Matthews.
What’s so good about it?
First of all, this book was written by Mark Matthews. I know that anytime I crack open something he’s written that it’s going to be inventive and imaginative, and usually go in a different direction than what I might expect. THOLM is no exception; yes, it’s a werewolf story—but these are not your typical werewolves, and the direction the story goes is not what you might expect.
Which brings me to my second point: the best horror writing is typically either allegorical or functions on multiple levels, and that perfectly describes THOLM. While it can be enjoyed as a mostly straight-forward story about werewolves, this can also be read as a dissection of how the children of parents with mental illnesses respond to growing up in that environment. The book centers around three relationships between mentally ill/werewolfy parents and their children, and the main meat of the book is really about how each of the children (some of whom are now adults) have dealt with their parents’ conditions. Some want to save their parents; some want to save humanity by any means possible; and some want to simply watch the world burn. The depiction of the mania and depression that is part of being a werewolf was compellingly written and extremely unnerving.
So why four stars? Probably just personal issues. I found the overall characterization to be somewhat flat. The POV shifts every couple of chapters, but most of the characters seem to speak with the same voice. This was especially true of the female characters.
However, the main issue that keeps this from being 5 stars for me is the extended monologuing (chapters 21-24) indulged in by the villain. If you need four chapters for the bad guy (or woman, in this case) to painstakingly explain what she’s been up to....well, there probably was a better (or more concise) way to give us that information. But what do I know—I am not an author.
Overall, though, this was a wild ride and a good time, and I eagerly look forward to what Mr. Matthews has planned for us next time.
*I received a free ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This is it.***