Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare

70 reviews

chezler24's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

3.5

"Quinn took comfort in that. The fact that history bent toward progress, no matter how hard the assholes tried pushing back." (p. 336)

If you want a straightforward slasher to entertain you, then Clown in a Cornfield is the book for you! This book just screams summer slasher!  Quinn's dad uprooted her life to move to the small town of Kettle Springs, Missouri. She wanted to stay invisible and make it to the end of her senior year; however, making it to graduation and actually *surviving* seemed to be a bit more of a challenge. Quinn and her dad accidentally find themselves in the crossfire of a major clash between the older and younger generations of the town. While the slasher and thriller aspects were executed perfectly, I wish the backstory and characterizations had been more fleshed out before getting to the bloody meat of the story. Quinn felt a little bit of a standard final girl, Cole was a popular kid with a sad backstory, and Rust was a loner country kid cast aside by the "popular" kids. I would have loved more time setting up their backstories instead of dealing with the annoying kids who kept shoving cameras into everyone's faces. (I understand why they had to be annoying, but I was slightly over them before the prologue ended.) Regardless, I'm still rounding up to 4 because it felt very much like a slasher I would devour with my friends in the summertime. The book does leave room for a clear sequel so I'm interested to see where book two and the eventual book three will take our remaining cast of characters. 

3.5/5 stars rounded up to 4 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Death, Gore, and Child death

Moderate: Addiction, Gun violence, Alcohol, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Police brutality, Death of parent, and Suicidal thoughts

bowlsofpasta's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Death, Child death, Murder, Mass/school shootings, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Alcohol, Death of parent, and Drug abuse

riflelizards's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

2.75

heavy handed but otherwise enjoyable

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Gun violence, Violence, Death, Death of parent, and Blood

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, and Fire/Fire injury

hrb7917'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Murder, Blood, and Genocide

Minor: Drug abuse and Death of parent

wganas4's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Body horror, Murder, and Police brutality

Moderate: Grief, Kidnapping, Cursing, Medical trauma, Medical content, Sexual harassment, Addiction, and Death of parent

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Cancer, Suicide, Bullying, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, and Car accident

applerose301's review against another edition

funny 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death of parent, Alcohol, Kidnapping, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

fr0gsonmushrooms'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
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

At first, I wasn't excited to be reading "Clown in a Cornfield" because I thought it was just another YA thriller, but I found myself enjoying it once I got past the first third of the book. I especially enjoyed the gore, which was totally unexpected. The story was fun and way better than I thought it was going to be.

I wanted Janet and Quinn to get together (especially after reading Janet's POV), but I guess that's not the case. On the other hand, I was surprised that Rust and Cole ended up together. Usually author's drop hints about a possible relationship but the hints for these two was really reading between the lines. I still want to know if they were secretly dating or if was that there has always been feelings and they just confessed at an interesting moment. I like the second possibility better so that’s what I’m going to believe.

I don't know how to feel about this ending. It definitely sets up the book for a sequel, but the epilogue felt like it was trying too hard. Nevertheless, I'm still probably going to buy the book to annotate and also read the other two books in the series.

This was the first time I digitally read a book so that played a role in me taking so long to read it (also the fact books over 400 pages intimidate me lol), but I still recommend this book to anyone looking for a good thriller.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Death, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Alcohol and Death of parent

kikis_a_book_wh0r3's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

This was a really good story. Adam Cesar definitely keeps you on your toes and gives an amazing anxiety ridden tale of small town folks going crazy. Ultimately I feel like this would be a plan that MAGA would try to pull. Scary to think about. Its genocide but kept local? Lol I love that the ending sets it up for a sequel in true movie ending form!! A perfect nod to the classic slasher films. The audio performance was great as well! Definitely going to be checking out 2 & 3!!! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Gore, Mass/school shootings, Genocide, Body horror, Confinement, Gun violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Violence, Grief, Police brutality, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, and Bullying

dblue236's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

 The title and cover tell you pretty much everything you need to know about this book. It's part teen slasher, part satire, all gore, and I honestly kind of loved it despite itself. It reminded me of the movies I loved as a teen, and the "reveal" toward the end that made it feel more like satire added to the fun, rather than detracting from it. This definitely didn't move any mountains, but that wasn't the intent and sometimes that's okay. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Murder, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Blood, Death, Death of parent, and Violence

Moderate: Drug use, Addiction, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Suicide, and Drug abuse

Minor: Confinement, Cursing, Alcohol, and Vomit

ruthypoo2's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This is a fast-paced story with a very good menacing slasher versus high school kids premise. And hey, there’s a clown involved and there’s not much that’s scarier than a clown showing up in your house at night… with or without a knife!

The story primarily revolves around a group of high school students, most of whom are entitled, immature, disrespectful, and reckless in their behavior. I imagine that’s requisite to understand why they might end up in the crosshairs of a psycho killer, but it’s also pivotal to the storyline. After the main character, teenager Quinn, and her physician father move from the city to a small rural town, she finds herself accidentally falling in with a group of popular and influential high school peers, the aforementioned teenagers whose behavior is more often than not an annoyance to the adults and authorities in the little town.

The book’s timeline is set during the town’s Founder’s Day celebration, which includes a parade and festival set near a cornfield. Unfortunately, this year’s festivities include a serious dose of revenge and murder with the town’s teen population being dealt most of the damage. Are all the characters likable? Nope, but many are good-hearted people, like Quinn and her father, and the story is packed full of action as they fight to survive Frendo, the town’s clown  mascot, recently turned into a killing machine.

I enjoyed this well-written story and felt invested in the outcome of everyone, even the snotty and arrogant problem teens. There are a lot of adult perspectives presented throughout the story so it’s definitely not solely focused on the teens’ experiences. I listened to the audiobook and thought the narrator, Jesse Vilinsky, did a great job presenting the story and portraying a wide range of characters.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Murder, and Blood

Minor: Death of parent