Gabby's Reviews > Daphne

Ahhh I'm so happy I finally loved another Josh Malerman. This one might be one of my top favorites from him too. Which is so wild because I almost DNF'ed this book at the beginning, the first 50 pages were so hard to get into and it felt like nothing was happening. Luckily, the audiobook helped me push through and by page 100 I was OBSESSED. I think the idea of this book is fascinating, and I can tell it seemed a bit more personal to the author. The idea of this Daphne woman haunting the girls basketball team was truly terrifying, the idea of a 7-foot-tall woman with hair covering her face and grease on her fingers, gives me the chills just thinking about it. And it's creepier because you're not supposed to think about it, and the more you think about her, the more likely she'll appear. Our main character suffers from some pretty severe anxiety, which I found to be super relatable. And there are so many thoughtful quotes about what it means to grow up, and how anxious it can make young people trying to figure out their lives at such a young age, and I love how Daphne represents this anxiety to an extreme. This was just so brilliantly done, the ending gave me chills. It's not going to be for everyone, but I freaking loved it.

Here's the reading vlog where I read it: https://youtu.be/ZewT0NdeIUM