I know there are reviewers who absolutely loved this book and there are readers who like me did not. The stilted writing and horrid characters made it difficult to even finish the story.

I will be honest my dear reader, I did not enjoy reading Nothing But Blackened Teeth. And like in so many novels that have that overly flowery type of writing, it doesn’t add to the story but detracts from it. It is excessive and so over the top that I have no words to really describe it. In some passages it isn’t purple, it’s ultraviolet. Khaw’s prose is so purple at times it comes across as ridiculous. The writing for Nothing But Blackened Teeth is just as bad. And without that context or translation, the words mean nothing and add nothing.

Readers who are familiar with Japanese ghost stories will likely recognize the terms – a female demon with no face and a mouth of black teeth and a pure white wedding kimono respectively – but the average readers will not. It added nothing to the story and only made it difficult for me to actually care when something happened to someone.īecause the story is set in Japan and because it is supposed to be a ghost story, Khaw apparently felt it necessary to throw in terms like ohaguro-bettari and shiromoku but without giving any translation or context. Almost the entire book is like this with them fighting about past grudges and who might still have feelings for who. Throughout the story, we are told they are friends and have been for some time – hard to believe considering the way they almost constantly bicker. The cast of characters is an unlikeable group of twenty-somethings. And while Khaw certainly tried with Nothing But Blackened Teeth, it was in my opinion an ultimate failure.

Even the most prolific of writers can have trouble. The juggling of characters, setting, and plot can be quite demanding. I know horror can be difficult to write good horror that keeps you on the edge of your seat doubly so. I was so looking forward to reading this book and when I was finally able to I was so disappointed! So much about this book is simply awful! And if there happens to be a mystery and/or a horror element added in? Bonus! Books set in Japan (whether modern-day or historical) are appealing to me. When I saw Cassandra Khaw’s Nothing But Blackened Teeth available to read on Netgalley, I jumped on the chance to get a copy. This book was provided for review by Netgalley.

Nothing but blackened teeth reviews