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lisa_ann's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
jsantucci's review
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
catra121's review against another edition
4.0
I wish that this had gone a bit darker...but I definitely enjoyed it a lot. Great coming of age type horror story. Looking forward to reading more in this series.
tyler_j's review against another edition
4.75
TW: Homophobia, Guns, Murder, Suicide, Child Abuse, Drunken-ness
This hooked me from the very start and is at times delightfully creepy. I found it captured the wonder of childhood beautifully, with 11 year old Timmy being the main character. I absolutely loved the characters, especially Timmy's parents!
Timmy has a friend named Pete and Pete's father is a bully, something Timmy's parents call out. At times this short story even made me cry (and ultimately it ended up being heart-wrenching).
I found the writing beautiful and atmospheric.
Despite being short I found it touched on several things. The wonder of childhood, an adult being a bully, child abuse, how people think they are entitled to a traumatized child's story that ends up everywhere in the news, even to the point of when they don't get what the want making shit up. Sadly that happens in real life all too often. People don't stop and think of how anyone else feels, they are just desperate for that story!
TW: Fire-personal rant
It reminds me of after my house fire, I went to the hospital (even though I got lucky thanks to my neighbor saving me with a ladder, I had inhaled a bunch of smoke) and some news people ended up coming to the hospital begging for me to tell them what happened. I had a damn breathing mask on my face, had just lost EVERYTHING, my house and everything I owned and some pets, and almost my life, and you want cameras in my face at that moment so you can get your damn story?! FUCK YOU. Ahem....(also the hospital turned them away, thankfully) So yeah, I know people are like that all too well. Their story comes before anyone's trauma...*mumble-rages about people lacking all empathy*
back to the story
I didn't see the twist ending coming and it really fucked me up (in a good way). It's powerful when I thought about it. I can't stop thinking about the entire story.
I loved the writing, the atmosphere, the steady pace and plot, the characters and the messages. Ultimately I found this book a lot more than a short horror story. It was thought-provoking and heart-breaking. I absolutely loved it and can't wait to read more!
This hooked me from the very start and is at times delightfully creepy. I found it captured the wonder of childhood beautifully, with 11 year old Timmy being the main character. I absolutely loved the characters, especially Timmy's parents!
Timmy has a friend named Pete and Pete's father is a bully, something Timmy's parents call out. At times this short story even made me cry (and ultimately it ended up being heart-wrenching).
I found the writing beautiful and atmospheric.
Despite being short I found it touched on several things. The wonder of childhood, an adult being a bully, child abuse, how people think they are entitled to a traumatized child's story that ends up everywhere in the news, even to the point of when they don't get what the want making shit up. Sadly that happens in real life all too often. People don't stop and think of how anyone else feels, they are just desperate for that story!
TW: Fire-personal rant
It reminds me of after my house fire, I went to the hospital (even though I got lucky thanks to my neighbor saving me with a ladder, I had inhaled a bunch of smoke) and some news people ended up coming to the hospital begging for me to tell them what happened. I had a damn breathing mask on my face, had just lost EVERYTHING, my house and everything I owned and some pets, and almost my life, and you want cameras in my face at that moment so you can get your damn story?! FUCK YOU. Ahem....(also the hospital turned them away, thankfully) So yeah, I know people are like that all too well. Their story comes before anyone's trauma...*mumble-rages about people lacking all empathy*
back to the story
I didn't see the twist ending coming and it really fucked me up (in a good way). It's powerful when I thought about it. I can't stop thinking about the entire story.
I loved the writing, the atmosphere, the steady pace and plot, the characters and the messages. Ultimately I found this book a lot more than a short horror story. It was thought-provoking and heart-breaking. I absolutely loved it and can't wait to read more!
shawn_of_the_read's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
edmwdm's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
teetate's review against another edition
5.0
Childhood is our prologue. It is the necessary backstory behind our every adult belief and decision. Mostly, our childhoods are spent in the collection of experience that will define who we become. So what happens to the boy whose childhood is less than ordinary? What happens to the kid whose younger years were spent witnessing violence? Kealan Patrick Burke’s protagonist in The Turtle Boy, Timmy Quinn, is that kid, wandering through his childhood with ghosts and villains edging in on him.
In The Turtle Boy, Timmy is all set for a mediocre summer with his best friend Pete– shoveling deep holes to dig their way to China, fishing down at a creepy pond and avoiding the railroad tracks where a pair of siblings met with tragedy. About that pond? Well, it’s hard to fish when you’ve broken your brand new pole, but the eerie vibe and shadowed surroundings seem too great a temptation for two bored boys looking for adventure.
Myers Pond boasts a wide assortment of delicious fears for a young boy–turtles, ticks, chiggers and, of course, The Turtle Boy himself. But this boy isn’t like Timmy or Pete. He isn’t like anyone the boys have ever seen. He’s pasty pale and wears dingy gray trousers and has clumps of hair missing, exposing his raw, red scalp. And, there’s his odd habit of letting the turtles feed off his feet.
When Timmy and Pete meet the boy, they are simultaneously frightened and fascinated by him. But The Turtle Boy, though he seems menacing and fearsome, isn’t the real villain of the story. In fact, the name of the true culprit is withheld, but Burke leaves the reader with great assumption about who the true “big bad” in The Turtle Boy truly is.
All parts thriller and horror and reminiscent of Stephen King’s The Body, The Turtle Boy leaves you guessing. It’s obvious Pete has a terribly abusive father and for a lesser writer, the reader would ultimately assume the fault for all evil deeds in the book lay at Pete’s drunk father’s hands. But Burke is better than that and leaves the reader to wonder, expects him to assume and then second guess that assumption.
Timmy, like the Turtle Boy, isn’t simply a scared kid who got mixed up in a murder mystery. He isn’t even a victim. Ultimately, Timmy becomes the necessary vessel for Burke to imagine the depths of childhood and the understanding of when that childhood changes. Timmy sees beyond reality, sees with his heart the ever-changing facets of his life and the truth of the past. He is able to move beyond the curtain, into the realm of the supernatural and witness how the Turtle Boy came to Myers Pond and the cruelty that brought him there. Like our individual childhoods, the veil is lifted and Burke allows Timmy to move forward (to a Timmy Quinn series, no less), but also into an age of development and understanding. Not so different from real life, it is an understanding that each of us must undertake.
*****
Review originally posted on http://bestdamncreativewritingblog.com/ October 2010
In The Turtle Boy, Timmy is all set for a mediocre summer with his best friend Pete– shoveling deep holes to dig their way to China, fishing down at a creepy pond and avoiding the railroad tracks where a pair of siblings met with tragedy. About that pond? Well, it’s hard to fish when you’ve broken your brand new pole, but the eerie vibe and shadowed surroundings seem too great a temptation for two bored boys looking for adventure.
Myers Pond boasts a wide assortment of delicious fears for a young boy–turtles, ticks, chiggers and, of course, The Turtle Boy himself. But this boy isn’t like Timmy or Pete. He isn’t like anyone the boys have ever seen. He’s pasty pale and wears dingy gray trousers and has clumps of hair missing, exposing his raw, red scalp. And, there’s his odd habit of letting the turtles feed off his feet.
When Timmy and Pete meet the boy, they are simultaneously frightened and fascinated by him. But The Turtle Boy, though he seems menacing and fearsome, isn’t the real villain of the story. In fact, the name of the true culprit is withheld, but Burke leaves the reader with great assumption about who the true “big bad” in The Turtle Boy truly is.
All parts thriller and horror and reminiscent of Stephen King’s The Body, The Turtle Boy leaves you guessing. It’s obvious Pete has a terribly abusive father and for a lesser writer, the reader would ultimately assume the fault for all evil deeds in the book lay at Pete’s drunk father’s hands. But Burke is better than that and leaves the reader to wonder, expects him to assume and then second guess that assumption.
Timmy, like the Turtle Boy, isn’t simply a scared kid who got mixed up in a murder mystery. He isn’t even a victim. Ultimately, Timmy becomes the necessary vessel for Burke to imagine the depths of childhood and the understanding of when that childhood changes. Timmy sees beyond reality, sees with his heart the ever-changing facets of his life and the truth of the past. He is able to move beyond the curtain, into the realm of the supernatural and witness how the Turtle Boy came to Myers Pond and the cruelty that brought him there. Like our individual childhoods, the veil is lifted and Burke allows Timmy to move forward (to a Timmy Quinn series, no less), but also into an age of development and understanding. Not so different from real life, it is an understanding that each of us must undertake.
*****
Review originally posted on http://bestdamncreativewritingblog.com/ October 2010
still_reading_sam's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
cafo6's review against another edition
3.0
This was a decent, quick read but the ending left me a little confused. It didn't feel finished, even knowing that there would be short stories and novellas later on. The author gets a little heavy handed with the adjectives sometimes too.