Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare

20 reviews

hunkydory's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Police brutality, Death of parent, and Drug abuse

yungtimberpackwolf's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Medical content, Death, and Blood

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Drug abuse

chloseencounter's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes

3.5

I picked this book up skeptical of what it may actually be like considering it’s a YA novel about a clown and I was more than pleasantly surprised. As a fan of the slasher genre I never would’ve expected a book labeled YA to be so outwardly violent but I thought some of these kills were gnarly and fun, I also enjoyed that it become almost survival horror as we watched our main character turn into an absolute badass. This book was quick paced and exciting but also an interesting statement about how generations progress and change but sometimes our elders can’t let the old ways go.

There was even a bit where the sheriff blamed the teens of the towns bad behavior on “growing up too fast” even though I’m sure we’re all aware that children really only grow up too fast when they’re made to (usually by adults in their lives). Cole makes a wonderful statement about how the generations before him laid out the world they live in now and then are angry at the children for learning to live in it in their own way.

I will definitely be picking up the sequel to this novel asap.

I also could not have been happier when they revealed Rust and Cole had feelings for each other, I kept wondering what the hell was up with them but that was so much better a conclusion than I expected.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Gore, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Police brutality, Violence, and Body horror

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Gun violence, Police brutality, Death, Confinement, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Kidnapping, Violence, and Blood

Minor: Police brutality, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Grief, Violence, Confinement, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, and Suicidal thoughts

mblanke's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful tense fast-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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Drug use, Death of parent, Child death, Blood, Suicide, Police brutality, Medical content, Drug abuse, Death, and Alcohol

jpitts's review against another edition

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

4.0

Reread, March 1st, 2023
Bumped this down a star because the initial enthusiasm I had the first time wore off a bit on my second read, and I noticed more of the cracks. (Like, nitpick: the overuse of referring to characters by their full first and last names in the narration was pretty clunky)

But this is still such a banger. Just a super well-written piece of slasher fiction. Cesare is especially good at descriptions that make the setting come alive and the events of the book feel real and visceral. There are fantastic moments of tension building interspersed with the action and violence.

Read it guys, it's fun times.

Original review, April 15th, 2022
This was a super fun and exciting teen slasher. I'm giving it 5 stars not because it was perfect, but because it was everything I wanted and needed it to be. Interesting, fast paced (once the slashing starts, at least), filled with twists and some wild slasher violence. I was never bored, never felt like it was dragging on too long. It was just a blast!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Gun violence, Violence, and Gore

Moderate: Addiction, Death of parent, and Medical content

Minor: Alcohol

theliteraryhooker's review against another edition

dark 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Gore, Blood, and Death of parent

Moderate: Drug abuse, Vomit, and Medical content

lee_brahms's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Blood, Medical content, and Violence

Moderate: Drug abuse, Gun violence, Addiction, Gore, Suicide, Toxic friendship, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcohol, Police brutality, Vomit, Animal death, and Mass/school shootings

werewolvesnotswearwolves's review against another edition

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Murder, Police brutality, Toxic friendship, and Mass/school shootings

Moderate: Medical content, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

Minor: Racism

_chelseachelsea's review against another edition

dark funny 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

4.0

Did you guys know it’s possible for a book to pull off a jump scare??

I finished Clown in a Cornfield in one night. Cesare is smart - he knows you picked up this book because you want to see some clowns, some corn, and some gore, so he doesn’t waste much time. Even though the fast pace makes the characters’ motivations a bit of a stretch in terms of believability, it ultimately works in the story’s favor. You get what you came for, and the book truly delivers on creepiness and slashing.

I preferred the smaller moments of horror (one person being stalked by the killer) over the chaotic, large-scale action that dominates most of the last 2/3 of the book, but again, Cesare knows what he’s trying to deliver. This isn’t a slow-burn slasher, it’s CLOWN IN A CORNFIELD, baby.

There’s a message to the violence of CIAC that’s not very subtle and a little too spelled-out, but given the book’s YA themes, I’m going to be forgiving there. This is a scary story about rebellion, revenge, and rage, and even when the plot’s pacing is somewhat uneven, it never loses sight of those ideas.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Medical trauma, Police brutality, Suicide, and Violence

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Cancer, Car accident, Confinement, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Medical content

iggi_dee's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gore, Blood, Excrement, and Death

Moderate: Addiction and Medical content