Book Review: The Haar
Hello Book Lovers!
I hope you’re having a great weekend. I did some volunteer work at the library on Saturday and have the rest of the weekend to focus on my move coming up next Friday. That means I’ll most likely have a temporary hiatus on blog posts from then until I settle in, which shouldn’t be too long since I hired movers. Anywho, enough about me. Back to the post at hand!
I finished reading another book. This time I read The Haar by David Sodergren.
This author has been on my radar for a while thanks to my bookish bestie Gigi. I never got around to reading anything by him and had nearly forgotten about this author until I started networking again on Instagram recently.
This book is a new release and one of the purchases from my birthday book haul, and I was really excited to see what this author could bring to the horror genre.
So, did I love it or hate it? Keep on reading for the review!
Blurb
“I don’t fear death… but they do.”
Muriel McAuley has lived in the Scottish fishing village of Witchaven all her life. She was born there, and she intends to die there.
But when an overseas property developer threatens to evict the residents from their homes and raze Witchaven to the ground in the name of progress, all seems lost… until the day a mysterious fog bank creeps inland.
THE HAAR
To some it brings redemption… to others, it brings only madness and death. What macabre secrets lie within…
THE HAAR
Romantic and deranged, THE HAAR is a gore-soaked folk-horror fairy tale from David Sodergren, author of The Forgotten Island and Maggie’s Grave.
GoodReads
Amazon
***Brief disclosure***
I am an Amazon affiliate and earn a tiny commission for purchases made through the Amazon links in this post at no cost to you. It’s a great way to help me keep things running on my blog if you’re already intrigued enough to make a purchase.
The Review
This is how you do horror.
This is my first time reading a work by this author, and I absolutely loved this story!
The Haar centers on an elderly woman named Muriel whose small village is under the threat of being acquired by a rich, sleazy property developer. The outlook is bleak until Muriel stumbles upon a bizarre creature in need of aid after a haar rolls through (a cold wet sea fog). As Muriel comes to terms with her limited time left on this planet and the reality of her situation, she finds new faith in this strange creature. Perhaps there is hope after all.
This book gave me all the feels, and then some.
Muriel was an amazing character. She is bluntly honest, opinionated, and doesn’t suffer any fools. I am a lot like her, which made it so easy to relate to her. She’s led a long life, and she had plenty of depth that you get to see over the course of the novel. Perfect characterization through and through.
I also really loved the other characters from the small village. They were very memorable and felt real. There were plenty of antagonists in this story, and boy were they awful! They really highlighted how terrible human beings can be, and I was rooting for the goriest, most horrendous deaths possible for these stinkers.
The plot was amazing and unexpected. There was plenty of horror as expected, but also romance that really tugged at my heartstrings. Horror doesn’t have to just be death and gore, and Sodergren has really outdone himself with this work.
Overall, this was a horror masterpiece for me. If you don’t know about this author, you’ve got some homework to do! Pick up this book and give it a try. You won’t regret it.
That’s A Wrap!
Well that’s it for this book review. I hope you enjoyed it!
Have you read this book? Are there other similar books you’ve read that you simply have to gush about? Feel free to leave a comment. I’d love to start a conversation!
Have a great day!
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Fabulous review, Jonny! I have heard of Sodergren and The Haar, but I haven’t read it yet. Sounds creepy and scary!
Thanks! Yeah, this was such a great read. I knew of another novel of his but it got lost in the shuffle. Hope you get a chance to give this one a go. 🙂
Great review, Jonny. I bought the forgotten island, so I think I’ll read that first before diving into the haar.
Thanks friend! Yeah, that’s the next one of his I wanna read. I hope you love it!