A Fig for All the Devils

** 3.75 stars ** // My first horror novel after "The Ocean at the End of the Lane" and I have to say that it made me feel quite similarly. I feel like I've missed something the author wanted to tell me. I do get that the story speaks about many difficult themes such as suicide, abuse, grief, the different "approaches" with grieving, while having the fantastical element of death as a person and them having to Still, I felt like I should have gotten more from it than the "obvious" conclusion that life's precious and that people are hardly ever only good or bad/nice or annoying/etc. Not because he didn't write "more" but because I somehow missed it. However, I REALLY enjoyed the prose of this book (maybe except for death's humour, which just wasn't mine). And there are a few "quote-worthy" sentences such as: "Would you call the blade in surgery 'evil' even though it cuts away the disease? Would you call lightning 'evil' even though it brings with it the rain to feed your crops?" This and also the exploration of feelings of grief I enjoyed very much. Also, the catch after 2/3 of the story where you start to wonder whether death as a person and his proposal were even real, was really well done. Still, I struggled a bit with the authors decision of having very detailed gory scenes and then having death portrayed as this humorous dude (yes, he read as such) - this juxtaposition was deliberate, I'm sure, but I didn't jive with it that well. In the end: maybe horror as a whole is just not for me - no matter how dark, gory or less horrific it's written. Or maybe I've not found the right stories yet.

A story wonderfully written and told, with a lot of emerging emotions and material to philosophise about. It's not just a book but a warm hug and oddly comforting. Truly a must-read!