Absolutely chilling and beautifully written. I ripped thru this one in no time and enjoyed every jump and scare that hid behind the lush language and strong characters.

This complex novella is all about the atmosphere. It’s one that stays with you long after you turn the last page. It just leaves you feeling unsettled and creeped out. One of the first things that jumped out at me when reading this was the DNA it shared with Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House. That immediately pulled me in. The lavish prose creates an intense atmosphere that at times almost felt like a fever dream, especially when the drawings come to life and start conversing. And with an unreliable narrator telling the story, who has recently suffered a mental illness, that could totally be the case. When so-called 4 friends converge on a notorious haunted house in Japan for an impromptu wedding, secrets come to light, ratcheting up the tension and dread until it’s released in a bloody ending. The story uses Japanese folklore to great effect, creating a compelling ghost story. And while it mostly takes a backseat to the atmosphere, when the ghost does appear she is quite terrifying. The ending is rushed leaving the reader with a bunch of questions. Usually that bothers me, but it didn’t really in this case. It left me feeling uneasy and shocked that it ended that way, but it strangely worked in not wrapping everything up in a neat bow. I highly recommend it for fans of unreliable narrators, haunted house stories, and atmospheric reads.

Nothing but blackened teeth has the most terrifying cover I've ever seen in a book. In this novella a group of friends meet in a haunted mansion in Japan to celebrate the wedding of 2 of them when strange and creepy things began to happen.
Im my opinion, the book was interesting, quite atmospheric and grotesque
but there were many Japanese words that I had to search in order to understand and imagine what the hell was happening in the story. Despite that, I think it is an amazing and gorgeous book and I highly recommend it.
Thank you so much to Macmillan-Tor/Forge for this Arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan Publishing for this advance reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

So much wasted potential here. The cover drew me in immediately. I was hoping for a truly scary story. However, this novella was a disappointment. It had a fantastic premise, a group of friends ghost hunting in an abandoned manor. However, it fell apart quickly.

First of all, this should have been a full length novel. To put this into a short story cut out crucial character development so that you cared about the characters. I needed more information because it seemed so rushed.

Secondly, there were too many Japanese terms for me. I didn't understand a lot of the terminology, which was difficult for me because I do have a large vocabulary, but it doesn't include Japanese. I'm sure they are words with no true English translation, but it made the story difficult to understand.

This was a jumbled mess. I had a hard time following it. I think the main issue was the length of it. It needed more. I got characters mixed up and I didn't understand decisions of the characters. The whole thing felt rushed and thrown together. It would have been great in full length novel or movie form, but this just didn't do it for me as a novella.

Ok, where to start with this review... Well, first off, I was not a huge fan of the writing style. It was overly complex in some parts, making it hard to read and get the point across due to disjointed sentences/paragraphs. I get that the author was trying to get a certain point or emotion across during these times, slipping in lots of details that would have been non existent othersie, but it was a bit much at the start of the book. It does get a little better on this front later in the story. Still descriptive, but it flowed more smoothly.

I really enjoyed all the Japanese details and different folklore creatures. That was probably my favorite part, as I am into that kind of thing. It was fun watching them come to life and was not overly coplicated. I do however wish the story revolved more around the folklore and less around the characters, which brings me to my next point.

I thought the story as a whole was neat, but somewhere along the way I felt it got lost in the actions of the characters. The author pretty much narrates what is about to happen just before it happens, which takes the fun and shock factor out of what is about to happen. Whereas this is a short story to begin with, that part really took away from the whole mood that was set.

Also, the ending comes so abruptly. It's like the story starts out with all of this potential and introducing us to the folklore of this specific place and then ends so suddenly with a simple character driven ending. I guess I would have liked to see a little more of the folklore translated into these parts and less of the full on character narration during one of the most crucial parts of the story. It was just a bit of a letdown. I mean, the parts that were good, were good, then it just kind of trails off suddenly...

Thank you to Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Tor Nightfire and Netgelley for a copy of this title in exchange for an honest review

*An e-ARC of this book was provided to me in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are mine.

A horror novella that was pretty enjoyable, in an overall sense. I came for the cover and summary and stayed for the story. The characters are diverse, the plot is interesting, there are occasional awkward tension breakers and strained comedic moments, there’s a ghost story that’s terrifying, and the cast is a bunch angry young adults who clearly have seen horror movies, but ignore all the “DON’T DO THIS” signs so they go ahead and do it themselves. Really? A mansion built on the bones of hundreds of girls BURIED ALIVE so let’s have a wedding there? (WHYY!)
However, the writing, as amazing and beautiful as it was, was very and overly flowery in places. It was actually distracting a handful of times. There are big words that fit in some places, but felt out of place in others. There was a specific moment that stuck out to me where someone pushed another and it was a whole paragraph in describing that moment.
Otherwise, I quite enjoyed reading it. It was just right where it wasn’t too creepy and I can sleep at night. The ending was predictable (in a horror movie sense), but the actual happenings and how it played out DID somewhat surprise me.

A group of friends go to a haunted mansion for a wedding. The run down, abandoned house is the final resting place of a former would be bride and holds the remains of girls who were buried alive to keep her company.

The cover and synopsis is what pulled me in. The characters and purple prose is what nearly stopped me from finishing. I could not really connect with the writing style. Just because someone knows a lot of words doesn't mean they all need to be crammed in. It reminds me of the way middle grade kids will go back and add as many words as possible to pad out a school report to the required number of paragraphs. I didn't connect with any of the characters. I didn't like any of them and they didn't like each other much either. This was not the terrifying ghost story I was hoping for. You may enjoy it more than I did. I seem to be in the minority of disappointed readers.

First off, I really wanted to love this book. The cover is what drew me in originally and I was hoping it would be as creepy as it looks. It wasn't for me at all.

I didn't like any of the characters. They all acted childish from the very beginning of the book. And why are they all hanging out together when they clearly hate each other? Too much time was spent bickering back and forth and not enough time moving the plot forward.

There were SO many Japanese terms that I had to stop and Google what they were since there were no explanations given and my Kobo was no help in that department. The writing style was not my cup of tea either. For being a novella it was super wordy and had way too many metaphors for my liking. It seemed like there was a metaphor in just about every sentence. All of this took away from the story for me and any part of this book that could have been scary.

Lots of people have been giving this book amazing reviews, so just because I don't like it doesn't mean you won't!

Thank you to #netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy of this book in exchange of an honest review.

I enjoyed this book for the most part. It was written beautifully. Scary spirits! Interesting Japanese folklore. The ending was rushed though!

The beginning had a lot of promise, and then it deflated.

A group of friends meets at a haunted Heian-era manor in Japan for a wedding. There are secrets amongst each other, and the bride doesn't like Cat, our main character. Then the ghost of the building, a bride waiting for her husband, shows up and takes the human bride.

The length of this novella made this feel incomplete and made me wonder if I was intentionally not supposed to like any of the characters. When the bride got stolen by the bridal ghost, I didn't want the other characters to try to get get her back. I was disappointed in the end because not everyone died.

Cat is a huge mystery. She was in the mental hospital for reasons that aren't explained. I did want to know if her being in a mental hospital had anything to do with her seeing ghosts and was that a recent thing. Or did an incident happened that forced her to seek mental health? What made her feel well enough to leave? But the author skimmed over any answers.

The prose is beautiful, but it never goes deep enough for me to follow the story. It didn't paint a deep enough understanding of what is happening. Everything felt like I was watching this behind a screen.

Review based on an advanced reader copy provided through Netgalley for an honest review.

Nothing But Blackened Teeth is a ghost story set in an ancient Japanese mansion. Five friends are meeting to celebrate the wedding of two of their number. Horror follows.

There were things I definitely loved about this book. I enjoyed the language and the descriptions of the house. There was a slow, lingering creepiness to the story that I enjoyed a lot. The ending was interesting.

There were other things I didn't enjoy as much. The characters never quite gelled for me. And there were some plot points I thought were rushed a bit. I think the pacing was what threw me. This is a novella- somewhere between a short story and a novel- and it felt like it was at war over whether it wanted to be shorter or longer. The story itself leans towards brevity, but the character interactions needed more room to grow.

Still....it was good! I liked it and there are some images in it that made me shudder. So I do recommend it! I'm actually interested in reading other works by this author.

Thank you to #netgalley for this ARC.

I usually don't get scared from reading, but this book intimidated me. I mean, look at the cover. Stunning and creepy as hell! Japanese horror is a different level of horror, and I was looking forward to being scared. Unfortunately, this story was horror of a different kind.

I'm not really sure what to say about this story. I found it difficult to read/comprehend because of the language; the over descriptiveness of the most minute detail while barely a hint about the characters. At first, I thought this whole story was translated from Japanese, but there were plenty of Japanese words for which my Kindle was of no help. The prose reminded me of the Beatnik era. I kept picturing a beatnik on stage, totally dark with the spotlight on him, reading his poetry to a steady, slappy drum beat. It was surreal.

Aside from the language, I disliked all the characters. I like to establish what the characters look like, or to at least know whether they're masculine or feminine., I didn't know the narrator was a woman until much later. In any case, they were not likeable people. I don't really think they like each other very much.

Maybe I just didn't get the allegory. Maybe this kind of prose is just not my thing. I do think this book would make a pretty great graphic novel. The imagery and dialogue seem better suited to it.

A horror novella that I overall really enjoyed. I was thoroughly creeped out while reading it and found that I really enjoyed being in the main character's mind and hearing everything through their perspective. The book is very self aware.

I really enjoyed this book. It was the perfect spooky read and I couldn't put it down. Thank you netgalley for this early copy. If you're in the mood for something scary and makes you look over your shoulder or sleep with the lights on, then this is it!

Just because I did not enjoy this book, does not mean you might not.
Great plot, interesting but hateful characters, very vivid and descriptive, but for me, the descriptive was distracting and took away from the whole plot in general. I wanted to love it, I could not. The ending though - superb.

This book went by super quick and left me wanting more! It was a very interesting story line and I would have loved it to be longer. It was so good, and so spooky.

a group of five friends reunite in japan for a destination wedding, renting a heian-era mansion where obscenely wealthy golden boy-heir phillip will officiate the sacred union of faiz and talia. it would all be picture-postcard idyllic, except for the fact that the mansion's already got a bride in it—or what's left of one: the bones of a woman whose almost-husband died on the way to their wedding, who had herself buried alive in the foundation to wait for his ghost to come home. and every year after that, another girl was buried alive in the walls, to keep her company.

When the friends arrive and explore the 2 story palace and its many rooms, the voice of an ancient ghost lures them to play a game the ancient samurai played once to see who was the bravest.

I've long said that the novella is a perfect vehicle for a horror story. It's just long enough to introduce the characters and create feelings towards them, while short enough to keep the tension high and the scares well...scary. All of the that is the case here, and more.

“𝗧𝘄𝗼 𝗵𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗶𝘅 𝗯𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗮 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀. 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗰𝗶𝘂𝗺 𝘁𝗼 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺𝘀𝗲𝗹𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗻, 𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀.”

Heian mansion. A wedding ceremony. A grisly past burying a bride within the walls of the mansion.

A group of friends fly first class to Japan to attend a wedding ceremony at Heian Mansion. Except, they really aren’t so close anymore….

The writing in this book was beautiful, lyrical. Any book that has a person crab walking makes my skin crawl. That is terrifying. Kudos, Cassandra Khaw.

Also, I love me some science in my books. Especially when it comes to stress and the nervous system.

However, I wish it would have been about 25-50 pages longer. That is my only complaint.

3.5 rounded up to 4

Thank you to NetGalley and Nightfire for this copy!!

Thanks to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Nothing But Blackened Teeth is a short horror novella, and follows a group of semi-estranged friends who rent a (clearly very haunted) house in Japan for a wedding getaway, where terrible things of course ensue. The myth of the house and the impending dread was set up quite thoroughly, to the point of occasional overexplanation, but the characters suffered — by throwing the reader into the story with no background, emotional attachment to the characters was presumed instead of cultivated. I felt no fondness or investment in the narrator or any of her friends, and the only true moment of surprise came with the twist at the very end, with so little time spent on it that it felt like the story ended almost accidentally.
A huge problem, I felt, was the pace: the novella length just didn't give the story enough time to build up proper dread before diving deep in to the gore and action that Khaw, to their credit, is great at. Background was light and establishing character relationships were skipped or given very little space, giving no space for the sense of fear or tension to settle in. Many scenes progressed at such a breakneck pace that I had to read them multiple times to follow basic character movement, which worked well in some of the action scenes but made slower scenes of conversation and exploration feel rushed and odd.
This wasn't helped by the writing, which was beautiful but often suffocating, and lingered on description at the expense of clarity. Khaw's prose shines in their other work, which I'm quite a fan of: the extent that it got in the way of the story in this piece felt like an outlier rather than a true judge of their writing capability. I'm still looking forward to their upcoming book The All-Consuming World and am eager to see them stretch their talents in other genres.

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Hmmm.. I just finished #nothingbutblackenedteeth by @cassandrakhaw . This had an interesting premise utilizing Japanese folklore to make for a quick horror story. Khaw has a very poetic prose and painted an atmospheric setting that gives you chills while the climax looms closer. The background to the story was creepy and reminded me of #thehauntinginconnecticut . The characters were all insufferable and made it difficult to resonate with, however I don’t think that was supposed to happen anyway; this story is a you-get-what-you-deserve with haunted house vibes. The ohaguro-bettari was super creepy, try googling that shit to be real freaked out.
Overall, I was hoping for more, I felt the ending was a bit anticlimactic, but it was still an alright read. Bet it’d be a creepy movie. Thanks #netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. #nothingbutblackenedteeth will be out 10/19/21 !
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Rating: 3/5
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