The plot was fine; nothing really groundbreaking, but I was intrigued by the idea of a Japanese gothic. The characters weren't described enough for me to determine if I liked them or not. The would-be dread was interrupted by the narrator's internal dialogue. But ultimately, it was the writing that lost me. The author used complicated language that didn't really fit. (Two examples: "the chiaroscuro of his face in silhouette" and "a round face, wide at the cordillera of her cheekbones but otherwise gaunt". These don't even really make sense.) It was overly descriptive without really saying anything. This may have been better with more editing, and possibly either as a short story or a full-length novel, but this really didn't work for me. I stopped reading at 32%.

Not quite sure how to review this. It was quite a short read but the author seemed to struggle with a rhythm in her prose. Lots of descriptive paragraphs that served to take away from the story. There were repetitive phrases throughout and this book could have used a better editor. Some scary scenes helped me make it till the end.

Nadia and Faiz are getting married, and their friends are celebrating their nuptials in style: by spending a night at a Japanese mansion haunted by the spirit of a bride who was abandoned at the altar. Cat, however, is not feeling up for it -- she's still recovering from a suicide attempt, and 4 out of 5 of her friends resent her for it. So, when she starts seeing a girl in bridal robes with a black smile, she doesn't dare to tell them right away, she doesn't want to spoil their fun.
Cue a truly spooky, hair-rising classic yokai tale, perfect for the turn of the seasons or those sleepless autumn nights. Khaw seems to take a couple of liberties with Japanese folklore, but attentive readers will realize that she stays as true to the legends as to the horror genre. Wonderful novella, creepy and gorgeous in equal parts.

I have to say I was immensely excited to get the chance to read this book. However, I was sorely disappointed in what played out in front of me. The biggest and toughest nail in the coffin was its characters -- all insanely unlikable; so that when shit hit the roof, I didn't find myself one way or another caring who survived, who was traumatized, and who met an untimely and grotesque end. Khaw's words are flowery yet detached, and that added an overall coldness to the story. But maybe that was the point.

Nothing But Blackened Teeth was also, well, not all that scary nor suspenseful. Flipping through its short page count, I didn't find myself necessarily needing (or afraid) to turn to the next page.. I know Cassandra Khaw is talented--and maybe I just hyped myself up on this way too much--but this just didn't meet my expectations at all.

Interpersonal relationships, secrets, and drama already threaten to unravel a night of gluttony and partying at a dream destination, but the Heian-era mansion holds horrific secrets of its own. Khaw's novella weaves Japanese folklore into a haunted house tale, and adds an unexpected layer of character conflict to the fold. It's an elegant nightmare that builds, without ever over staying its welcome or showing its entire hand. The lack of answers might frustrate, as will Khaw's reliance on metaphors and overly descriptive prose. Still, it's a thrilling novella that leaves you wanting more.

*An ARC of this book was provided to my by Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.*

Cassandra Khaw can really turn some phrases and metaphors, and I think she's an excellent writer. Unfortunately, it just didn't work in this novella. The premise is awesome but it was squandered in all the vocabulary exercises and flat, obnoxious characters. Any time the tension would start to mount, it would be almost immediately broken by the characters having weird, petty arguments about who used to sleep with whom (seriously, the doorway is filling up with eyeballs [I think is what was happening?] and they're yelling at each other because this guy slept with that guy's girlfriend years ago? What?), or excessively florid descriptions of, like, a mean sounding laugh. It was too much. I also didn't understand anyone's reaction to anything, I couldn't picture what was happening despite alllllll of the description, and the ending came and went like oops well that's over.

Again, I think Khaw is very talented - I'm currently reading another novella of hers that I am greatly enjoying, and there were threads of something excellent in this story, but the language experiment just didn't work for me.

This title will be featured in Fangoria magazine's October 2021 issue. Please reach out to this reviewer directly for a PDF copy of the write up once it becomes available.

This novella was amazing! It was creepy, fun, and even a little emotional. I loved all of the background information and the descriptions really helped the story be that much darker and scarier. I read this last week and still have not stopped thinking about it, it was that good!!

Closer to 3.5, but I liked it enough that rounding up can't hurt.

What a wonderfully nasty horror novella Cassandra Khaw has given us in NOTHING BUT BLACKENED TEETH. Unafraid to make all of her characters unlikable, Khaw (in outstanding prose) portrays a pre-wedding getaway in Japan gone horrifically wrong with brutal efficiency. Despite the clear empathy for the people in the story as human beings, Khaw makes it just as clear that they had torn one another to shreds in so many other ways long before they encountered the folkloric horrors in the Heian-era manor they visit.

I would've liked a little more clarity on some of the beings we see in the mansion but I'm also well aware it's not Khaw's job to spell everything out. And it hardly got in the way of my enjoyment of the book, which I tore through in about three half-hour sittings.

When the action gets going, it really moves - a smart take on the self-aware "is this like a movie? Am I the final girl?" sort of ghost story about some good and creepy Japanese yokai. Before the action gets going it's great atmosphere but a really offputting "20 minutes with jerks". The people are all really awful and obnoxious and have awful and obnoxious history together - and in a work this short it just doesn't work to spend the entire first half on such distasteful characters. The language is also a little overwrought at the beginning (it catches up to the subject matter by the end.) In all I enjoyed it after all the dust settled, but I imagine many will give up during the tedious setup.

Characteristics:
Pace: fast paced
Moods: tense, dark, mysterious
Plot- or Character-Driven: plot
Strong Character Development: not really
Lovable Characters: not really
Diverse Cast: unsure
Flaws of the Main Characters a Center Focus: sort of

Overview:
A group of long time friends who seem to love the thrill of haunted, ghosty adventures, settle on a Heian-era mansion as the location for one of the existing couple's wedding venue (which has been a childhood dream of the bride-to-be). The friends' individual relationships are already a bit complicated, and after a night of settling in, drinking, eating, and swapping ghost stories, things begin to intensify and reach a terrifying peak. Before the wedding even has begun, the night turns horrifying, and no one will ultimately walk out the mansion the same as they walked in (and in some cases ... fail to walk out at all).

What I loved:
- I loved the Japanese folklore incorporated seamlessly in this story. I kept my phone close and did a lot of translating and Googling as I progressed, and I loved every bit of it!
- I will forever be impressed by authors who can create a strong mood and atmosphere in a short amount of time and just jam-pack what could be a full novel's worth of content into less than even 200 pages. Cassandra Khaw does this so well. There were moments I found myself physically cringing in response to some of the descriptions. This story sets you up with eerie "something's not right" vibes right of the bat and never lets go.
- It's creepy, and it's creepy well-done.
- I could easily see this play out as an hour and a half horror movie on Netflix and it do phenomenally well.

What I didn’t love:
- Honestly, my only complaint is that I wanted MORE of it. I would've been entirely happy with another 100 pages and not even blinked about it.

Overall:
Fantastic Japanese-centered haunted house/horror tale in under 200 pages! It had me feeling creeped out at times, physically repulsed at others, and overall very satisfied. If you're in the mood for a solid creepy tale that won't take too long to read but scratch that horror itch, this one is so worth picking up! I've thrown it in my "favorites of 2021" as I think this one has left me lingering and wishing for more.

I really enjoyed this creeping little novella! While it wasn't as horror filled as I imagined it would be and I do wish the paranormal aspect had been fleshed out a little more, I did like how the relationships and friendships between the obvious frenemies played out.

I didn’t intend to start this this morning but then I couldn’t put it down once I did. Very short, creepy creepy novella. Four stars because like half the dialogue is just some twenty-somethings bitching because they’ve all slept with each other and there are still ~feelings~. Highly recommended for horror fans though!

Friends in an abandoned, crumbling, haunted, mansion with a ghost-bride? I was soooo ready for this horror, especially considering it's a novella, which we don't see enough of, in my opinion. I'm strangely torn writing this review, because the prose itself, while stunning, is also part of my hang-up. There are some gorgeous passages in here, but the overall effect is one that took me out of the story on a regular basis. Even the beginning felt rather jarring, like I was scrambling to orient myself.
An example of what I loved: "The night stretched chandeliered with fireflies and stars and the last cicada songs of the year, the world coloring indigo-dark."
Like wow, atmosphere. Love that. Unfortunately I found there wasn't enough atmosphere throughout though, and instead I often felt disconnected and couldn't entirely picture the house itself.
An example of what I didn't love: "Too excited to have ever molded the Ecstasy-glutted into shambolic choreography, but that had always been a plus point for its most strident advocate."
Like what? A lot of this feels overdone/wordy for no reason.
I was also not sure about the 'friends' part. It rather felt like everyone mostly hated each other and we are never really told the details of the past. There is only a faint glossing over of basics.
Overall, things I did like: the setting, the folklore, and the characters were well-described.
Like any good classic horror, I'm somewhat left wondering what piece I failed to miss, or was it all in our narrator's head?
Thanks to NetGalley for the free arc.

This was too short, relied heavily on stereotypes/didn't build out characters, plot was rushed, so it wasn't scary at all and there wasn't really any room for visuals. The part about the painted screens coming to life and watching the people in the rooms was very cool, however unless the reader is super knowledgeable about Japanese demons and folk figures, they're not understandable as something scary. The ending was such a 'ta-da!' that it didn't even make sense - this was 90 pages of a either a failed movie or comic script.

Absolutely riveting. I ate up every paragraph this offered me.

The prose was heavily stylized and lyrical but absolutely stunning. I have never read a story with a setting so vividly painted for me, I felt like I was seeing it unfold right in front of me. Khaw was prepared to deliver on every promise this book made. It was horrifying, funny, disgusting, beautiful, and consuming. I can see this not being everyone’s cup of tea, the prose is very “flowery” but I absolutely loved it. I’d give it 6 stars if I could.

This short story was very different then my normal reads. I was lucky enough to receive an ARC for this story and was able to finish it in about an hour.

Things I liked: the Japanese Folklore. I feel like that is one area of horror that we do not get nearly enough of in the west. Japanese culture and history is something we are rarely exposed too, so hearing about the different types of myths/legends was super fascinating. The setting itself was even amazing! The atmosphere in this book was both beautiful and creep.

Things I did not like: the writing style. I do not read many short story’s and this story could have benefited from being just a bit longer. The story was simple and thoughtful but there were almost too many moving parts that didn’t get a chance to shine because of the length of the book. The prose is this story are beautiful, but the symbolize and constant metaphors bogged down some parts of the story. It was hard to understand at some points what was happening because of the constant metaphors.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and think it is the perfect creepy/easy read and will be great when it is released around Halloween!

I enjoyed this short novella. It has all the elements of a larger story, and the epilogue was satisfying. I feel novella’s often leave something to be desired, and Khaw managed to avoid this. The plot of it was, at times, a bit confusing and all over the place. However, this is forgivable when logic gets thrown out the window in most ghost stories. The characters are already at one another’s throats from page one. This allowed for the tension to be set without a long build up.
If you’re looking for a quick, gory horror story- this is the novella for you. The imagery is dreamlike and dark. Our characters are perfectly unlikable, and our ghost is wonderfully terrifying. The ending to this was a bit confusing, but the epilogue cleared a lot up and wrapped things nicely for me.
Full review October 18th, 2021

Nothing But Blackened Teeth is a short novella that features a haunted house, ghosts/demons, and a group of people who really shouldn't be allowed in the same room together. While the "haunted house" and "ghost" aspects of the book were good, I really disliked the characters and their incessant bickering and nitpicking. After reading reviews of this book, I wonder if we read the same book. There was nothing likable about the characters and the gothic horror elements were not enough to make me like this novella.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for the opportunity to read an advance reading copy.

It’s been a while since I’ve read a pure horror novel. This was very ghost story-ish, but also a very quick read. It was hard to like the characters and the storyline lime moved very quickly without a lot of details. I would’ve enjoyed more of the storyline rather than the characters banter.