Darling

I received an eARC copy from Black Spot Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Reading Darling was my first encounter with Mercedes M. Yardley's writing, and I have to say that reading it felt easy and smooth, with a good pace. Darling brings us into the life of Cerise Cherry LaRouche, who returns to her hometown eight years after leaving what she thought would be for good, with two children, no money, and ready to start a new life in a familiar place. Since this book belongs to the horror genre, I expected something more frightening, more chilling, and creepier. However, sadly, we have something very predictable and outright average, with so many elements included, which took away the scary and mysterious part. We have: moving back home, having oh so many admirers and fans from the very first second she set her foot back in Darling, meeting old friends and enemies back home, facing jealousy and hatred that never faded away, trying to make ends meet as a single mom of two, looking for romantic love (because she does, whether it is the main plot of the book or not), having her daughter kidnapped, keeping her head cool with her tender son, behaving naively throughout the entire story (I felt like giving her a good wake-up shake more than once), the episode with Wendy in the shop, playing with other people's emotions in a weird love triangle, learning about the possible reasons for Jonah's illness, but not explaining it well or clearing out is it the truth or not - what a whirlwind of actions! Why are there so many elements in a horror story? Why is there such a jumble of small and short images that don't add anything? Was there a need for them all? All these particles don't build up the world that much and most certainly don't make it a horror one; they only confuse the reader more and more, leaving all the questions unanswered. I felt more like reading a romance with dark elements of a mystery than reading a horror novel. It feels so overstuffed with ideas, with only two of them being executed well - Cerise's breakdown and utter powerlessness with her daughter's disappearance and the vengeful mob at the end of the story (tho, it was clearly aimed at a wrong person, but what does an angry mob know). What kept me glued to the book was who is the Handsome butcher? Who is the monster who kidnaps and breaks innocent children like dolls, bringing a dark, gloomy atmosphere into town? The epilogue did not answer that either; not sure if meant for a sequel or not, but here we are. The book overall left me disappointed. It is super ambitious, it aims high with its potential, but in the end, it falls flat and gives no closure.