Interesting book. I don't usually read horror, but the premise sounded interesting so I gave it a go. I like the author and the story was well done.

Loved the visceral descriptions peppered throughout this seductively disturbing novella. Great sense of character depth, with bits and pieces of cultural relevance. Honestly, not one to miss!

My kind of weird. It was great! The writing and the story both have something quite unique and I enjoy that a lot. Strong debut novel for Cassandra Khaw. I'm very curious to see what will come next!

TL;DR: Nothing But Blackened Teeth is a fast-paced, riveting haunted house story that I read straight through in one sitting. Five friends head into a Heian-era manor to celebrate the wedding of two of their number because of the bride's wish to be married in a haunted house. It's perfect for spooky evenings and hits bookstores October 2021.

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I received a copy of Nothing But Blackened Teeth from NetGalley/Tor Nightfire in exchange for an honest review.
I picked up this book about thirty minutes to midnight, alone in bed with the lights off. I figured I'd read a few pages before bed and pick back up the next day.

Instead, I was up until about 1 a.m. inhaling this story.

The premise of this story is a delicious one: five friends -- or, "friends", perhaps -- head to a Heian-era manor to celebrate the wedding of two of their number. The bride had always dreamed of getting married in a haunted house and this one's a doozie: a woman was buried alive in the house at her request after her groom's death with the promise to wait for him. She also wanted another young woman to be sacrificed each year thereafter to keep her company.

Obviously, things go wrong. Like, really, super, very wrong.

I love so much about this book: the setting, the mythology, the brokenness of five friends who have long since outgrown each other but cling to one another because that's all they know. While I saw some reviews note that the prose is "purple" to a distracting extent, I have to disagree; the language felt natural for a young woman trying to (re-)find her place in the world. There's an air of almost obsessive observation about her: “Phillip excelled at inciting want, particularly the kind that tottered on the border of worship. Small wonder he was so inept at compassion sometimes. Every religion is a one-way relationship.” These snippets of the world around our narrator make me feel like I can see it through her eyes, which makes it all the more real.

My one wish for this story is that it had taken more room to breathe. Caveat here: I'm very much a fan of slow-burn horror/ghost stories - the kind that leave some people bored (I loved the pacing in The Haunting of Bly Manor, for example). I was riveted to the page because the book moves fast and putting it down felt unthinkable - it was like I couldn't get off the ride. But: that also meant I wasn't able to truly curl up in our narrator's head (their relationships to the others are sketched out and clearly run deep, but I would have loved to dwell on them a little more). Nor did it feel I could immerse myself fully in all the scenes before the next one came along. I loved the story enough that I was sad I had to leave it so soon.

I enthusiastically recommend this book to anyone who's looking for a haunted house story, and especially those who want to dive headfirst into spooky season. Recommended setup: curled up in bed near midnight, with just the light of some candles (maybe a hundred?) to light your way.

This was a bone-chilling and addictive story. It was written beautifully and intricately, with special philosophical attention to ghosts that I've never encountered in such lushness before. Personally, it read as a quite unique crossroads between a gorgeous, haunting ghost thriller like Crimson Peak and insightful, fable-like Japanese folklore. However, I felt that there were times where the prose was given more attention than the plot. While some stories are more prose driven than plot driven, and vice versa, it still contributed to making the reading of this story more touch and go for me.

I have to say, I was really excited at the concept of this novella, and maybe that could be a factor as to why I was so disappointed in it.

Its a short story of 5 old “friends” who decide to have an elopement at an ancient and haunted Heian-era mansion, only to actually encounter a true ghost.

I did like the prose and Shaw’s use of imagery. From the first page, you get a sense of the romantic in the author, her love of the written word. However, I do feel like it could have used a bit of editing. There were times where the prosaic descriptions were perfectly placed. And others, where it became superfluous.

I do feel that the story was negligent of the exploration of the characters. There really was no development or definition for any of them individually or as a group. There was also a lot of confusion about their relationships with each other. They were all very antagonistic towards each other, leaving the reader wondering why they were all there to begin with. It felt like there was no explanation as to the reason(s) they stayed such close “friends” that they plan and execute a private wedding, but still can’t stand each other. The reader gets frequently lost in the conversations, as the tone and direction tends to switch back and forth even within a single sentence.

There was also the jarring element of feeling as if you were coming into each scene in the middle of the action, having to guess/piece together what came right before so that it makes some sense. And with little to no background or understanding of the characters to help with the puzzle, one is left frustrated.

And I could forgive all of this if it held any relevance to the ghost story being told. But it doesn’t. Although the horror aspect of the novella is beautiful and engaging and aptly horrific, there doesn’t seem to be any connection to the characters and their journeys. No lessons to teach, no shared themes to explore, no allegory on the human condition. One could have, and does, fully exist without the other.

On the whole, with the talent the writer obviously has, and the love of story that you can feel in the writing, I was left pretty dissatisfied. It felt like a first draft of something that could be truly and grotesquely amazing.

This was a simple but creepy tale of a haunted mansion. Thrill seeking friends decide a haunted Heian-era mansion in Japan is the perfect place for a wedding. I had a hard time with all the Japanese language which slowed my reading down. I feel this story would make a perfect movie rather than a book because of its predictable scares and plot.

This one is not for the faint of heart! I had a bit of difficulty getting through this one-not because it was slow, which is the typical reason, but because it was so scary it gave me the after dark chills!
This book was full of interesting detail and can be summed up in just two words-delightfully nasty.
To say much more would be to say too much, so I’ll just say this—worth the read. 4 stars! ⭐️

I really wanted to like this. Malaysians, exploring a haunted Japanese mansion? Sounds freakily cool! Unfortunately, the execution fell a bit short for me. Firstly, the prose is great, and I think Khaw has an amazing grasp of evoking macabre imagery through her words. But over time, it felt like every other sentence was devoted to describing the feel of the setting, and while that's important in a horror story, it left very little room for plot — or characterization.

And the latter in particular is a huge shame, because there was potential there! I loved that the group weren't the best of friends, but people with dysfunctional relationships to each other, trying to keep up a facade of civility and friendliness. That was something that needed more exploration, and between the overuse of prose, and Nothing But Blackened Teeth being a novella, it left very little room to build on the premise of the story.

I also want to nitpick a little at some choices I found odd. Like Cassandra Khaw, I am Malaysian. But some decisions she made feel a little... odd. For example, there is a character named Faiz. This is fine, it's not an uncommon name amongst people of Malay ethnicity. But Faiz has no Malay ancestry, as evidenced by this quote:

“I guess it is cultural,” said Faiz, full of knowing. His mother was Japanese, small-framed and smileless. “Makes sense.”

And this:

“What the fuck is it saying?” Faiz whispered hoarsely.

“Dude, seriously. We’re both Chinese. Don’t know what Phillip is.” Lin jerked a thumb at the other man, voice thinned by hysteria. “But you’re the only one with a Japanese parent.”

So we've established that Faiz is Malaysian Chinese, and also half-Japanese from his mother's side. This leaves the question: How did Faiz get named Faiz? The Malaysian Chinese naming convention tends to be something like [Surname] [Chinese name]. I'll use the author's name for this purpose: Khaw Joo Ee, with Khaw being the surname, and Joo Ee her Chinese name. For younger people, there's also an increasing tendency to use Western first names in front of the surname. In Khaw's case, this would be Zoe, so Zoe Khaw Joo Ee. That's a pretty standard Malaysian Chinese name.

But Faiz is not a Malaysian Chinese name — it is a Malaysian Malay name. So this doesn't really make sense, given that we are told Faiz's ancestry. It is of course, possible that Faiz's Chinese side of the family converted to Islam and thus, took on more suitable names, but it feels like a huge stretch, and if that were the case I feel they'd be more likely to identify as Malay, given the often complicated relationship between Malay ethnicity and being Muslim in Malaysia (suffice to say it would take a drinking session to explain).

Also, the two quotes reveal a certain lack of continuity; we're told that Faiz has a Japanese parent, but later on, it is the protagonist who is explicitly stated to be the only one with a Japanese parent. Is this simply an editing mistake that was overlooked? I'm not sure, but as it stands, this is a weird contradiction that doesn't hold up in any way. Plus, I feel that there was no need to make anyone there of Japanese heritage; the story would have been fine (better, even) if it'd depicted them all as ignorant foreigners traipsing into a historical, haunted location without any real understanding.

Honestly, what frustrates me the most is that this has clear potential. Khaw is good with prose and imagery, and the character dynamics were tantalizing. But none of it really came together in a really satisfying way, and the length of the novella didn't help matters. This feels like a first draft, and I think it really does need a rework, because it could be so much more if done right.

An old, abandoned Heian-era mansion becomes the site of a wedding venue when some old friends get together. Khaw writes in very flowery prose and there were many times throughout that I wished she had toned it down a bit. Although, I was intrigued by the Japanese lore and the creepy atmosphere, I felt a disconnect with the characters themselves. Still, this was a creepy read.

Who doesn’t want to have a destination wedding at a mysterious haunted mansion? I, for one, can’t see how that could go wrong at all… *said with extreme sarcasm*

We see this short story, through the eyes of Cat who is battling demons of her own and who, like me, isn’t sure this is the best place to hold a wedding.

As we meet the characters through Cat’s POV it’s hard to like any of them, as they all have a messy and complicated history with each other. Like all friend groups, there seem to be certain friendships that are stronger than others, some “friendships” that only exist for the sake of other friendships, and plenty of secrets among them.

Through the first half of the story, I felt like it was really easy to read and understand, I was fully able to immerse myself in the story like I was a sixth friend along for the ride. Once we started getting to the spookier portion though, I found myself a bit disconnected. The writing went from easy to read, to throw in a lot of big words whose meanings I had to assume since I was trying to stay engaged and didn’t want to whip out a dictionary for every other word. The wording seemed quite poetic and gruesome but didn’t feel like it fit with the earlier writing.

Due to the writing in the latter half, I feel like I wasn’t as scared as I could have been, had the writing been a little simpler. Was I creeped out? For sure! I just would have loved to have been completely immersed in the story as it fully unfolded. There was so much detail thrown in in such a small amount of time and described with unfamiliar words, that had me struggling to fully grasp the entirety of the situation they were facing.

For me, I have to start a movie from the beginning or I’m unable to connect with it fully. That’s kind of what the second half of this story felt like…like I’d walked into the room halfway through a movie…it looked great and I kept watching but I don’t feel like I fully understood what was going on.

All that being said…I still enjoyed the overall idea and concept of this story and will reread it to see if I pick up more than I did the first read-through.



***Spoiler like thoughts***

Now that I’m thinking about it, when the writing did, seemingly drastically, change it was at a point in the story when all the other characters were showing signs of being off, laughing maniacally, self-harm, saying things that didn’t make sense. Was the writing so vastly different because the spirits were affecting Cat in a way that was different from her friends? Was in fact the change in the writing, the cue to tell us that the spirits were also messing with Cat’s mind? If so this adds an entire other level of depth that I hadn’t considered and am now intrigued by.

This is good for horror fans that like to be dropped into the middle of the action without much explanation or world building. I liked the story more once the ghost appeared, but up until then I wasn't interested in the friend group that the story was centered around. The writing is very flowery, bordering on pretentious. Having said that, I did enjoy the supernatural aspect of the story and will recommend it to people looking for a quick scary read.

3.5 stars rounded up

This cover blew me away. I could not wait to get my hands on this one after I saw it making the rounds on Twitter, so I was thrilled when I saw this approved in my queue.

When a group of friends reunites to celebrate a wedding, old scars are rehashed, and the backdrop of a haunted Heian-era mansion becomes very much alive with their presence.

Phew, what a ride.

This book is like a fever dream. At just over 1100 kindle pages, it was a quick read with big bite. The story is energetic and powerful. No spoilers, but if you love thematic storytelling, haunted houses, ghosts with horrifying histories, and visceral imagery, you'll want to pick this up asap.

Overarching themes also worked really well within the story. I loved the different friendship dynamics and how they played out in the stress. I could've read more about the labyrinthine house and how they handle the unknown, and Khaw did a wonderful job piecing together authentic voices with complex personalities. The meta nature of their discussions was hilarious, so even though there were some frightening things happening, rarely did I go a few pages without laughing at some horror movie reference or trope.

There were a few things that kept this from being a five star for me. The language was overly flowery--something I don't necessarily mind; give me all the metaphors and similes--but it could have been pared down. Some unique comparisons and imagery were repetitive, and instead of adding to the character's depth, I got caught up on how often I'd seen them doing one particular action. This might've stood out more because of the length of the prose, but I thought the comparisons would've been more powerful if they'd been a tad more selective.

Don't get me wrong: the descriptions were beautiful, but I would've loved to see more exploration of the house/mystery before jumping into the climax and conclusion.

Overall, Nothing But Blackened Teeth was a quick, lyrical, haunting bite of horror. I'd recommend to fans of horror based on Japanese lore, flash fiction with an edge, or anyone looking for a quick, but impactful read.

Big thanks to Tor Nightfire and NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for honest review consideration.

This book is described as a 'grotesquely creepy haunted house tale' and honestly that is the perfect description for this book. As you read you follow Cat and a group of friends into a house that doesn't just have skeletons in the closet, but in the walls as well.

Right off the bat you can tell you're not being told everything, that as the tale goes on you're going to have to peel away the untruths to find the secrets hidden away beneath the surface and untangle the threads that weave this group of characters together. Another character in this book is the house itself, it is a breathing and watching spector, that holds its secrets close and watches with bulging eyes.

While this is a much more lyrically and metaphorically described book than I'm used to, it really helped immerse you into the story. I definitely had to go back read a few sentences over to really understand what was going on. And, as has been suggested by other reviewers, this is definitely not a book to rush through. It's a book that will make you flinch from its teeth, but still have you coming back for more.

3.5🌟

This novella was such a wild journey. The writing style was at once beautiful and overwhelming and confusing. There was detail that evoked every sense just oozing from every sentence. It was horrifying and creepy. I felt invigorated by it.

Honestly I almost stopped reading after the first page. The style of the prose was so unusual and a bit difficult to read it was like being waterboarded by words. But as I got I to it I found myself unable to put it down.

The author has a rather unique style of writing. It is extremely descriptive; to the point where it starts to be a bit overwhelming to read in the first few chapters. Lots of metaphorical descriptions. Some of them worked, some did not. at times the writing just seemed to be all over the place and a few of the dialogue seemed out of place given what our characters were going through.
You have characters to like and characters to hate in this novella. The main dislike I had was of Nadia and finding out what happened to her about halfway through I wasn't too surprised. This story had a nice, somewhat well rounded cast of characters.
It is definitely best to go in to this novella with some prior knowledge of Japanese folklore as it really adds an additional element to the story.
The horror, when it was present, was rather good and creepy and I very much enjoyed it.
Overall, I would give this a 2.5 rating.

This amazing book is hauntingly spooky and very well done. The story is compelling, the characters feel real, and the world building atmosphere is sublime. I look forward to more by Cassandra Khaw.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC. Listen to the full review at: https://bookclubbed.buzzsprout.com/

Horror novels are hard—using words to conjure images to creep you out as you sit on your hammock outside in the sun. But she decided to not even try and instead focus on showing off how clever she is. Being clever is easy—there is nothing behind it, no emotion, no greater truths, no human connection—it is simply a brief blip of intellectual flexing of the bicep or showing off your tanned midriff, and then moving onto the next thing:

We start with a promising premise: a group of twentysomethings stay in a haunted mansion, one tethered to a classic ghost tale, almost wanting to provoke a ghost encounter to get their money’s worth. This group of young adults have all either slept with each other, dated, or at the very least kindled some sexual tension. That, it turns out, is the crux of the novel, their feisty little exchanges going from humorous to exhausting about ten pages in.

True horror requires—as far as I can tell—a building of tension, a careful construction of suspense even if we think we know where it is going. The fear comes not in the eventual breaking of it but in the meticulous build-up. There is no suspense in this novella. Instead, there is petty arguing, emotionally distanced mocking of the characters by the author, and occasional insertions of ghosts whenever the author remembered what genre she was supposedly writing for.

Characters accuse other characters of acting like a protagonist, they casually discuss the tropes of a ghost story, and at one point the writer actually mentions that: “(r)ead a hundred books on horror, and you’ll find that every last one possesses at least one mention of someone’s eyes gone strange, unfocused and unsettling to witness.” It is not clever, not thought-provoking, not grounding us in the scene. It is an ironic reflex, one in which the author is unable to escape, more preoccupied with slapping similes on each character’s reaction than cultivating vulnerability, the slow drip of horror that the best authors of the genre do so well, or, you know, plot.

When we get our first encounter with ghost bride, meant to inspire horror (I think?) we get a long description of how neurons respond in the brain followed by a hacky joke that relies on rearranging where the word “fucking” stands in the sentence. I love a goofy joke like this, but the placement was jarring. This is the author in conversation with herself, a hyper-exaggerated bombardment, closer to a satire of contemporary writing than a real novel.

So, what is this book? A reality show inspired novella? A satire of horror? A mash-up of horror and self-effacing Millennial ennui? What it is, really, is a writing prompt, a clever writer who is quite impressed with how clever she can be, shoving a list of vocabulary words and similes into the distorted form of a story.

I have kind of mixed feelings about this title. The premise of the story is quite interesting, the scene of the haunted manor and the lore set in the house itself was fascinating. The writing at times was just beautiful. But, I had a hard time with the characters in the situation. Not so much the characters themselves, but more of how they acted and reacted to the events. I suppose it was a bit too much of the blatant acknowledgement that they were in a "horror movie" and you know what happens at "this scene." There was also a lot of references back to a past event involving the main character but there was never any explanation which is pretty minor but it seemed like that backstory would have helped set more of the tone. Overall, it was a decent read.

Nothing but Blackened Teeth is a rare kind of horror novella. It’s a luxurious thing, keening and crackling with regret, haunting, and eventual viscera.
From the start of the story—as we are introduced to our principal characters—we can see the writing on the wall. There is Cat, a woman who is reluctantly attending the destination wedding between her best friend Faiz and his snide fiancé Nadia. The destination is a rotting Heian-era manor somewhere in Japan. This outing is being paid for by the story’s fourth major character, an all-American frat boy named Phillip. Cassandra Khaw’s story captures an interwoven mess of interpersonal relationships that are as overgrown and broken as the house where the plot unfolds. The story is part Gothic and part rotted fairy tale, complete with candles and legends of old.
Cassandra Khaw unspools Nothing but Blackened Teeth with powerful sentences that hum and crackle with energy. They’re the kind of sentences that other writers get jealous of, and I’m course including myself in that generalization. In turn, she builds her paragraphs carefully, each utterly readable sentence teeming with choice turns of phrase and description. The horror is present from the very first page and grows as our characters are consumed by the eerie atmosphere.
The true mark of a good horror writer is the ability to find the emotion beneath the terror. Cassandra Khaw does that and so much more. She can find the horror in nearly every moment, whether it’s in a mirror’s reflection or in the very human smell of international travel. Nothing but Blackened Teeth is a triumphant new work from Cassandra Khaw, and it will undoubtedly be an end of the year favorite when it releases in the cool of October.
(An ebook copy of Nothing but Blackened Teeth was provided for an honest review by Tor Nightfire.)