The Aussie Zombie

I'm an unashamed comfort-reader. When I'm feeling tired and or stressed, I turn to a genre that I know can shock me, entertain me, and make me feel a little nauseous. Yep, I read horror novels for comfort. And this is exactly why I picked up Kin - it's about cannibals people, it's going to be shocking, nauseating and hopefully entertaining, right?

But Kin gave me more than I bargained for - it is undoubtedly a horror novel with creepy characters and stomach-churning moments, but it is also an incredibly well-written novel - the language is almost lyrical and incredibly descriptive. At moments I felt like I was in a literary fiction novel, and others like I was in a slasher-movie - and I loved it.

The characters themselves are not easy to get to know, nor really to like. Claire is obviously and understandably damaged by her experiences at the hands of the cannibal family living in backwoods Alabama and that is the center of her world - there's very little else of her personality that comes through. The other 'good' characters play their part in the story, but apart from the young man that rescues Claire, I didn't find any of them particularly memorable.

The cannibal family on the other hand were creepy as fuck - and yes, they are religious nuts to boot. The only thing I would have liked a little more of would have been to find out more about their pasts and backgrounds, although the mothers' is explained towards the end of the book, I was so curious as to how they met and became nutsoid killers.

I was a little disappointed by the ending of Kin, although it was intense and fitting, it felt a little bit rushed, and I wished there had been more confrontation and revelation (yeah, I just wanted more GORY STUFF!) between Claire, the other characters and the family.

Kin really surprised me in many ways, and if you enjoy intense horror that is excellently written, you should definitely consider picking up a copy.

Read more of my reviews at The Aussie Zombie