Had to sleep on this before I could gather my thoughts.

I feel like this had a lot of potential. A writer struggling with writer’s block receives a desk filled with malevolent forces? Him possibly being possessed by it and giving slight The Shining vibes? Sign me up. I got approved to read this in the summer of 2022 and i’ve had plenty of opportunities to complete this book. There’s a reason it’s taken me until now to finish it. This book was so slow in the beginning that I kept stopping and picking up other books. It spent too much time building up to the horror. That, plus the fact it flips back and forth between Tyson and Diana’s plot lines,  including chapters set in the 1700’s. For the book only being 408 pages, it felt like an eternity to get through. 

That being said, the horror really started to pick up halfway through. This book has wild body horror. It was mesmerizing to read it. There is a scene involving the desk and a character’s hand that I can’t stop thinking about. That, plus Tyson and Diana finally meeting really had me invested on what would happen in the end. It was a wild ride when it came to Tyson obsession with the desk and what he was willing to lose in order to write a new book. I will say the last lines of the book gave me a good chuckle and really brings the story around full circle. I did feel like there was an unfinished ending with Tyson’s daughter and another character. It seemed like it was leading up to a confrontation and then there’s no additional chapter with them at all, which was a little confusing. 

Overall, this was just okay. I really felt like it jumped between too many POVS and the pacing was just too slow for my taste. It’s shame because it has themes of occultism and body horror, which are some of my favorite horror themes! 

Content warning: along with some gruesome body horror, there is a rape scene and also mentions of rape. 

Once again, thank you to Netgalley for the digital ARC of Gothic.