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fernicanus's review against another edition
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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? Yes
4.0
morgob's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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
4.5
I think I'd like to give this a 4.5, if I may. Holy shit! This book scared the heck out of me! At first glance, it's a ghost story. Peeking under the hood, it's a traumatic horror story about mental illness and a dysfunctional family. Look a little further, and it... might be a ghost story??? This was kind of like Babadook but more messed up. Kind of predictable, but in unimportant ways. I don't know if I believe Merry or not!! I'd like to believe she is innocent, but I also don't want this to be completely not a ghost story. Caught me on my biases on this one. I hoped the dad did it. I wanted the dad to be the villain! What does that say? I personally appreciated all the pop culture references throughout. Goldbug made me so happy (at first). And I almost shit my pants when I saw the name Navidson. I'm glad he said something in the endnotes, otherwise I would've thought the House was haunting me. Very creepy read. I'm so glad I could do it in one day, otherwise it would've kept me up at night. It still might! Cheers to the nightmares!
jhigginbottom's review against another edition
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 thought this was going to be more of a past to present setting, but it was almost entirely set in the past which I did not love. I also didn't feel there to be any need to have the blog portion or really even the present portion outside of the reveal and some references. I would have DNFed but I didn't have anything else to read and I wanted horror. This whole thing felt unfinished and jumbled together in a way that wasn't super pleasant to read. I also felt it SUPER weird to somewhat end up giving the audience a reason to dismiss people with real disorders like schizophrenia as just being possessed or faking it. Very gross and not helpful.
bobbiejowoo's review against another edition
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Did I like this book?
Honestly...I have no idea. I certainly didn't hate it, but I'm not sure I liked it either? I listened to the audio and the narrator was *AMAZING* I think if it weren't for their stellar performance I'd have probably DNFed this book. I know for a fact if I eyeball read this one it 100% would've been a DNF.
I can say for sure really enjoyed Karen's podcast-y bits in this book- her energy and sarcasm were so much fun. The rest of the book, however, was really kind of slow and boring. It really ramps up in the last chapter or two and if the book had that much energy throughout I'd have loved it.
I completely understand the love for this one and also the hate. The "ambiguity" of the ending seems to be something that is very divisive amongst readers, I kind of enjoyed it. I really enjoyed this books take on the exorcism, the Catholic Church, and the exploration of someone with a mental illness.
I think, maybe, I did like this one?
Honestly...I have no idea. I certainly didn't hate it, but I'm not sure I liked it either? I listened to the audio and the narrator was *AMAZING* I think if it weren't for their stellar performance I'd have probably DNFed this book. I know for a fact if I eyeball read this one it 100% would've been a DNF.
I can say for sure really enjoyed Karen's podcast-y bits in this book- her energy and sarcasm were so much fun. The rest of the book, however, was really kind of slow and boring. It really ramps up in the last chapter or two and if the book had that much energy throughout I'd have loved it.
I completely understand the love for this one and also the hate. The "ambiguity" of the ending seems to be something that is very divisive amongst readers, I kind of enjoyed it. I really enjoyed this books take on the exorcism, the Catholic Church, and the exploration of someone with a mental illness.
I think, maybe, I did like this one?
thekittennook's review
2.0
Honestly I expect a little more from this book. It was recommended by TikTok (I know
meredithlegare's review against another edition
5.0
Creeping fear
This book is not going to make you jump at shadows or scream or anything like that, but if you love a good psychological, Gothic, haunting vibe in your horror, then you'll probably love this. It definitely draws from classic horror writers & has a great non-ending ending that I love, as well as hitting you in the chest with the plot. I like how it's told through multiple styles, and I love a horror told through a child's perspective. It's funny because even though the narrator is recalling past events, it seems that she still has that same childlike mentality and imagination and understanding of the world that we usually lose when we grow up. Plus, the blog's breakdown of events, while a bit heavy handed, definitely is good for people who are newer to the analytic side of the genre. All in all, I really enjoyed it and would definitely read more of his books in the future!
This book is not going to make you jump at shadows or scream or anything like that, but if you love a good psychological, Gothic, haunting vibe in your horror, then you'll probably love this. It definitely draws from classic horror writers & has a great non-ending ending that I love, as well as hitting you in the chest with the plot. I like how it's told through multiple styles, and I love a horror told through a child's perspective. It's funny because even though the narrator is recalling past events, it seems that she still has that same childlike mentality and imagination and understanding of the world that we usually lose when we grow up. Plus, the blog's breakdown of events, while a bit heavy handed, definitely is good for people who are newer to the analytic side of the genre. All in all, I really enjoyed it and would definitely read more of his books in the future!
woahwhatthe's review against another edition
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
4.0
helloclarisse's review against another edition
5.0
I really enjoyed this book!! I heard about it on reddit and supposedly it was super scary, but I didn’t really think so when reading it. I thought the story was an interesting concept and I liked the way it was written.
about a girl who’s retelling the story of when she was eight and her family starred in a reality tv show about demonic possession. her sister is possessed… or has some kind of mental illness, and are filmed by an in-house camera crew, along with cinematic re-enactments and confessionals.
the story also switches to a “blog post” format where someone dissects each episode of the show, showing both the main character’s perspective of what happened as well as what the viewers at home saw. which was nice because can you really trust the narration of an eight year old?
I would definitely recommend this to others.
about a girl who’s retelling the story of when she was eight and her family starred in a reality tv show about demonic possession. her sister is possessed… or has some kind of mental illness, and are filmed by an in-house camera crew, along with cinematic re-enactments and confessionals.
the story also switches to a “blog post” format where someone dissects each episode of the show, showing both the main character’s perspective of what happened as well as what the viewers at home saw. which was nice because can you really trust the narration of an eight year old?
I would definitely recommend this to others.
emrodav's review against another edition
2.0
Unfortunately, this one just fell short.
Possession stories can be hard to make interesting, because how do you put a spin on a trope that has entries as iconic as The Exorcist?
Paul Tremblay's attempt is...not even really an attempt. What he does instead is create a mishmash of pop culture references (that are then painfully and unnecessarily pointed out to the reader and dissected in Karen's blog entries), flat characters (literally tell me more than one remarkable thing about each character - you can't), and barely thrilling attempts at horror.
I will give Tremblay some points for the ending, which I find intriguing. But that was too little too late for me.
I will probably try another book by Tremblay, just to see if they get better, but I won't have high hopes.
Possession stories can be hard to make interesting, because how do you put a spin on a trope that has entries as iconic as The Exorcist?
Paul Tremblay's attempt is...not even really an attempt. What he does instead is create a mishmash of pop culture references (that are then painfully and unnecessarily pointed out to the reader and dissected in Karen's blog entries), flat characters (literally tell me more than one remarkable thing about each character - you can't), and barely thrilling attempts at horror.
I will give Tremblay some points for the ending, which I find intriguing. But that was too little too late for me.
I will probably try another book by Tremblay, just to see if they get better, but I won't have high hopes.