Lullaby for a Lost World A Tor.Com Original

Update 03/12/2021 Find my reviews on : An Ode to Fiction Buy the book : Amazon | Read for FREE here! You do not rest. You cannot forgive. You are not safe—you never were. Lullaby for a Lost World is a short story about a girl named Charlotte and the twisted secret of the house she lives in. Bodard's writing is spellbinding, haunting, and raw. The horrors in this story is delivered with a straightforwardness as sharp as a knife. It is truly enchantingly horrifying. Highly recommend for readers that's looking for something really short and sinister. There is no rest. There is no forgiveness. And never, ever, any safety.

Lullaby for a Lost World is an eerie and lyrical tale about a horrifying ritual and the child it abuses that has so much potential that just isn't met in such a short work. The piece relies on emotions built up over time, but given that this slow simmer was not something readers got to experience, the power of the climax is dulled. However, it's still chilling piece with beautiful visuals.

Probably more of a 3.5. As expected, the writing by Aliette is beautiful and haunting and very unapologetically horrifying. It was painful to read from the beginning, which slowly transformed to anger and then satifaction, but I'm still a little unsure of something that happened towards the end. However, it was too short for me to dwell on it too much and the story is vague enough to be immersive without feeling incomplete. I'm not sure why but the master and the house reminded me so much of House Hawthorn and Asmodeus from the author's Dominion of the Fallen trilogy.