tales-of-a-booktrovert

[tales-of-a-booktrovert]

Stolen Tongues

by Felix Blackwell

‼️ Warnings under the cut ‼️ some spoilers, swearing

You know how Facebook gives you suggestions based on things you like and pages/groups you follow? Well that’s how I ended up finding this book. A page for psychological thriller books popped up and someone was talking about how this was the scariest book they’d ever read and were forced to stop reading it after only eight pages. I, of course, was intrigued, so I went onto my local library’s website and found the audiobook.

This book…was not scary in any way. There were a few moments that were disturbing or kinda weird, but not scary. Now, if I was in the character’s shoes and was experiencing this stuff first hand, then yeah, I’d be scared as hell. I mean, having your fiancé skitter around in the dark like a spider? Terrifying. Encountering a creature that is literally wearing your friend’s skin? Even more terrifying.

The title confused me at first, but now as I write this, I’m realizing why it was given that title. Spoiler: its because the creature steals the voices and language (or tongues) of different peoples.

I was also super confused when the book started because there was a prologue that detailed prior events for the characters that were similar to the main story and so I thought they had just given away what happens. It also threw me off that the author used his and his fiancé’s (now wife, I believe) real names. I had to google whether or not it was nonfiction instead of a fictional psychological thriller. Turns out it was written about his fiancé’s sleep disorder and was posted on Reddit where it won some kind of contest.

I started this book right before going into the woods for camping (how ironic) so it took me a few days to finish it. But even though I got through it relatively quickly, I’m not sure it’s really a book I would recommend. To me, it was an okay book, not something I would read again, and not really the kind of book you enjoy enough to recommend to others. But I suppose there are others out there who enjoyed it more than I did.

Either way, happy reading!