Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

Disappearance at Devil's Rock by Paul Tremblay

2 reviews

hauntedantiqueshop's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

Paul Tremblay……….… my forever frenemy. I like the concept but there are aspects I could have done without.

I read Survivor Song last year and was happily surprised to see it connected to this book! I didn’t realize it until the boys said some of their catch phrases (side note: I hate them. I don’t know that Mr. Tremblay has ever heard teenagers speak to one another). I was already familiar with the boys and liked them, just didn’t know their full backstory. Characters are fine besides the continuous fake teenage boy lingo, the little sister’s weird justification for her actions (especially for an 11 year old), the entire lack of police investigation and procedures is shocking and utterly inconceivable.

I don’t like that Arnold is just… some guy. And the type of guy he is just makes me want to beat him to death like a territorial gorilla. A weird mid 20s man that likes to hang out with and manipulate 13 year old boys? Groundbreaking. I was really hoping he’d actually be the devil (or at least he believed he was) since he had the whole story about Devil’s Rock. That would have been more interesting. But him trying to say that 3 drunk teenagers were the masterminds… Come on. He has religious trauma, let the man believe he’s the devil and he’s there to do the devil’s work.

I also didn’t love the doppelgänger aspect. I didn’t like it in the movie Lake Mungo (you can tell it inspired most of this book) and I really don’t think it works here the way he was intending. Going from a ghostly supernatural theme to every day true crime then adding in the doppelgänger randomly, it really didn’t mesh well for me.


All that being said, I did actually like it. I just wish it had been taken in a different direction.
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uhhlexiconic's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Disappearance at Devil's Rock is a sometimes hard to read look at a family in mourning and the things they do to keep hope in dark times. What is does with atmosphere makes up for the lack of momentum in the proceedings; despite the mystery aspect, many of the clues are 'given'. 
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