Reviews with content warning for Death - Benny Rose, the Cannibal King

Reviews tagging 'Death'

Benny Rose, the Cannibal King by Hailey Piper

7 reviews

rachelunabridged's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

minimicropup's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Assertive. Vibrant. Hungry.

🇺🇸🎃 Set in Blackwood, Vermont on a stormy 1980s Halloween night.

A group of teen friends plan to frighten a new classmate using the local legend of Benny Rose at a Halloween party, but they’re in for an unplanned night of scares.

—

🐺Growls, Howls, and Tail Wags🐕

🤩 I loved the writing style. It’s atmospheric and subtle. Not in your face but felt all-encompassing as I got drawn into the story. It also captured those real feels from being a teen, hanging out with friends, and all the Halloween vibes.

👍 The characters are each given a voice and we see their perspectives with a mix of third person narration and the observations of their friend, Desiree. The dialogues sounded natural, the way people actually talk, so it was easy to follow since each character had their own style.

😨 I like the way the town legend is incorporated into the story. There’s no cackling, scheming, contrived ‘Big Bad’. Benny Rose has a back story beyond the legend and felt like a real town legend.

😳 I hate to admit I felt for a group of ‘bad’ people. My introvert self often has those “no kids allowed, they’re loud and annoying” feels and I MIGHT have been cheering for them if it wasn’t for the fact that they author wrote teen perspectives in such an authentic way that I remembered what it was like to be loud and annoying.

🫶 The world-building was perfection for me. I had a sense of the houses and community layout so I didn’t lose where everyone was when thing got intense and action ramped up. It’s show, not tell so the community unfolds gradually depending where the characters are. Like, you know how when you walk into someone’s house for the first time and you notice where a kitchen or bathroom is, and the smells and decorations? It’s like that but not overly detailed, just the natural way someone would observe their surroundings when they first take them in. So I don’t think you’ll be bored to tears by detail if you’re not an imaginations reader.

😱 Initially the suspense is figuring out what’s going on and how to get to safety. Then it’s fight-for-your-life escape, hide, figure out the lore and defeat the big bad energy, but it doesn’t lose the atmospheric immersive quality in the process.

😃 It isn’t a trope-y teen slasher horror even when it seemed to be heading that way. The escape scenes aren’t contrived or convenient, but the creature is cunning and dangerous so it’s truly hard to outwit it. And we find out how the creature is so good at figuring out where they’re hiding.

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Mood Reading Match Up:

Small town dark and stormy Halloween night
Creepy retirement community
Escape from a crazed killer, creature-feature slashe
Show-not-tell themes and commentary on coming-of-age friendship, the vulnerability of youth, biases against teenagers (especially girls), toxic introversion (😅), and the dark kernels of truth in local urban legends

Content Heads-Up: Natural disaster (flooding). Diverse skin colours and races. Death. Body horror and gore. Cannibalism. Fire. Familial rejection and murder. Loss of a friend, loss of a partner, loss of a parent. Car accident.

Format: Kindle Unlimited

😱 This was one of my most captivating reads of 2023

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monstersinspace's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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ratchel_l's review

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dark tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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theliteraryhooker's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

If you're after an 80s slasher in book form, this is the one for you! A great quick read with characters you can't help but like, and characters you can't help but hate. And of course, Benny Rose makes for a deeply creepy boogeyman.

Content Warnings

jorjor_bookcorner's review against another edition

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adventurous tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

leahrosereads's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

The basics
Enjoyment: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Plot: ⭐⭐⭐.5
Characters: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Pacing: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Writing: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

What I loved
This was a gory, gross ghost story that's perfect for Halloween! I really liked the characters, even though a few started as bullies of sorts. Though this could've all been avoided if one of them was honest with their friends. The ending bit was pretty graphic, and once again, I'm thankful that I have aphantasia and can't picture anything in my mind.

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