Review | Starve Acre by Andrew Michael Hurley
When their son suddenly dies, Richard and Juliette withdraw into themselves, stricken with trauma. They seek comfort elsewhere. Richard digs for a lost tree on a land rumoured to be cursed. Juliette enlists the help of a medium to contact her dead son. As unexplainable events happen, they remember their lives before the death of their son and discover how grief can linger. But with grief, comes something else too.
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Starve Acre is a folklore horror about grief, faith, and guilt between two parents. I feel so mixed about this book! I found both Richard and Juliette to be really unlikable even before their son, Ewan, died. When Ewan was alive, he had some behaviourable problems which they could not accept and instead handled in their own ways – Richard with denial, Juliette with anger. This makes their guilt after his death worse, as they both felt they had let him down.
But this story is more than just about a family. Things get super weird! Thereβs a hare, old woodcuts, a buried oak tree. I have to admit I have so many questions by the end. Are the characters ill or are they haunted?
The plot isnβt terribly original. It employs familiar tropes of suspicious voices, children behaving strangely, haunted historical grounds.Β However, I found the blend of old folklore tales and modern parenting made for an unsettling read. The writing is lovely and elegant which makes the rare moments of violence and horror really distressing. As the story moves towards its conclusion it was like watching a car wreck – I knew a disaster is coming yet I couldn’t turn away. And what a jaw-dropping ending! It’s the kind of horror that is mundane yet terribly wrong. It gave me shivers.
Starve Acre is a horror story about how far a parent would go for their child and the heartbreaking, lingering effects of grief. Recommended!
I received a copy from the publisher for review purposes.
About the author: Andrew Michael Hurley
Photo by Mimi di Cianni