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Side by Side Reviews: THE BELL CHIME by Mona Kabbani

THE BELL CHIME by Mona Kabbani
All I could think when I finished “The Bell Chime” was , Wow! There is something about psychological horror that makes you question your own reality. If I could compare this book to something you would be interested in, I’d say “Black Mirror”. Have I gotten your attention now? 
A girl suffering from night terrors wakes to find a missing persons poster with a face that looks oddly familiar. The face on the picture is smiling back at her and the eyes are following her every move. The main character is left to question her sanity. Is this reality or a nightmare? 
“...𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙪𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣. 𝙄𝙩 𝙞𝙨𝙣’𝙩 𝙨𝙤 𝙘𝙪𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙙.”
I first off what to say that I love psychological horror because when it’s done right, you never see the ending coming. An author that can pull it off flawlessly can leave you pondering your own reality. The book jumps different timelines and only gives small clues to piece together along the way. The author also includes notes before, during and after to give you some insights and warnings. I really enjoyed getting a look inside the author's mind and where this story arose from. There was one scene in particular that almost made me vomit. I actually can’t wait for more people to read this book so we can talk about it. I won’t give much else because you should go into this book with as little information as I had so that you can piece together the puzzles for yourself. Congrats to Mona on this amazing debut novella. I can’t wait to see what you have in store for us with your future works!
5 ⭐️  @shereadshorror
Richelle asked me if I’d like to message my review of The Bell Chime to you for a possible side by side. Below is the info I think you need. Thanks for including me!
Review:
This novella was so poetic and tragically beautiful, and I am absolutely floored that this is Mona Kabbani's @moralityinhorror debut piece! It takes a very skilled writer to create a perfectly woven story shadowed just beneath a wispy veil of fog that leaves your mind reeling with questions, anticipation, and possibility. ⁣
I feel like psychological horror sometimes loses me with all of its twists, turns, and mind games, but this one grabbed from the very first sentence in the forward and led me by the hand down a path of insanity and crippling madness that I just could not diverge from. I will have to admit that the timing and piecing together of events that must be done by the reader did elicit more questions than I'd like and some slight moments of confusion while reading, but it was not to the detriment of my enjoyment of every page. ⁣
Night terrors are...well...terrifying, and given that the story starts as a night terror dream sequence and then only intensifies and deepens, I think that anyone that appreciates horror that isn't just surface level will find this book to be disquieting, absorbing, and even uncomfortable at times. Once you turn the last page, you will be left with so many feelings. ⁣🖤🖤🖤🖤💕/5- I'm not going to go into much of a plot synopsis, because I think my explaining will take away from so much that this novella has to offer. I would just caution that you should not go into this one expecting a traditional horror narrative or a conventional linear plot. I urge you to go into this one cold, read it with an open mind, and listen for you own bell chime.⁣

THE BELL CHIME: Review by The Horror Hypothesis 

I love when writers kick open the front door with a debut and scream, "I am fucking here. Let's do this."

Mona Kabbani's THE BELL CHIME is a hauntingly tense work of fiction. It burrowed into my psyche with tiny little hooks that I may never fully remove.The loss of sanity is a tough thing to write effectively. It often comes across as contrived, silly, or too confusing to enjoy. But Kabanni does a fantastic job walking the line of psychological horror.


This was honestly a brilliant piece of writing and I will be certainly be adding this one to my favorites of 2020 list.


5 stars

@thehorrorhypothesis


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