Do you ever get the feeling that a lot is happening, but also nothing is happening at the same time? This book is like that. ( )

"Just fucking stop. I'm so sick of you fucking idiots."

Thank you, Philip. Couldn't have said it better myself. ( )

Nothing But Blackened Teeth is the story of a group of five “friends” who travel to Japan, as two of them are getting married. Faiz and Nadia are set on having a borderline sacrilegious wedding ceremony an abandoned Heian-era mansion that turns out to be haunted. However, little does the party know that this is a house that yearns for blood. You see, the "friends "are a complicated group who are constantly bickering and fighting, and the house, and the yokai who haunt it don't have time for their crap. The mansion is known for being built on the bones of a bride who took a maiden sacrifice with her for many years. So basically these Ohaguro-Bettari are ready for another sacrifice and the new bride to be will do just nicely.

This was a good ghost story full of Japanese folklore. It was quite atmospheric too. Khaw's writing can be a little dense at times but is always eloquent. There were many lines that I drooled over and wondered "wow, that was such a fascinating way to write that sentence." However, at times I found Khaw's prose to be a tad bit overindulgent and this distracted me from the plot of the story.

This being said, this novella is still worth reading, especially if you're a fan of ghost stories, haunted houses, and Japanese folklore.

Thank you NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for providing me with the eARC.

Also, as many have mentioned, that Ohaguro-Bettari cover is sooooo creepy! Love it!

#NothingButBlackenedTeeth #NetGalley

reread: January 2023 ( )

Beautiful writing with the single most unsatisfactory ending I’ve read since [b:House|19747756|House|Frank E. Peretti|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1387734068l/19747756._SY75_.jpg|192659] by Ted Dekker and Frank Peretti. Genuinely gorgeous prose, if you enjoyed [b:The Haunting of Hill House|89717|The Haunting of Hill House|Shirley Jackson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327871336l/89717._SY75_.jpg|3627] by Shirley Jackson, I’m sure you’ll enjoy this! Just don’t expect a solid ending. ( )

Boring beyond boring ( )