I understand why people put this on their list of most disturbing reads. The narration was ethereal, reminding me somewhat of the tone in The Haunting of Hill House. It was creepy and eerie. There were shocking scenes and terrible events and reveals.

Although a large chunk of the second half of the book fell flat for me. There was so much tension build-up that, in the end, just slowly fizzled out. Again, like a similar creepy but not so disturbing book, the House of Leaves.

So, was this book the kind of disturbing I was expecting? No, I had expected something more Jack Ketchum shocking. The beginning of the book set me up for a very different novel than the middle of the book.

It was interesting to laster discover that this was tinged with the real life experiences of the author, who, while affluent, educated, and upperclass was also a drug addict, victim of abuse and very similar to our narrator. I recommend the BOMB literary magazine article for more.

Overall I am not disappointed, nor am I underwhelmed... I simply hated. No. Loathed Beth and that turn of events