Thank you NetGalley & the publisher for an e-arc in exchange for a review!

I've been a fan of Kosoko Jackson since Yesterday is History and this book is just as good. I loved that this book felt like an adult novel and not a YA pretending to be an adult novel. I liked that Noah and Lewis had a slow burn relationship that didn't start towards the middle of the book when it was clear both had feelings for each other. The payoff felt nice and didn't make the book feel romance heavy, which I think would pull the book down. The only reason I don't think this is a perfect book is because I did think there were a few phrases that felt awkward.

I thought the plot of this was really cool. It reminded me of a video game almost with a linear plotline that was not so linear as it went on. The addition of Cassanrda's POV chapter was also interesting since it added extra mysteries. I like the magic in this, but I do think it was slightly confusing at times and could have used more world building. I still really enjoyed the progression of the story and the rich tales of Edgar, Lewis, and Cassandra.

I know a lot of people probably won't be a fan of the romance in this since it does feel—I won't say forced, but convenient. However, I didn't feel that way at all about it. Noah felt like a fully thought out character with his own goals and motivations. To me, it was a great romance and I liked that it was added.

Overall, this was a big hit for me and one I'll be getting for my shelf when it releases.

I really enjoyed this book. My first impression was that it started too quickly into the action, but upon reflection I feel like that pulled me into the story quickly. I'm more of a plot-driven reader though. I think this book will appeal to fans of Lev Grossman's The Magicians, but might prove challenging for readers who are very character driven.

As an artist, any story about haunted paintings are an immediate read for me. Unfortunately this wasn't it. The only time this book ventured into "horror" (and I'm using that term loosely), is when Lewis delved into the paintings. And that was about 10% of the book.

I would even say it leaned more towards sci-fi at times. The magic system was explained at length, but still came out convoluted.

The main bad's motivation was... disappointing, to say the least. The relationship between Lewis and Noah was cute though.

I went in hoping for more Duma Key Stephen King vibes, but ended up getting more Doctor Who wibbly wobbly timey wimey instead.

In general I enjoyed this book. Generally speaking I prefer my fantasy reads to explain the rules of the world and stick to them, but this read was such a unique premise I could get past my preferences. I did feel misled by the horror category, as I was expecting more. I’d only mark this as fantasy, the horror elements were so sparse. Interesting read overall.

What an intriguing, thought provoking book! I’m hoping for more books like this from this author. A completely original concept that had me hooked

As an art lover, and a person who enjoys magical/horror takes on art, I was incredibly excited about this book - magic paintings! unseen fantasy! mysterious organizations! And, as a reader, I have... a lot of thoughts.

TLDR: I think this book went too broad and not deep enough. There are a lot of cool ideas that aren't followed up on, and a lot of pretty forgettable moments.

Fantasy is at its best when it has stringent rules, and fantasy-horror is most effective when it shows how those rules are broken. Kosoko Jackson is pretty loosey-goosey with the rules, and that freedom works against the book. It gets a little repetitive ("go on ten of the same magical quest!") and some of the horror is more effective than the rest. Not to mention the character work is pretty thin at points, and I was not super impressed by the portrayals of Japan nor physical disability in this book.

That being said, I was hooked enough to read to the end! I loved the revelations about what the Macabre actually are, and while the Noah-Lewis relationship started as being flimsy, I liked them a lot by the end. I'm not familiar with Kosoko Jackson's other work, and this had pretty big debut energy (or genre-debut energy), but I bet the next one will be killer.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Voyager for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I wanted to like this book more than I did, as I really enjoy Kosoko Jackson's work. Unfortunately, the subject matter of art and magic just don't do it for me as a reader, though that is absolutely not a comment on his craft!

Lewis is taken under the wing of the British Museum and is sent to assist in neutralizing Edgar Dumont's series of paintings which are killing people. Throughout his time, he learns to wield magic and stand up to colonizing forces. And, perhaps, gets a first date with Noah.

This was a fun romp, but fantasy isn't my thing--there was lots of explanation and bits that I didn't fully comprehend and had to reread. Still, this got me out of my comfort zone and I'm grateful for that.

Enjoyed this book but felt a bit misled by the term horror. I thought this was a bit more on the fantasy side. I loved how original of a concept it was and it was extremely well written and unique. I would recommend this to someone who was interested in fantasy not horror.

I was so excited to receive an ARC of this book as it was on my most anticipated to read book list. This book did not. disappoint. I found the story very interesting, original and scary. Mr. Jackson uses very descriptive writing that really brought The Macabre to life. I haven’t read any other of his books but I will definitely be grabbing more soon.

A big thank you to Netgalley and Harper Collins Publishers for providing an ARC upon request!

The Macabre is a roughly 300-pg adult fantasy book set to publish in September 2025. I’ve never read Kosoko Jackson’s books before, but the cover and the book description had me fascinated, so I had to give it a try. Overall, I think this is a solid 4/5 for me, and I’m going to find the other books written by this author, as well as keep an eye out for any other work he does!

Kosoko’s writing style is terrific. Every other page, I found myself going “wow.. that is such a good way to describe that!” He is so good at using adjectives and verbs in one sentence that you wouldn’t think go well together, but do, and it adds so much flavor and personality to the book. It makes the magic feel more real and fascinating, in spite of the magic’s more fantastical elements.

I really liked Lewis Dixon as a protagonist, too; he is easily one of the best characters in the book, in my opinion. He is introverted and artsy but also impulsive and stubborn, and he feels like a real person I’d want to be friends with in real life. I’m also an artsy person with an art background, so some of the more intimate details about painting and art felt so relatable to me, from reminiscing on how bad your old stuff was to the way art shapes the way you observe others. Lewis being an artist feels like a genuine fact about his life, rather than a trait tacked on to differentiate himself from the rest of the characters. The shoutouts to SCAD also delighted me; I never went to SCAD, but as any art-obsessed teenager in high school, I was looking at that college to attend after I graduated.

I also liked the way Jackson depicts a black gay man – it’s authentic and to-the-point without being too cloying or forced. It comes so naturally, something I feel is kind of lost in other books that attempt to inject LGBT+ characters in this book, and as a bisexual woman, I appreciated that. His relationship with Noah Rao is really cute too, and I found myself wanting to see more of their relationship with each page.

Now, I think where I struggled with this book was what I thought this book was versus what it actually is. When I saw the cover art, title and novel description on Netgalley, I was under the impression that The Macabre would be a dark modern fantasy novel that would be more horror and abstract, something like The Night House by Jo Nesbø or a typical Stephen King novel. The book itself is actually more like a Young Adult urban fantasy with a secret magical society, and you get that sense after the first major set piece that it’s a little more whimsical than expected. I am LOATHE to compare it to Harry Potter and the Fantastic Beasts books, but I couldn’t help but think of those while reading this.

I didn’t mind the magic systems not being excruciatingly written out and just having a ‘roll with it’ feel (it does a good job of introducing things without being large infodumps, something I see a lot in modern fantasy books), but I do think that towards the middle-end of the book it felt like magic just happens without much explained. One of the biggest twists involves a memory wipe that feels like a deus ex machina. There is time travel, and there is the threat of a major historical rewrite. Most of the magic used in the book is more practical (seals, offense, defense, illusions), and that’s well and good, so it feels a little out of place that people are also suddenly doing things like memory alteration and rewriting the history of the world altogether.

Also, without getting into details, the villain feels one-dimensional. Their motivations feel almost comically evil and misplaced, and their personality goes from zero to one-hundred seemingly overnight. They’re also extremely overpowered, but don’t have much going on aside from being powerful and having misplaced faith in something you shouldn’t have faith in and want to ruin the world for. And considering the character’s background, it doesn’t… make much sense? Again I’m keeping this vague on purpose because this book is slated for a September release, and I don’t want to spoil, but I think that’s what knocked this book down a star for me. I don’t know if their motivations aside from what is stated are being kept unclear for the sake of a sequel hook, and there’s inklings of something more going on in their head, but not much is added beyond that. Which sucks, because we are constantly told how dangerous they are and how Lewis needs to be prepared for anything, but we don’t know much about them aside from what’s outright stated?

The Macabre also does something I’ve seen a lot in newly released books recently that I don’t have an inherent problem with, but is so widespread that I can’t help but beef with it: a scene with morbid and horrific gore. Again, without getting too detailed about it, there is a scene that involves the grotesque rendering of widespread death, and while yes, this is The Macabre, it feels out of place in comparison to some of the lighter elements and occasionally quippy dialogue. I guess this is a side effect of ‘new adult’ novels that possess a snappy YA writing style, and then suddenly there’s a meticulously detailed smut scene. I can’t help but think of the LitRPG genre (a genre I’m not really jazzed about because of stuff like this) and how it will pingpong from epic gamer references to Cannibal Holocaust-level violence. It makes more sense in this book, but I couldn’t help but feel weird of the way extremely horrific death gets casually dropped in on some scenes, and the book ponders on it for a few chapters before promptly moving on.

Overall, I enjoyed this book, and I think if you’re looking for an adult modern fantasy, this will tickle your fancy! But if you’re looking for a more horror-based experience, look elsewhere.

My favorite parts of the story were the descriptions of the paintings, hands down. If we were just following Lewis and the paintings, the prose would work but due to the amount of plot lines, both past and present since we hop around time, things begin to drag especially around the halfway point.
In terms of character, Lewis was also just alright as a protagonist. I did care quite a bit about him and Noah so I appreciate that their growth together felt organic. I also thoroughly enjoyed Cassandra's perspectives when we did get them.

Overall, this is not a bad book. I think for people who aren't sure if they're into horror books or not, this could be a good introduction.

I really enjoyed this book, i was hooked from first chapter. It was fascinating to learn about the magic system and the paintings. I wish we explored more paintings in more details but then the time in the book was well used so i dont mind this much. Using art to talk about grief was close to me and the way it approached racism and colonialism since they work for the British Museum was subtle. Lewis and Noah were really endearing to follow their relationship. I'll red more of this author definitely!

The Pros:

Jackson is EXCELLENT at coming up with incredibly interesting plot lines. I am HOOKED from the beginning on just the premise alone. I was immediately drawn to two of his former books, YESTERDAY IS HISTORY and THE FOREST DEMANDS ITS DUE on the premise alone. Jackson also doesn't shy away from using horror to its full advantage. In THE MACABRE, when things get back they get bad fast and hard and Lewis finds himself unable to pick another way out other than through. Taking your main characters hand at 30% o the way through the book sure are stakes!

The Cons:
Simultaneously TOO MUCH happened and NOT ENOUGH happened in this book. As in, there were too many concurrent plots and ideas and the book wasn't long enough to flesh them all out to their potential. There was way, way, way too much telling in the narrative, especially when it came to Lewis inferring other peoples thoughts and feelings. There was so little ambiguity in how Lewis was interacting with other people it left so little room for conflict.

Jackson's books all need to be at least 10k more words, I think, to get the full potential of the scope of his worlds and ease out of this telling narrative.

Over all:
I have soooo much love for Kosoko Jackson and always want to enjoy his books more than I actually do. I think he has a lot of fun ideas and the desire to follow them through. I'm not sure what exactly is holding him back but I will be continuing to pick up every book he writes to see if he gets there.

This book had such an exciting premise that I couldn’t wait to dive in—cursed paintings? Say no more. I was hooked. My favorite part was learning about the paintings, and I only wish we had explored all of them in even more depth. The magic system, however, felt a bit overwhelming. A lot of information was thrown at both the main character and the reader in a short span, and while he seemed to grasp it quickly, I struggled to keep up. That said, the story delivered some truly shocking moments—I gasped out loud multiple times! Overall, while it didn’t fully click for me, it was still an intriguing read. I’d give it a solid 3.5 stars.

Thank you Avon and Harper Voyager for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I am absolutely mesmerized by Kosoko Jackson's creative writing. Original and enthralling and in the lines of Get Out and Blink Twice. This book had me reading non-stop. Sometimes human nature can be a terrifying thing. If you love Nat Cassidy's work, follow up with The Macabre.

I'll be honest, this book just couldn't hold my attention. I kept picking it up and putting it back down, hoping that at some point it would get more interesting, but it just didn't do it for me. Everything felt very... flat, and I wish there had been more show and less "this is what happened, how, and why and there is no room for argument."

I was lucky enough to receive an e-ARC from Netgalley (thank you thank you!!), but unfortunately, this one just fell flat for me. 🥲 I genuinely was so intrigued by it and wanted it to be good so bad. The description of the book sadly did more for me than the actual contents within. Not awful, but just not for me I don’t think. Solid 2.3-5/5 (rounded down). 🖤

Unfortunately, I had to DNF The Macabre at 20%. I was very excited to pick this one up. The cover, concept, and title are all very daring and unique. The writing style, characterizations, and lack of information were among the reasons I had to (reluctantly) give up on it.

The reader doesn’t get many opportunities to come to their own conclusions, everything is just told instead of shown. The characters did not have much depth; almost as if they were created to serve their singular purpose and nothing else. They were one dimensional rather than being well rounded and resembling a normal, complicated human personality. Throughout the 20% of the novel I read, the reader is given no background to the characters. It’s hard to have empathy or interest in characters whom you don’t know anything about.

The magical paintings were very intriguing but the system isn’t explained well or fully. The reader is left with a lot of “whys”. Why is this occurring? Why is this a thing? So on and so forth.

Ultimately, I feel like I’ve been left with a serious itch I want to scratch! The concept was so neat but the execution was a miss for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The concept of this book instantly intrigued me, and I did end up enjoying it overall. I really enjoyed the horror elements, and there was an unsettling feeling present throughout the book. The way Lewis interacted with the uncanny paintings was interesting to read about, and I enjoyed how the story took me all around the world.

I thought that Lewis was a relatable main character as he doesn't always make the best decisions but he had the right intentions. I also liked Noah as a side character.

I never quite felt fully immersed in the book, but there was an unexpected series of events that occurred before the halfway mark that truly shocked me and made me want to keep reading. Throughout the rest of the book there were parts that I felt wrapped up too quickly without much time to understand the characters involved and their motives.

Overall, The Macabre is an eerie read combined with art and some geopolitics. I am definitely going to keep an eye out for what Kosoko Jackson writes in the future!

thank you so much to netgalley and the publisher for this book!

I really wanted to enjoy this since the idea of paintings coming back to life sounded really interesting and disturbing.

unfortunately, I kept waiting chapter after chapter for some kind of good twist in the story, but this never came. instead, I found myself waiting for some chapters to be done.

the beginning and the end were exquisite, so I can tell you that this were the really big moments of the story, where things HAPPEN, but I felt like the middle was a bunch of fights between our protagonists and they constant doubts of what they were doing :(

anyways, I recommend that you read it so you can have your own opinion. who knows, you may love it!