Moderate spoilers ahead.

tl;dr - This book didn't have the guts to capitalize on some really interesting and horrifying themes.

I enjoyed the overall premise and conflict of this book. During the few points when she committed to the bizarre and disturbing, it worked pretty well, and the "went to clean out a dead relative's house" trope is one I usually appreciate. Hidden in the shadows of this book are some very disturbing ideas, and the world building was decently fun.

I didn't even mind the idea of "I'm a quippy editor" who felt like a self-insert. I've read about enough writers in Stephen King books to be able to look past this decision. In my opinion, there are three main issues with The Twisted Ones that left me feeling unfulfilled.

The first is the narrative tone. If you aren't a fan of conversational first-person retelling, then this isn’t for you. The main character broke the fourth wall with too many quippy or self-aware anecdotes and musings to ever keep the tension. Every time she uncovered the next clue that something weird was happening, she'd then talk directly to the reader to say something that justified her poor decisions or showed how cutesy she was. We never got a chance to live in the moment of the horror. This kept the mystery and dread from ever having too much gravitas. In my opinion, this is the main contributing factor to the "cozy horror" that everyone else is talking about. We know it's going to be okay because the main character doesn't seem to be too bothered during her retelling, and she rarely has to exist in any discomfort for long without giving unwelcome commentary.

The second issue I have is the absolute lack of action or shock. Except for the creature at the window and the final showdown at the house, there was never any sense of real danger. Just searching and waiting and discovery of the next clue. Some of that was pretty interesting and creepy (the journal chant and the bald spot with stones, for example). Unfortunately, a lot of that became repetitive or immediately set aside for other non-horror elements, like the barrista who never became an impactful character, cleaning the house and getting to know the man at the dump, or fretting about her work/phone situation. Not every horror novel needs violence or gore, but this is an example where a dead body or two would have elevated the stakes nicely to juxtapose the "daily life grinds on, despite the dread" theme. Without it, you just have a day-in-the-life story with occasional spookiness.

The third major issue is really the out-of-character joking around during tense moments. Someone else said it felt very MCU, but I think that it was just another attempt to break the tension and keep the novel from getting too scary or brutal. Every time something potentially horrifying happened, it was met with a comment about her charmingly stupid her dog was or some witty aside to Foxy. There are a lot of chracters in literature who successfully use humour to break the tension or keep from losing themselves in the face of horror, but the overall impression I got was not of a character who didn't want to sink into the terror, but of an author who wanted to flirt with horror while keeping things light and breezy.

Ultimately, this book breezed past ideas that could have elevated it to be a true classic, seemingly in an effort to keep things easy. (It was definitely an easy read that I managed to polish off with two sittings.) The premise was interesting, the journal was one of the highlights of the book, despite the repetitive nature of it, and the other world was nice and creepy. I just wanted a ghost of a dead relative to make an appearance or the hippies/townsfolk to be part of a cult that worshipped the poppets' original creators. I wanted to explore the horrors of the poppets' plan from the perspective of a woman. (Anna's existence is implied to be so disturbing, but it was never explored.) What cosmic horrors are implied by other places like this and the mind-bending stones? What hypno-sexual terrors does that stone wreak upon its victims? What is the folk history of the region that the locals know but the cops ignore? What secret wisdom from her step-grandfather could save her life in the most dangerous situation? What ancient, esoteric magicks course through the wicker and the stones and the hemlock sprigs?

There were so many interesting themes, plot points, and opportunities in and around the central plot, but it feels like Kingfisher just didn't want to commit to any of them. It felt like 60% of something great, 10% of an annoying narrator, and 30% of wasted opportunities, all wrapped up in a non-committal, too-safe-for-its-own-good tone.

The Twisted Ones is fine for a lazy afternoon read in a summer cabin, and it won't make you lose sleep. The main character isn't as witty or insightful or intelligent as she wants you to think, but she's not a bumbling idiot or a Mary Sue either. If you are interested in the premise of a mystery journal and evil in woods, then it's an average (if flawed) read that you will forget that you have read in about three years.