Reviews with content warning for Child death - Night of the Mannequins

Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Night of the Mannequins by Stephen Graham Jones

31 reviews

cheye13's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I think I took too long to read this one, and the tension slipped right through my fingers. I'm not typically a horror fan, but I didn't find this all that scary. I'd call it more of a psychological thriller.

I did go in without having read the full synopsis, which I think really helped. I quite enjoyed the front half, not seeing a lot of the reveals coming. I really appreciated the nuances within the content: Sawyer is very much an Indigenous teen boy with a very specific experience, but he also has a very Everyman vibe to him. He has parents, friends, hopes, dreams – just like everyone else. It feels like any of his friends could step into his role and the story would be the same, which brings the mannequin concept full circle, imo.

The writing style and voice is very unique; it fits the story so well and is very fun to read. It's very evocative of a film and also a campfire/sleepover story, but still takes moments to use written word to full effect. There are a few sentences that stopped me short to either send a chill down my spine or an ache through my heart.

I think the writing style was spectacular, but the brevity and predictability of the storyline crossed with the universailty of the main perspective didn't really let me sink my claws in.

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lilybear3's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

The writing style just wasn't my cup of tea. I understand it's from a teenager's POV and he's unreliable, but the wordiness and awkwardness got in the way of the flow for me. I wanted to like this more and the title is super interesting. I love that it was like a slasher story, but it missed the mark. I didn't find it as funny as other people have said it is, but that's subjective. I was so confused about the ending, I read it twice but still didn't understand what was going on. I do agree with others that the ending was abrupt. The story is fine for what it was but I didn't live up to what I wanted it to be.

if the title is night of the mannequins (plural), why is there only one? I guess because Sawyer becomes the mannequin?? Idk I wanted more mannequins lol

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booksthatburn's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

NIGHT OF THE MANNEQUINS is an absorbing thriller, expertly balanced and engrossing until the last moments.

Sawyer is a careful but unreliable narrator. He faithfully tells what happened, but his idea of what is literally happening versus what he's merely convinced is happening leaves a lot of very unsettling possibilities open. By the end I settled on an answer, but part of me still thinks the second option is viable. It shook me on a fundamental level and I’m still thinking about it days later. The story is told mostly linearly, and those small deviations from linearity start to add up as Sawyer gradually decides to tell backstory when it becomes necessary (but usually well after it’s first relevant).

It’s fantastic, I loved every minute! I can’t recommend it highly enough.

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vkitoria's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

fun and fast read, i liked it more than “my heart is a chainsaw” probably just because it was so short!

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oinkoink's review against another edition

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dark funny fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.25

This novella is somehow predictable and absolutely unpredictable at the same time, but in a way that works. I'm not sure how to even describe the narrator, but boy is he a character. SGJ is great at doing that. His writing is great to listen to in audiobook format (maybe even better than reading in print), as it often reads like it's meant to be told around a campfire as an oral story.

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