What Feasts at Night by T. Kingfisher

Source: Netgalley, many thanks to the publisher!
TL;DR: Perhaps not as strong as the first novel, but an interesting exploration of the world.

Plot: Alex returns to their home country and is attacked by a spirit/ghost. Nothing too mind-blowing but creepy
Characters: I enjoyed the characters here more than the previous novella, though I wish Miss Potter had had more voice
Setting: Best part of this for me. I loved the small country that T. Kingfisher created for this novella
Magic: Creepy, but not much to it sadly

Thoughts:

What Feasts at Night is the follow-up to What Moves the Dead, a favorite of mine from last year. This one follows Alex as they travel to their home country to meet Miss Potter so she can explore the fungi of the land. Upon arrival they find their grounds keeper has passed away in possibly suspect circumstances and soon things get… spooky.

I really enjoyed the exploration of Alex’s homeland and the exploration of PTSD and what it feels like to be thrown back into memories. This happens to Alex a lot here, and it’s talked about how hard it is to escape something like that. It was familiar and comforting to see it rendered so well and simply. Sadly the story and creepy factor didn’t quite hit for me. I think this could have been the format in which I read the novella as objectively it was creepy. However the hit of the creepy factor didn’t land due to issues in the format.

As a follow-up I don’t think it’s quite as strong as it could be, though I reserve my complete judgement on that till I can reread this in physical. Outside of that I enjoyed T. Kingfisher’s world and the care she takes with her characters and topics. I will still definitely be picking this up for my collection and rereading it in the future.

4 out of 5 dissolving horses