A review by _serena_
Such Lovely Skin by Tatiana Schlote-Bonne

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
 I loved the Twitch streaming/gaming aspect of this. I was familiar with the games Viv was playing so I was really able to immerse myself in the story. But even if you're not really a video game person, I think you'd still enjoy this. If you liked Jordan Peele's movie, Us, you'll enjoy Such Lovely Skin.

The eerie atmosphere of an unknown evil doppelganger was truly creepy. I'm sure we've all been plagued by our sleep paralysis demon before, but Viv's nightmares spill into real life.

I liked the way grief and trauma were woven into the story through the loss of Viv's younger sister. Grief can be an ugly monster, but until it's dealt with and acknowledged, it can grow and fester. It'll sour you.

I was hoping there would be more body horror involving the skin, involving the doppelganger morphing to and from Viv. The horror came mostly from the atmosphere of the story and the thought that no one is going to believe Viv, that horrible things are going to keep happening and she'll never be able to make it stop. 

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