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This is objectively the better "fungus manipulates people" book, the more literary one, and I love it but I don't see it being a book that I pick up over and over again to read in the way Kingfisher's could be. Perhaps because the real monsters in the story are the people, and they're a very real sort of monster that we're dealing with in the world today.

That said, it is very much worth at least one read, and is an excellent novel filled with suspense and gothic horror.

Without being too spoilery, I never, when I started reading this book, thought I would finish it feeling pity for a fungus, but here we are.

I love Poe, and Usher is one of my favorite stories of his, and this retelling is absolutely masterful. The descriptions of the grounds and house are atmospheric and almost dripping with dread, which fills every page from page one and grows slowly, but incessantly, until you reach the end.

I am, I admit, a devoted Austenite. So a mystery wrapped in a comedy of manners wrapped in more modern ideas would of course be right for my interests. And as a 40-something-year-old unmarried woman in a world that continues to consider a woman's worth to be entirely wrapped up in whether she's a mother, I found a lot to identify with in our regency-era heroines here.

The romantic angle was transparent from the start - the moment we met the man I knew, yep, this is our romantic lead. And the mysteries were not terribly puzzling to figure out. But, I enjoyed going on these adventures with these ladies and I am already anticipating the next book. Predictable doesn't have to be bad. It was a fun comfort read, which is a good thing these days. I heartily recommend it.

Reaper Man was the first Discworld novel I ever read, and one of the ones I have read the most often, but I haven't read it since either my mother or Sir Pterry died.

It was good to read it again, after having known the grief of losing mom. Comforting. Such insight into death, and Death, and what it means to know that life has to come to an end. This remains one of my favorite Discworld Novels, and it is unquestionably one of the most profound.

But Terry always delivered even the hard lessons with a nice dose of laughter.

#Discworld #GNUTerryPratchett

Not my favorite Discworld book, but like all of them, worth the read to see the history and worldbuilding and an excellent commentary on fame.