This was a quick read but packed quite a spooky punch! Very unsettling, and it does a good job of tapping into that primal fear of sensing SOMETHING is there but not quite seeing it or knowing what it is. I wouldn’t say there’s much real resolution or understanding by the time you reach the end of the story; it gets very very surreal and I think any sort of intended conclusion was lost on me. But an excellent read nonetheless, would be a perfect one for spooky season.

I firstly want to thank Netgalley for an advanced ARC of this short Novella.

It took me time to read this when I normally can knock out a novella this short in no time and the permiss did sound promising but I felt it never really delivered.

The idea of a woman with acute depression going through hard times & we are supposed to see her slowly lose her mind and so much more.

Unfortunately, I didn't see the horror I was hoping for and kept reading excepting more but felt like the ending I was hoping for never came

Now there may be others who do love and appreciate this book than I did, but also maybe this is something new that I do not understand but I am happy I gave it a try.

Rot is a gripping read packed with raw emotion. The story centers on a former nurse who now lives in isolation with her cat, grappling with both an alcohol dependency and severe gout. As a fierce winter storm rages outside, a mysterious "rot" begins to spread through her home, contaminating everything in its path. The narrative keeps you on edge, questioning whether she will find a way to escape the encroaching decay or be overwhelmed by it.

The story revolves around a profoundly sad woman living in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. She battles deep-seated depression while contending with a range of health issues. Her struggles are portrayed with stark clarity, highlighting the emotional and physical challenges she faces in a world still reeling from the effects of the pandemic.

The ending is a true emotional whirlwind, and the final line is absolutely unforgettable.

Rot is a quick read that had a lot of emotion rolled into it.
Readers follow the main character, a former nurse who now lives alone with her cat and has an alcohol problem. She also has a terrible case of gout. During a brutal winter storm, a "rot" spreads through her house and affects everything. You have to wonder if the main character will escape or be consumed by this rot.

You get to see into the mind of this woman, but you are so unsure if she is intoxicated the whole time or if there is an evil being pulsating through her house. Instead of being confused, it was interesting to not really know what was truly going on. I found it similar to LaRocca books, quick and gritty. This was not really my type of read, but the inner thoughts of the main character about not loving herself and her depression seemed extremely raw and well-written.

I know I requested this title after the publication date, but the description…I just couldn’t miss out!

Holy wow! This is such a dark and disturbing read! I went after this hoping for possession elements and the mc’s background of a nurse! Both paid off so well together. Not a full 5/5 simply for the rough wording and level of writing.

This delivered mega creepy scenes! The setup for the mc was wonderfully carved out, the momentum was tormenting and truly effective. I really enjoyed myself with the unrelenting experiences of uncertainty and chaos.

Honestly, I wish I could unread this book... it was so sadistically gross that I may need to read something happy now. This book, while very short, is only 96 pages, and it's very heavy with emotion. It follows a very sad women set in post covid times. She has obvious depression and struggles with health issues. Honestly, if I dont ever see the word "gout" ever again, it will be too soon. She soon finds herself being tormented by something demonic and fights for her life. If you dont like books with paranormal involvement, then this book isn't for you. Also, poor Toby, I will NEVER forget the horrific scene involving him!!!

Thank you so much to publisher The Book Guild, Author Richard Coiley, and Netgalley for the advanced copy! This book comes out July 27th, 2024. Read at your own risk!

Although I loved the idea of this novella, a middle aged woman fighting against her depressed mental state, I just couldn't empathize with the character. I found there to be no depth to her. Everything was repeated over and over. Perhaps it would have been better as a short story.
Unfortunately I cannot recommend this book.

While a short book, this is an extremely dense book filled with a lot of heavy emotion and despair. The main character is simply filled with torment both emotionally and physically. The ending, especially, is just an absolute roller coaster and that final line is killer.

For such a short book it still ends up over staying it's welcome a lot. I felt nothing for the character we follow and the voice we are given just ends up being annoying. I do think there is a good story here but boy does it need a little more work put into it.

I'm sorry but this book was not for me. Not badly written at all but not at all what I expected. I won't post a review anywhere else regarding this book.

Living in poverty and dealing with alcohol dependency, our main character begins to deal with some strange events. Rot is a story detailing the experience of a middle age woman battling her failing mind and body.
It’s an enjoyable and unsettling read, but it leaves the reader wanting more. The world building was lacking. The book would really benefit from editing.

Thank you NetGalley for this book

I wanted to love this short book. The premise was so enticing. And I lived the idea of losing one's self, one's grip on reality, sanity, in isolation while a storm brews. Unfortunately, this story needs a lot of work. So much needed more explanation, back story, description, fleshing out. There was way too much repetitiveness. The writing errors were through the roof. A good editor could set this story on a path to five stars, for now it has a long ways to get there.

Wouldn’t call this the best horror book I’ve read. Really repetitive throughout (we heard about the main characters gout countless times) and there were a lot of spelling and grammar errors and animal cruelty which I really dislike. The story was ok but probably wouldn’t recommend. Thanks to net galley and the publisher for this arc.

Richard Coiley understands all the tropes needed to create an horrific modern day horror story and uses them well.
This could perhaps have been the premise for a John Carpenter film that never got made? Or could these be the scenes Alfred Hitchcock deemed too horrific to include in 'Psycho'? Or more frightening still has Guy N. Smith dictated these words from beyond the grave to scare a new generation of horror aficionados with one final invasion of killer rats and frogs?
The claustrophobia of the story is chilling: a nurse slowly drinking herself to death, trapped inside her own home, with a howling blizzard outside. The author adds further layers of terror: her gas has been cut off; the gout in her toes is crippling her; she's about to run out of electricity; her phone's only got 10% battery left; and then, there's the festering horror of a dark entity lurking outside her bedroom.
Darkness permeates every single page. Death can not be far away. Can she survive the terrible battle of wills fought on the astral plane with a doppelganger from hell?

I liked the growing paranoia and isolation, the seeming break with reality, the grim world. But the story isn't well written and needs more, whether just description or character development or SOMETHING, to bring the reader closer in. There was also a big use of animal torture and death that I never like.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me try this

First of all I'd like to thank NetGalley and The Book Guild for the opportunity to rate and talk about this ARC. A thank you to Richard Coiley for the creative energies.

The idea and passion behind this novella is strong. You can tell that the author is trying to show the manic state of the main character through their writing.

However, this book is very unfinished and needs a good overhaul. It's not only down to editing but some whole chapters need a rewrite. Grammar, spelling, wrong words used are only just a few of the problems that I noticed.

I found myself very confused by the last two chapters and it took me a whil to understand what they were trying to show us.

That might have been because there was a lot of tell, or else the author didn't know what they were trying to explain.

There is a lot of animal death in this book which I am not keen on.

It did take me a while to get into the book, once I got into it I did enjoy bits of it and the pace of it.

The idea behind this book is incredible. Bits of it made me feel like I needed to take a shower, which I love in a horror book. However throughout the book there's a ton of grammatical errors. The book also tends to just repeat itself. It's a cycle of "oh it's nightime" "ah here's the scary thing" "good it's morning". I really wish I could've enjoyed it more. I think with a bit more thought put into it, it would be an incredible read.

Gloomy and bleak, this book had all the elements needed for a really good horror book. However, the writing style was not for me and left a lot to be desired, plus the plot in general fell flat. I lost interest completely about 20% in and struggled to finish.

"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.

First and foremost, the protagonist is utterly unrelatable and deeply unlikeable. From the very beginning, we are introduced to a character who used to be a nurse but is now consumed by poverty, despair, and alcoholism. However, Coiley fails to flesh out her backstory in a way that might evoke any sympathy or connection from the reader. We know she was a nurse, but so what? There are no anecdotes, no cherished memories, no glimpses into her past that might make us root for her. Instead, we are presented with a flat, one-dimensional character whose misery becomes tiresome rather than tragic.

The novel's setting is equally vague and uninspired. We know it takes place in the UK, but the lack of specificity about the location only adds to the overall sense of detachment and disinterest. The protagonist's internal monologue dominates the narrative, leaving little room for interaction with other characters. The absence of dialogue makes the book feel more like a monotonous, never-ending soliloquy rather than a dynamic, engaging story. The only brief moment of two-way dialogue occurs at 13%, and even that does little to break the monotony.

Coiley's attempt to inject suspense and horror into the narrative through the mysterious rot that spreads in the protagonist's house falls flat. The concept of black mould as a malevolent force is not particularly original, and the execution here is lackluster at best. The plot is painfully slow, and setting the entire story within the confines of a single room only exacerbates the feeling of claustrophobia and boredom.

One of the few redeeming aspects of the book is the description of the rats, which effectively evokes a sense of revulsion and horror. However, this is not enough to salvage the overall mediocrity of the novel.

The writing itself often leaves much to be desired. One particularly cringeworthy line stands out: “I’m sure I can feel its breath close to the back of my neck; it’s warm and clammy, like an old paedo’s feeling horny.” Such poorly crafted and tasteless metaphors only serve to further alienate the reader.

In conclusion, "Rot" is an uninteresting and poorly executed novel that fails to adhere to even the most basic conventions of fiction writing. The lack of compelling characters, engaging dialogue, and a dynamic plot makes it a chore to read. There are reasons why certain rules exist in fiction writing—rules about supporting characters, dialogue, and varied settings—and "Rot" serves as a prime example of what happens when those rules are ignored.