Reviews

The Brood by Jim Ody

ghostinthepages's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

 

“Nothing much happens in the town of Thornhill.” 

Ah teenage angst. I'll be the first to admit that vampires are not my favorite creature but how can you say no to a story described as "The Lost Boys meets Stand By Me"? You can’t. 

The Brood starts off with a typical teenage first love. It really put me in the mindset of that age all over again and all of the feelings that a lot of us deal with in high school. Tom and Lucy were friends that turned sweethearts and everything was going great as those first romances do until Lucy started being distant. They break up and then Lucy up and disappears. While all this is going on there are three new teens in town that keep popping up everywhere. These newcomers just show up and are watching and look like that typical emo kid from the early 2000s. More strange happenings go on and they find Lucy’s journal in a bag she returned to Tom. You find out exactly why she was distant and what is going on in the town. I definitely did not expect the ending to play out the way that it did and it really was a great way to wrap it up.

I love Ody's writing because he has a knack for making his characters seem like real people, people you've met in your life. I knew these kids, I was one of these kids! That is something that I have found that I really love and I feel like it adds an extra element to keep me entirely engrossed in his works. I've read a couple of his novels so far and I love that there are some nods to his other stories. 

If you loved Fear Street, Christopher Pike, Point Horror or just nostalgia horror, I highly recommend this book!