Hollow Tongue (Papers from the Consortium for the Study of Anomalous Phenomena) by Eden Royce

Hollow Tongue (Papers from the Consortium for the Study of Anomalous Phenomena) Reviews

• 
  kimberly

  Came for the beautiful cover, stayed for the incredible southern gothic horror.
  
  The house—dark, suffocating, looming—a character of its own. But Maxine is our true star here. Readers follow the winding road of Maxine’s dark past and witness her emerge from the chrysalis of trauma as something new, shedding her old skin.
  
  I devoured this, consumed it. It’s memorizing and exquisite and weird but in the best way. Bonus points for the setting being South Carolina, my home state.
  
  “A house is the worst kind of monster… when we step through its doors, we are transported back through time, to a moment where we were perhaps at our most vulnerable.”
  
  Thank you RDS Publishing and NetGalley for the digital copy in exchange for an honest review. Available 06/20/2024!
• 
  Celeste

  Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
  I don't quite know how I feel about this book, but I think that might be more of a me problem than a this book problem, so I'm rounding it up to four stars. I went into this novella fully blind, pretty sure that it had something to do with family trauma but having quite literally zero idea that it was horror. Even so, I could immediately pick up on the atmospheric horror elements of this book. The description was excellent, and a little chilling. I love books that take the concept of 'haunted houses' and turn them on their heads in such a real, scary way by talking about the actual experiences the main character had in the house. However, I think for me, the book jumped very quickly from feeling realistic, if chilling and kind of creepy, into actual horror very abruptly, and then the whole thing was just over in a couple of pages. I think this might have worked better for me as a longer novella or full-length novel. There were a few loose ends or things I would have liked to be explored more, and I just found the horror element so jarring and abrupt that it was almost a little bit... funny? I think that's on me though for going in with no clue what was going to happen. It just all felt a bit unrealistic. Which like, okay, obviously, but it felt unrealistic to the point where I couldn't quite believe what was happening even in the context of the book, if that makes any sense. It just felt a little beyond the scope of the rest of the book.
  Overall, however, what I think the book did really well at was an exploration of complex family dynamics and childhood trauma.
• 
  Erin

  ARC for review. To be published June 20, 2024.
  
  Maxine Forest, twenty-five, lives in Washington, DC and is a crime victim. She has just lost her job when she receives a missive from Charleston, South Carolina, her hometown informing her that she must take possession of the contents of a safe deposit box she holds with her mother within just a few days. She believes this means her mother has finally left her father.
  
  When she arrives in Charleston and goes to her family home her father is also not there and she is left to reclaim the mysteries of her past.
  
  This was just OK for me. There’s a lot that seems to go unexplained and that Maxine doesn’t even seem to wonder about, which struck me as a little odd. This is a novella, not a full length book.
• 
  Eva

  One of the themes that hits hardest in Gothic fiction for me, particularly Southern Gothic, is the notion of characters who are forced to return home, especially to a childhood home. The protagonist of Eden Royce’s "Hollow Tongue" novella is in this situation.
  
  No one does Southern Gothic like Eden Royce. She is a virtuoso of every point and corner of these narratives, and has written some of the most evocative ones in all of speculative fiction. “Hollow Tongue” is no exception. Royce’s prose commands the reader to unfurl it slowly and savour it, like a hard candy that’s very rich.
  
  There’s a creeping sense that will crawl under the reader’s skin of something not right and things gone awry as readers move through the narrative. To say that the protagonist’s relationship with her parents is strained would be an understatement. Complicating matters, she can’t seem to find her father.
  
  “How can I apologize for what I don’t remember?” — a line that hung over me like a cloud with memories of my own experiences.
  
  In all haunted house stories, the house itself must be an overbearing presence that contributes to the terror of those who dwell within it, and intensifies that fear more as the book goes on. This is definitely the case with “Hollow Tongue.”
  
  The amount of times that the protagonist tried to save her mother and put all the cards on the table, and created all of the solutions and then her mother had an excuse every time, also resonated with me very deeply, and it hurt me in the chest.
  
  And trust me when I say you will never look at butterflies the same way again.
  
  Run out and buy "Hollow Tongue" now and keep on buying more of Eden Royce's work -- give this author the flowers she deserves!
• 
  Emi

  Publishing date: 20.06.2024
  Thank you to Netgalley and RDS Publishing for the ARC. My opinions are my own. 
  
  The book as a meal: A full plate of trauma with a side of misogyny 
  The book left me: Feeling a little nasty
  
  Negatives:
  Moreso a story of trauma than horror
  The "horror" was revealed a little too late
  
  Positives:
  Strong spooky vibes
  So descriptive I could almost smell it
  
  Features: 
  A character with a disability, lots and lots of family trauma, bugs and smells are pivotal to the story, jumping between now and the past
  
  Why did I choose this one?
  I had to continue the Selected Papers series as I adored book 4. The cover is also an eye catcher, and I trust RDS publishing to front great books. 
  
  Pick-up-able? Put-down-able?
  Pick-up-able. The pacing feels natural for a story like this, and there is just enough curiosity to what is going on to keep me reading. 
  
  What was the vibe and mood?
  A little spooky. I felt like I was wandering in a dark house with stale air. Oppressive mood. And just a faint nauseating smell of flowers follows my every step. 
  
  Final ranking and star rating?
  4 stars, A tier. Selected Papers has done it again. I adore the concepts of this series, and this one continues that. I will be keeping an eye out for book 6, and I will be recommending this strongly. 
• 
  Sarah

  What an amazing surprise this book turned out to be. I went in knowing very little about this story other than it was about a woman returning to her childhood home and I’m glad I did it that way.
  
  Eden Royce tells such a shocking and horrific story in the small amount of time you spend with Max in this novella. Her words pack such a punch as she tells you about the abuse and trauma Max and her mother endured over the years. The house itself feels like the main character, as the descriptions of it had me feeling like I was right there with Max smelling the floral soaps and feeling the heat that Charleston is known for.
  
  What an eerie journey this was from start to finish. The final reveal at the end was so disturbing in the best way. Royce flawlessly hands you a monster that will haunt your dreams for a long time to come!
• 
  Horror Reads

  This creepy novella about past trauma, abuse, and loss turns into something horrific.
  
  Max is headed back home. She left as soon as she was 18 with guidance and help from her mother. Her father is abusive and intolerable yet her mother stays so she can escape.
  
  Injuries from a shooting makes her less mobile but she drives eight hours hoping her mother has finally left her father. But nobody is home. Or...
  
  That's all I'll say about it for now. But when you think you're getting one kind of book and it swerves to something you didn't expect in the most terrifying way, that's a win!
  
  I highly recommend this well written, emotional, and frightening novella.
  
  I received an ARC of this book through Netgalley with no consideration. This review is voluntary and is my own personal opinion.
• 
  Sara

  Thank you NetGalley and RDS Press for the copy of this book.
  
  I really enjoyed this beautifully written horror novella with an ending I was totally unprepared for!
  
  Maxine returns home to deal with some family business with the hopes that her mother has finally left her father. She hasn't spoken to either of her parents for years. Her mother is gone but so is her father. Assuming he is out drinking, Maxine begins to remanence and is swallowed up by the atmosphere of her childhood home. Haunted by past abuse the house takes on a dark and creepy life of its own. The house has one more secret for Maxine, leaving the reader with a totally satisfying ending!
• 
  Leah McClellan

  This was just a meh for me. While the book was very descriptive and built the characters decently, I found myself just not enjoying the atmosphere or the book in general. At times the descriptions were almost too much, and too much was put into the descriptive statements over character development and or story line development. There were times I was lost as to what was happening and what was supposed to be happening and lost interest fast. It was well written, just not something that I personally liked or would suggest for others. Thanks NetGalley for the ARC.
• 
  Gildergreen

  Thanks to NetGalley and the author for granting me a copy of this book for an honest review!
  
  I wish I could give this six stars. I'm absolutely obsessed. I'd read anything written by this author. Were I an influencer, this would be the horror book I didn't shut up about.
• 
  Creepy Reads

  That it? Felt like the equivalent to someone talking a big game and only lasting 30 seconds. I feel cheated.
• 
  Jeremy Hanes

  Holy crap was this a great book. I loved it. From the setting to the characters to the creepy dreamlike sentences it all builds a dread that you feel all over. My god what a book. Eden Royce - you are one of my new authors to follow and just buy any new book. Wow. Just wow.