Review: Honeyeater

Honeyeater by Kathleen Jennings
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A brilliant, mud-drenched ghost story of a haunted family and its fragile secrets.

I love Kathleen Jennings' writing, even if most of the time I feel like I'm not fully absorbing everything I'm supposed to. I love the atmosphere her words evoke and this book was no exception - the creek was a character itself, and the ghostly happenings were bizzarre and unique.

Our protagonist, Charlie, finds himself tasked with cleaning out his dead aunt's house before he can be rid of the town of Bellworth for good. But then Grace shows up on the doorstep and the blue roses pressing on her skin from within demand answers.

What follows is wet and weed-choked, ghostly and haunting. Horror of a new kind is brought to life as secrets begin to rise to the surface, and Charlie will never be the same.

The writing is abstract and evocative, and takes precedence over storytelling - meaning must be plucked carefully from between snaking vines and piercing thorns. Those who like to linger over clever words will enjoy indulging in the imagery here, though those who prefer a faster pace may get tangled up in all the allusion and word play.

There's a special kind of horror to this one; a pervasive sense of not having enough air in the lungs rather than any kind of definable terror. It leaves the skin crawling but doesn't stoop to jump scares.

The characters don't have too much opportunity to develop fully, which I found mildly disappointing but also seemed to suit this richly detailed setting. I wanted to know them all a little better but I think it kind of adds to the secrets and mystery of the whole thing.

This was another lyrical fantasy horror that really absorbed me. At times I did find it a little confusing to follow but inevitably I was swept up in the words and still thoroughly enjoyed the telling.

This won't be for everyone, but horror fans looking for something different should definitely give this a go. There's also something quite beautiful in the writing so fans of literary fiction should appreciate this tale.

With thanks to Macmillan for an ARC

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