Over the weekend I finished reading my first horror novel of the year and I wish I had something more eloquent to say than it is just so, so good. So good! Stolen Tongues by Felix Blackwell is an incredible cabin-in-the-woods horror masterpiece that respectfully explores a Native American legend while keeping you guessing every step of the way. When it comes to books that wow me, I like to take a deeper dive so in this review I’m just going to discuss a few things I liked without spoilers. To make sure you catch the full, spoilers included book report you’ll probably want to follow me on Substack.
The novel follows our main characters Felix and Faye as they enjoy a weekend at her parents’ cabin in the Colorado mountains. I knew I was going to enjoy this right off the bat because Blackwell does such a good job of making their relationship fun and relatable. They have a very carefree, playful attitude with each other which endears them instantly. Yet Blackwell wastes no time introducing us to the antagonist as Felix and Faye begin hearing voices outside the cabin on their first night.
Faye, who suffers from sleep disturbances during bouts of stress, is particularly affected by the events at the cabin and so even after journeying home, she is plagued by an unknown force. The story is told from Felix’s perspective as he is forced to watch his fiancé go through hell as he struggles desperately to protect her. This, coupled with the relationship between Faye and her parents, is how the book explores the lengths people will go to protect those they love.
Luckily Felix is introduced to Angela, Tiwe, and Nathan who assist him with his seemingly insurmountable task. Speaking from my non-indigenous perspective it seemed like the author took great care in writing these characters as well-rounded, complex human beings instead of the tired “Indian” tropes we’ve seen in horror novels past. I loved that Blackwell included an author’s note at the end where he discussed his process for writing native peoples.
The chapters are short and usually end with a cliffhanger which is what caused me to consume this book in a record (for me) few days. Blackwell even occasionally plays with formatting in interesting ways to create suspense. The ending was satisfying, and all loose ends were tied up neatly with a bow. And while the descriptions of the violence don’t approach the Splatterpunk genre they are nonetheless harrowing. Truly eerie vibes here.
5/5 stars for this one! I couldn’t get enough. If you’ve read Stolen Tongues, leave a comment below and let me know your favorite thing about it.
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