Review by Joshua Forbes
September 23rd, 2024
These posts are just our opinions of the books we read, and don't yet reflect the decision of our judging team or the progression of the book in the SFINCS competition.
Summary:
New homeowner, Chloe, struggles with the maintenance required to fix a house. She spends most her nights laying in the bathtub listening to the loud writhing in her attic, hoping to put off checking what's wrong for another day.
Her wallowing is put to an end when someone begins pounding on her door. Her front door camera reveals an older woman, one who claims to have left something in the house.
Chloe finds herself alone, half dressed, with three locks between her and the woman outside. Between the slit in the strangers neck and undying will to break down the door, Chloe realizes she's the victim of more than a home invasion.
The Good:
The author did a good job making the story disturbing, assuming that was intentional. Once the story picks up, the level of weirdness only rises. Certain descriptions of events sound flat-out disgusting and I couldn't help but feel bad for Chloe. Imagery of tendrils and mushy flesh are plentiful!
The story doesn't rely on action to function, but a specific scuffle with one of the antagonists was quite good. Chloe feels just as underpowered as she should given the individuals she's dealing with. Several times you think Chloe finally has an upper hand only to lose it.
Conceptually, the story had my interest. A robbery that devolves into supernatural shenanigans is done effectively. I'll give the author credit for telling the entire novella in Chloe's home. One setting can get boring for a reader, but I never felt that here.
The Bad:
At multiple times during the story, the author cuts away to delve into what I would describe as unsettling poetry, which later devolves into plain unsettling. I understand the intention of leaving the reader with a certain vibe while adding more questions to the main story, though I do believe it went a little off the rails for my taste.
A pitfall of many stories, but especially detrimental to short ones is a prolonged introduction. I wasn't invested in Chloe's inability to name bathroom devices which needed repair, and the stories of her old boyfriend didn't lead to much. Some would call it building suspense, but I wanted to get into the story faster.
Though I personally haven't been the victim of B&E, I couldn't help but feel Chloe made the stupidest decisions possible towards the beginning. If someone with the assumed intent of robbing you is breaking your door down, don't leave your phone in another room and go stand in front of said door. The decision-making can be somewhat perplexing in that way, which could break a reader’s immersion.
Overall:
Baby Bird is the type of thing I like to see in competitions like these. It tries to differentiate itself from the more typical concepts, and in some ways does.
I’d say give it a read if you enjoy screaming at the main character's decisions in horror movies.
Be sure to tune in to our Twitter/X @ZachForbesBro for new blog posts about the novellas we read for the SFINCS competition! And click through to our website if you want to see other projects my brother and I have been working on!
Comments