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Content snapshot
Flag an inaccuracy →What's in this book, at a glance — five things readers want to know before they start.
Violence
A lot
Body horror and disturbing imagery rather than combat: shattered teeth, an animal that comes back wrong, and an escalating physical assault on the narrator by the thing in the house
Language
Very heavy
Heavy, casual profanity
Sexual Content
Some
Some frank references to Thiago and Vera's marriage and sex life, brief and grief-inflected rather than explicit set pieces
Substance Use
A lot
Thiago drinks heavily and self-medicates through his grief; substance use is part of how his deterioration is shown
Emotional Intensity
Extremely heavy
What this book is about
Thiago's wife Vera dies in a freak accident, and the strange activity that plagued their apartment before her death follows him afterward, along with a voice assistant that seems to know things. NPR called it "a superb debut from an author who understands that horror fails in the absence of empathy" and framed it as a horror story about grief and madness. Readers warn most loudly about a sequence involving a dog, which one reviewer summarized as "pretty fucking upsetting." The imagery reviewers cite includes apparitions, a resurrected dog, ritual, and a mouth full of shattered teeth. The narration is profane and raw throughout.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Distressing animal cruelty and animal death
Sudden death of a spouse and unrelenting grief
Pervasive strong profanity
Reader Verification
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