Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
dark
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
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Ok so I’ve actually only read The Babsysitter Lives so far, but its so great I have to say something.
This is SGJ maybe at his best— the plot is wild and twisting and interesting… Stranger Things meets a slasher flick. But he’s also taking down white supremacy and colonialism. And unraveling internalized racism. And scaring the shit out of me. And making me cry. And making me remember. And conjuring nostalgia for a time we’ve all almost, but not quite, known. As he notes, in the Acknowledgments, “The way we can ever only know the emotional contours of a single place, finally? I think we might only ever really know the doors and hallways and rickety staircases of a single house, too. That house, for me, is on County Road 1120 in Greenwood, Texas. Just to remember where I’m from, and where I don’t want to have to be again, because I can’t handle the dreams. They would break me, I think.”
This is SGJ maybe at his best— the plot is wild and twisting and interesting… Stranger Things meets a slasher flick. But he’s also taking down white supremacy and colonialism. And unraveling internalized racism. And scaring the shit out of me. And making me cry. And making me remember. And conjuring nostalgia for a time we’ve all almost, but not quite, known. As he notes, in the Acknowledgments, “The way we can ever only know the emotional contours of a single place, finally? I think we might only ever really know the doors and hallways and rickety staircases of a single house, too. That house, for me, is on County Road 1120 in Greenwood, Texas. Just to remember where I’m from, and where I don’t want to have to be again, because I can’t handle the dreams. They would break me, I think.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide
Moderate: Sexual harassment
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3.75 for Killer on the Road, 2.75 for The Babysitter Lives
Killer reads just like a horror movie. It is definitely gruesome at times but unique. Babysitter started out interesting, but then the rules of the haunting/horror got to feeling very loose, like they were being made and remade in the spur of the moment. Was a bit hard to follow, and some of the reasonings just weren't doing it. Still, enjoyed all the twists it gave.
Killer reads just like a horror movie. It is definitely gruesome at times but unique. Babysitter started out interesting, but then the rules of the haunting/horror got to feeling very loose, like they were being made and remade in the spur of the moment. Was a bit hard to follow, and some of the reasonings just weren't doing it. Still, enjoyed all the twists it gave.
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:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Cannibalism, Murder
Moderate: Child death, Torture, Vomit, Death of parent
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
sad
slow-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
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Suicide, Gaslighting
Killer on the road - 4.5 stars - has one of the most memorable, gruesome deaths I’ve ever read!
The babysitter lives - 4 stars - loved the journey but the ending did confuse me
The babysitter lives - 4 stars - loved the journey but the ending did confuse me
Thank you Saga Press and Netgalley for the ARC!
I loved the Killer on the Road, but I didn't like the Babysitter Lives, which puts me in such an interesting review positions. I just think the Killer on the Road was better written, with more stakes and horror aspects that I love. The Babysitter Lives had a lot of unrealistic aspects that I just couldn't move past, and SGJ fell a bit into the classic "men writing women" trope. I think, if I had read The Babysitter Lives prior to Killer on the Road, I would have liked it better, but Killer was just the stronger story.
I loved the Killer on the Road, but I didn't like the Babysitter Lives, which puts me in such an interesting review positions. I just think the Killer on the Road was better written, with more stakes and horror aspects that I love. The Babysitter Lives had a lot of unrealistic aspects that I just couldn't move past, and SGJ fell a bit into the classic "men writing women" trope. I think, if I had read The Babysitter Lives prior to Killer on the Road, I would have liked it better, but Killer was just the stronger story.
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Killer on the Road is an exciting, chaotic read, but The Babysitter Lives is where this collection truly shines. That novella is a genuinely spooky edition to the haunted house genre.