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cryptofauna's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
wait what the fuck.
i was NOT prepared for that twist at the end i definitely should have seen it coming but i absolutely did not. felt like maybe there should have been more clues towards that ending but when she’s straight up lying the whole time there’s not really a way to distinguish the truth for yourself.
characters were a little one dimensional and i had trouble remembering who was who but overall was a strong thriller and mystery!
read all in one day and i was definitely into it especially once the plot started to pick up when they got to the castle.
i was NOT prepared for that twist at the end i definitely should have seen it coming but i absolutely did not. felt like maybe there should have been more clues towards that ending but when she’s
characters were a little one dimensional and i had trouble remembering who was who but overall was a strong thriller and mystery!
read all in one day and i was definitely into it especially once the plot started to pick up when they got to the castle.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Murder
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Violence
allisonsmith120's review
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Gore, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Cancer, Misogyny, and Vomit
taryn_g's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death, Violence, and Blood
missbreathing's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
I wanted to like this. I like the author’s last novel, Eat Your Heart Out, and was expecting a fun thriller/YA slasher. But this didn’t live up to my expectations. It’s way too slow paced for a thriller. The characters are not compelling and we never learn to care about them. The prose wasn’t great. It reads as young YA, which is totally valid, but maybe doesn’t fit the tone of the story.
I did appreciate the themes of sexism in Hollywood, though I wish they were better fleshed out. And I did like the Romanian castle setting! The student film set stuff was very accurate and reminded me of my days in film school.
I wasn’t loving it by the end, but I was prepared to give it maybe 3⭐️ and accept that I am just not its target audience. But that ending. I won’t spoil anything, but, in order for the twist at the end to work, there needed to be major changes to the narration, voice, and POV. As it is, it’s ineffective and makes the ending hard to believe.
This one was just a miss for me :/
I did appreciate the themes of sexism in Hollywood, though I wish they were better fleshed out. And I did like the Romanian castle setting! The student film set stuff was very accurate and reminded me of my days in film school.
I wasn’t loving it by the end, but I was prepared to give it maybe 3⭐️ and accept that I am just not its target audience. But that ending. I won’t spoil anything, but, in order for the twist at the end to work, there needed to be major changes to the narration, voice, and POV. As it is, it’s ineffective and makes the ending hard to believe.
This one was just a miss for me :/
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Cancer and Gore
aformeracceleratedreader's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.5
I liked the twist and the idea of the story overall, but the characters were underdeveloped for me. Like there were interesting aspects of them but they were mostly pretty flat. There was so much I wanted expanded on but it felt a lot was left out to keep the image of intrigue. It was def a good atmospheric book and I enjoyed the addition of interviews and articles sprinkled at the end of the sections like a multimedia type of deal. I would've def ranked this higher if the characters weren't so bland. The story and idea is there! The characters are just the letdowns. this was truly a gaslight gatekeep girlboss revenge story. Loved that aspect of it. Like yes girl get that revenge! A little murder and lying is okay as a little treat! Could've been a 5 star if the characters weren't just "pretty, commanding jock. Rich, pretty influencer girl. Nerdy, organized girl. Music boi. Art hoe. Obsessing over mc best friend. And main girl facing family/financial struggles" art hoe had so much potential that I feel like it was wasted. Jock, influencer, and obsessed bff also had potential that was wasted. Ugh so much potential for them all to have more interesting deaths than interesting lives
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Vomit, Death, Murder, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Sexism, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Grief, Cancer, and Gaslighting
megj23's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, Death, and Cursing
Moderate: Toxic friendship
Minor: Vomit and Cancer
nixieba25f's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.75
I found the pacing to be a slog, the characters flimsy, stupid, and obnoxious, and the writing to be tortured. Every turn was telegraphed entirely too hard. Felt like the author was just doing a poor novelization of a movie we’ve seen a dozen times. Did not work for me on any level.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Murder, Child death, Death, Drug use, Gaslighting, Gore, Kidnapping, Sexism, Toxic friendship, and Violence
Minor: Abandonment, Classism, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, and Terminal illness
melaniereadsbooks's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Teen for an arc of this book.
After being waitlisted at her dream college for filmmaking, Alex and her friends come up with the idea to create her short film in Prahova at the castle of Vlad Dracul. With the help of an actress, they make their way to the castle...but everything turns out wrong when the power goes out, the adults disappear, and her friends start going missing.
I would say the best part about this book is the interplay of "scene descriptions" between chapters, including information from the script, the investigation, and other elements. The rest of it was a little boring and predictable, but still fun to read. This is the book equivalent of a slasher film. I think this would have been better if the ending hadn't been so predictable and the main character hadn't been described one way for most of the plot, then changed at the end. The end part of the character was interesting, but the way Alex was depicted for the majority of the book was just bland and sad.
Also...none of the side characters were interesting. So that was sad.
After being waitlisted at her dream college for filmmaking, Alex and her friends come up with the idea to create her short film in Prahova at the castle of Vlad Dracul. With the help of an actress, they make their way to the castle...but everything turns out wrong when the power goes out, the adults disappear, and her friends start going missing.
I would say the best part about this book is the interplay of "scene descriptions" between chapters, including information from the script, the investigation, and other elements. The rest of it was a little boring and predictable, but still fun to read. This is the book equivalent of a slasher film. I think this would have been better if the ending hadn't been so predictable and the main character hadn't been described one way for most of the plot, then changed at the end. The end part of the character was interesting, but the way Alex was depicted for the majority of the book was just bland and sad.
Also...none of the side characters were interesting. So that was sad.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Gore, Sexism, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Drug use
hckilgour's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
So, the beginning kinda had my attention, but also kind of didn’t. About half way through the book when the action picked up… wow did this get hard to put down.
The way everything connects is superbly done. And the twists are so hard to see. Though, the final one, I had a feeling about, though I didn’t call the reasoning.
The thriller aspects are definitely there. Movie buffs will also enjoy this with all the film and director mentions.
My only issues was the case stuff at the end of each chapter. Sometimes they were a good segue into the next chapter, sometimes they weren’t. Personally, I wouldn’t have had them in there at all.
The way everything connects is superbly done. And the twists are so hard to see. Though, the final one, I had a feeling about, though I didn’t call the reasoning.
The thriller aspects are definitely there. Movie buffs will also enjoy this with all the film and director mentions.
My only issues was the case stuff at the end of each chapter. Sometimes they were a good segue into the next chapter, sometimes they weren’t. Personally, I wouldn’t have had them in there at all.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Cursing
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