Review: A Better World by Sarah Langan

One of my friends and I were talking about horror and I mentioned that my among my favorite sub-genres of horror was suburban horror. (Other favorite sub-genres are body horror, existential horror, and whatever the Magnus Archives is. Please don't kill me, I haven't listened to the Magnus Protocol yet) Anyway, she lent me this book and it ended up being one of the best examples of the sub-genre I've ever read.

A problem I find with some genre media is that because I know it's X genre, it loses some of its impact. What I mean by this is, if I know something is a tragedy, I'm already bracing myself for it. The mark of a good piece of fiction in my mind is that it makes me forget stuff I already know. (The first time I saw Titanic was after I learned that the ship sank, so it did not have the same impact on me as it might have if I hadn't known that.) This was a long-winded explanation of what I mean when I say that this book does not give me this problem. I knew that it was a horror, and likely a tragedy, but it did not pull its punches and those punches hit me hard.

The unnerving vibes and psychological thriller/horror aspects fed my sense of dread so slowly and steadily and the payoff that let all that tension go was so satisfying. The dialogue was very realistic and compelling, as were the main characters. I was also horrified by my realization of how likely it is that this future will come to pass.

9/10

LMSS: 3 (it is my interpretation that every misfortune and tragedy that befell this world is non-magical in nature, entirely the effects of the monstrous side of humanity)