Reviews

Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare

darkfuckedgelord's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

2.75

thelibrarian390's review against another edition

2.0

Definitely a slasher. Very... weird. I feel like there is a ton of back story we aren't privy to which makes everything feel very abrupt. It would probably make an ok horror movie, but as a book I found it rather... meh.

kaleereads's review against another edition

1.0

cringy writing. flat characters. absolutely unbelievable plot even for a slasher. heavy handed political bullshit. weird pacing. i hated everything about this book, basically.

professional_malefail's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny tense medium-paced

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

4.5

whendles's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense fast-paced

4.0

allisonschoneschmetterling's review against another edition

4.0

The beginning of the book is like every classic horror flick- we watch Quinn and her dad move into their new house. We watch Quinn meet her new clique of friends. Then, slowly, things start to get weird. A clown sighting here, an ominous adults-only town hall meeting there, and suddenly WHAM!: a murder. The pacing was on par with a film experience (in my unprofessional opinion) and, I think, that’s what I appreciated the most. A lot of horror books I’ve read lately really relish in the slow, slow, SLOW build up. A lot of atmosphere, a lot of suspense. Clown in a Cornfield has a different kind of suspense. A special, fast-paced suspense that comes from characters being hunted (like, literally) by a homicidal maniac clown.

And it was scary, sure, but in a really enjoyable way. The gore was… actually kind of surprising. You can get away with some crazy stuff in YA, apparently! But it fit the narrative and really drove home the fear- for Quinn et. al and for the reader.

It wasn’t all just fun and scares, though. There’s an undercurrent of politics between the blossoming friendships and killer clowns. That hostility between teens and adults isn’t just manufactured for good dialogue and tension. It’s a mirror image of what’s going on in the world today. Tradition vs modernity. Town hall meetings vs livestreams. Boomers vs Gen Z. And, most importantly, a homicidal clown vs gun-wielding teens.

readingwithkelsey's review against another edition

4.0

Despite it having a weirdly slow start, I ended up really enjoying this one. The plot had everything I have come to expect for a good slasher: small town with some seedy residents, idiotic and oblivious teenagers, a killer with an interesting motivation and a new girl who ends up dealing with the consequences of the town and becoming a final girl. It was fun and campy and exactly what I wanted to read - plus having a clown killer added an additional spooky factor for someone afraid of the red-nose joker (me). But what really surprised me was the amount of gore! Cesare was not afraid to have the stabbiest killer with a really interesting motive. It was a fun twist on classic slasher motivations which I enjoyed. I didn't think I would need to read a sequel when I had first jumped into the book, but now that I'm done, I'm definitely interested to see how this goes.

seesincolour's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.5

t00f_f41rie's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

2.5

lnbeauso's review against another edition

3.0

Decent read. I found it predictable.