This novella was crawling with claustrophobia and anxiety. We follow an unnamed FMC who is dealing with the aftermath of Covid, losing her job, leaving an abusive relationship, dealing with mental illness and physical pain due to gout. She slowly descends into an alcohol-induced madness and we watch as her paranoia grows into a supernatural being, tormenting her from the inside out. There were so many stomach turning moments, you could almost smell the stench coming off of her from being locked inside her house, neglecting her personal hygiene. Visceral reactions were had and my face could not contain the disgust I felt while reading this.
It DID get a bit repetitive and for a short book, it made the story drag just a tiny bit, which is why it wasn’t a five star read. Overall, this was a solid, gruesome horror novella.

TW: animal cruelty, mental illness, alcoholism

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

This one was just okay. I liked the writing and the general sense of dread. I think many people could relate to her feelings of hopelessness and the desire to just give up of life. It felt a bit repetitive for me. It was too slow in parts.

The cover and the premise drew me in, however, the execution did nothing for me.

It felt like one long run-on sentence. I found myself heavily annoyed with the main character and not because of her situation, but because of the way she is written. The long descriptions that are sometimes repetitive are indicative of her deteriorating mental state, but it just made it frustrating to read instead of creating attachment or a sense of camaraderie.

I found myself having to go back to the blurb to remind myself about what is supposed to be going on.

I appreciate the chance to read this, but its a no from me.

Thank you to Netgalley for the copy to review.

I was intrigued by the premise of this book but unfortunately it wasn’t executed well. I didn’t enjoy the writing and found it hard to connect with the main character. The world building needed much more work as it didn’t create the atmosphere the story needed. Not for me.

A psychological horror short story to make you squirm

I was immediately immersed in this chilling and atmospheric tale, that evokes the bleakness of a UK winter during Covid.The book reads from the perspective of the Main Character,a former nurse grappling with her deteriorating mental and physical health. So descriptively written,I felt such a sense of discomfort throughout the book,because I could feel her inner turmoil.
As the story unfolds, a mysterious rot begins to seep through her home, serving as a haunting metaphor for her decline. Will she survive or will she be consumed by it?? The story is disturbing and raw, and captures the weight of her isolation and the emotional fallout of living in a pandemic world.
Rot is undeniably dark and a visceral reading experience filled with gruesome imagery and moments of terror. It's a book that delivers a profound exploration of despair and resilience.
I found this book to be perfect for any horror enthusiast,or anyone seeking a short yet impactful horror story for the season.

I really love a story of a descent into madness, and that's exactly what this felt like. The book reads almost like a journal or an inner monologue of our main character, and I could really feel the fear and desperation climbing as I progressed, and I appreciated the ambiguity of the whole situation perpetuated by our main character being an unreliable narrator in the most interesting and chilling of ways. Being trapped in during a winter storm made the fever dreams experienced much more frightening, and I couldn't figure out what was real, which added a really fun edge to the whole story. There were some places where I felt like some paragraphs ran on a bit excessively and could have used a few more breaks to make it easier on the eyes, but still a fun read altogether. I was very much on the edge of my seat the entire time, and the ending did not give me any closure whatsoever, making this a truly good horror read! (A huge thank-you to NetGalley for the opportunity to receive a free review copy of this book. I am leaving this review of my own volition, and it contains my personal opinions and experiences.)

This fasted paced, short novella follows a 50𝙮𝙤 𝙬𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙐𝙆 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙤𝙣, during a winter storm… and… other things…

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬.

𝙎𝙝𝙚’𝙨 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙤𝙞𝙙. 𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙠𝙨. 𝙎𝙝𝙚’𝙨 𝙞𝙡𝙡.
𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚’𝙨 𝙖 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚.

Rats. Frogs. An entity.
Listening to this. 𝙄 𝙛𝙚𝙡𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙁𝙈𝘾 𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨. This is dark, and shocking and makes you anxious waiting to see what’s going to happen next.

This is perfect for spooky season!

Thank you @netgalley!!

This is not a good novella. I was left bored by the repetitiveness in not only tone, but the sentences. I was not eager to turn to the next page and see how this novella would unravel because of the underdevelopment of the single character that is extremely depressed and is also extremely flat.

You follow the main character's inner dialogue (suppose to be female, however the entire time I could tell it was a male trying to write the internal dialogue of a female). She is depressed and struggling, yet the entire time I was unable to connect to her because of the lack of imagery created by short/repetitive sentences that left me confused and wanting more.

I was so intrigued by this novella, from the cover to the description and I am disappointed by this failed approach.

Thank you to Netgalley for sending me this.

First of all, I just want to say that I feel horrible for the main character. I couldn't help but wonder what it would have been like if only she had been able to get some help, if only someone had even just stopped by to check on her. I related greatly to her struggles with mental illness and I really, really, really wanted her to have some sort of happy conclusion.

That said.

I found this story to be quite unnerving. I like that we never *really* know what is after her, just that it's the thing and it's very not good. I like how it builds up and then quietens just to build up again; it left me feeling exhausted and uneasy for the main character, just as she was feeling.

My favourite part of the book was the dream sequence with her doppelganger. That is a scene that will stick with me for quite a while and was just very beautiful and eerie.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to others. The main character is good, the writing is good, the story is good. I had no complaints.

I didn’t love it, but I didn’t necessarily hate it.

The first chapter had a lot going for it, and I really liked how the plot was set up. However, as the story progressed, it became so repetitive that I kept putting it down. Even though it was supposed to be a short read, it felt like it took forever to get through. The monotony and boredom of the protagonist’s life, mixed with her pain and alcohol consumption, were clearly meant to convey her small and sad existence. While I understand the intention behind this, it didn’t make those parts any more pleasant to read.

I think trimming some of the repetitive sections might have helped make the narrative more engaging. Overall, it was a decent read, but it could have been more compelling with some tighter editing.

Thank you so much to publisher The Book Guild, Author Richard Coiley, and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this!

On the whole, I liked this book. The whole atmospheric setting was eerie and immersive, the plot was well thought through.
The only thing I found whilst reading, was that it seemed a bit disjointed. The writing was a bit repetitive at times, but didn’t have a flow to it, which made it difficult to concentrate on at times.

The entire book is one huge semicolon and needs a good editor. Couldn't do it. It took away from the story completely.

Rot
Richard Coiley 

3.75 / 4

Ok, so ... 

I really liked a lot of things about this story. 

It immediately made me feel cold and damp and uneasy... Setting the scene of a difficult, dreary, monochromatic UK winter. 

It was easy for me to feel pity and pain and admiration and frustrations with the older woman, our protagonist. 

I had a lot of empathy for her throughout, and that kept me engaged, wanting to know which direction things were going to go for her ... I feel depressed FOR her. 

There were elements of the story I found a bit repetitive. 

For instance, there's probably 20 or more pages that kinda repeat the same things ... whether it be thoughts from the MC's POV, or the repetitive nature of her day to day. 

I mean, I get that we're meant to understand that her life is small and sad and the monotony and boredom mixed with the pain and the alcohol ... I get why it's written this way. It just didn't make it anymore pleasant to read those parts. 

But, overall, I think this is a very interesting horror novel with a lot going for it. Was it all I wanted from it? No. But it had plenty to say, and it was a solid (and sad) horror story. 

I'll definitely be recommending this one, and checking out more from this author.

Thanks for a copy in exchange for my honest feedback!

Rot by Richard Coiley is, quite frankly, one of the most disappointing books I have encountered in recent memory. Despite my best efforts to remain positive and balanced, this novel fell short on nearly every front.
Beyond pacing issues, the lack of relatability and the repetitive nature of the storytelling contribute to the book’s low rating. Coiley’s atmospheric prowess couldn’t fully compensate for these shortcomings, leaving me with mixed feelings about Rot

I was absolutely mesmerized by the writing in this book. I could NOT put this book down and is one of my 5 star reads for the year. The levels of horror written into this book was beautifully done.

Update: The publisher reached out to me after posting this review, to say that the uploaded text was an older version that wasn't properly edited, and that the published version would be the correctly edited version. They provided me with the published version, and it does seem the errant punctuation is fixed there.

My original review:

Rot is a bad novella, there's no two ways about it. It's badly constructed. It's badly written, down to a sentence level. Its worldbuilding is too loose and vague. Its one character is completely underdeveloped and doesn't change much. The book badly needs a proficient editor.

The main character is depressed. Her life is shit. She only has her inner monologue, and it's that inner monologue you as reader are saddled with. It's written in first person, but the writing itself is clunky and clumsy, with strangely constructed sentences that only have the effect of making the reader feel distanced from what's happening:

"But it wasn’t until I was passing the airing cupboard that I felt, observed, and the full-length landing mirror up ahead of me, just walking towards it made me feel uncomfortable."

Another problem rears its head in the sentence above - the punctuation is all over the place. It almost never makes sense, and it's everywhere. (Granted, I read a review copy, so maybe this will have been fixed in the final version.)

"It’s like nothing much has changed in this country since the times of Dickens and his characters Scrooge, or Oliver Twist."

(Why those two Dickens characters specifically? What is happening-)

Reading these hobbled sentences feels a bit like riding a bicycle over a gravel road. What is supposed to be tense and horrific never becomes anything more than boring. Dread isn't built up slowly - things start very bad and stay stagnant.

The author's bio says he "developed a visual approach to storytelling". If he did, I didn't read it here, I'm afraid. The world and what happens in it is underdescribed, and the main character's relationship to that world and its happenings are underdeveloped.

This was dark! Beginning like a dark look into the life of an unlucky woman and then becoming more and more horrendous. The format was perfect, too much of this book would make feel bad. It has followed me around for some time after reading it and that is usually a very good grade for a book.

I found this story to be incredibly dark and depressing. It is about a woman slowly deteriorating mentally and physically every day. We hear her inner-most thoughts and views on the world and the people around her. She is cynical, depressed, angry, and lost. It shrouds her moods every day. This is definitely a book that needs to be read in a certain kind of mood.

#NetGalley #Rot

Trapped by poverty, despair, alcoholism and severe gout our MC is living a nightmare and things aren't about to get any better. As a horrific snowstorm rages outside something invades her home leaving behind death and destruction. This was a horrifying read about our MCs descent into madness and the fears about what lurks in the dark. Watching the very real struggles she has to face is a hard read. This had some gruesome scenes and some terrifying ones too. This wasn't quite what I thought it would be but still highly recommend if you're looking for a short horror story.

**"Rot" is a haunting exploration of despair and decay, a novel that deftly intertwines personal suffering with a chilling supernatural threat. This dark and evocative story plunges readers into the life of a once-noble nurse whose fall from grace leads her into a nightmarish existence defined by poverty, alcoholism, and self-loathing.

The protagonist, a figure tormented by both physical and mental anguish, serves as a compelling focus for this atmospheric tale. Once a caregiver, she now grapples with the debilitating effects of gout and a life marred by regret and self-destruction. Her isolation and inner turmoil are vividly rendered, setting the stage for the novel’s escalating horrors.

As winter sets in, the protagonist’s already grim life becomes even more nightmarish with the onset of a mysterious rot. This insidious force begins to spread throughout her home, infecting everything and everyone it encounters. The rot is not merely a physical phenomenon but a malevolent entity that preys on the soul, leaving its victims in a state of decay and madness.

The imagery of the rot is both grotesque and symbolic, representing the protagonist’s internal decay and the unraveling of her tenuous grip on reality. The novel’s descriptions of the spreading rot are visceral and unsettling, creating a palpable sense of dread that enhances the narrative’s emotional impact.

masterfully blends psychological horror with supernatural elements, crafting a story that is both deeply personal and universally terrifying. The protagonist’s struggle to escape the rot mirrors her fight against her own despair and addiction, adding layers of complexity to the horror. The novel explores themes of isolation, the consequences of past actions, and the nature of true horror, making it a thought-provoking and eerie read.

**"Rot"** is a stark and compelling tale that will resonate with readers who appreciate psychological depth and atmospheric dread. It is a powerful reminder of how external horrors can mirror internal suffering, and it showcases [Author's Name]'s ability to weave a narrative that is both deeply disturbing and emotionally resonant. This is a must-read for fans of gothic and psychological horror, offering a chilling journey into the darkest corners of the human psyche.