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_bunnyreads_'s review
5.0
Graphic: Blood and Murder
Moderate: Gore
Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death
ilaxaria's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Ableism, Death, Gore, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Murder, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, and Alcohol
Minor: Animal death
mfrisk's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.75
It reminds me a lot of AHS: 1984 and any number of cheesy slasher movies. There is one small twist in here but otherwise this book is a pretty straightforward and fun read so don’t go in with expectations of huge thrills and you should be able to enjoy this popcorn flick of a book.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol
Moderate: Vomit
Minor: Body shaming
ankellogg's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Murder
corikane's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Violence and Blood
Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Vomit
alilbitofmonica's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Vomit
cat12345's review
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Fatphobia, Racism, Abandonment, and Alcohol
nickoliver's review against another edition
- 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
At first, it wasn’t all too impressive. It switched between two different timelines - 1989, where the first massacre took place, and thirty years later in 2019 with the aforementioned plot line of a bunch of teens apparently never having seen a horror movie in their lives and going to a creepy carnival. There were also several POVs, from both victims and murderers. While I did find that intriguing, especially spending time in the head of people whose deaths you immediately got to witness, it also made it a bit too chaotic at times, for it jumped around a bit too often.
Additionally, the victims were lacking in characterization. They died before I even got a feel for them, so seeing them get murdered was less emotional and intense than it could’ve been. At most, they fit a single stereotype, like the nerd, the bad guy, and the jock. (Really made me feel like I was on the set of a bloodier version of The Breakfast Club lmao.) Then again, the book was probably simply too short to flesh out every single character, since there were about a dozen of them. And it was clear that Guess didn’t really care about the stupid teens as much as she did about the murderers and their motives.
At the end of the day, though, I still would’ve liked the murders to be a bit more intense, the hunt a bit longer. As it was, the teens were dead before I even got the chance to blink. In true slasher fashion, though, they did die brutally, be it by hanging from a Ferris wheel, getting their throats slashed, or being stabbed multiple times. There was certainly a bit gore in the story, which was still kind of fun.
Lastly, for a book with less than 200 pages, there were way too many spelling errors. It was honestly kind of embarrassing, and a bit annoying. I even found one in the synopsis on the back of the book. Did it land on no editor's desk before being published? I’ve read un-beta’d fanfiction with less obvious mistakes than that.
However, despite all of my grumbling, I did overall really enjoy it. Because like I said, I was taken by surprise in spite of the seemingly stereotypical slasher synopsis. Thanks to its heaviest focus being on the murderers and their relationship with each other, plus the fact that they were more fleshed-out than the people they murdered, I was rooting for them rather than the victims. It was an interesting, thrilling twist on the slasher genre. I mean, you don’t usually watch slashers with the urge to see the bad guy win (unless you're into that), though the lack of a final girl did make it steer away even more from feeling slasher-y.
I also read the book very quickly, in one sitting on a random Sunday evening. I’d planned to just get a little bit into it, but then I got hooked immediately and couldn’t stop until I was finished with it. It had quite the speed to it that it didn’t let go off right up until the end. I kinda want to read more books like this now.
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse and Grief
Minor: Animal cruelty and Alcohol
readingsofaslinky's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Gore, Blood, Kidnapping, and Murder
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, and Racism
the_grimdragon's review against another edition
4.0
Nine souls are needed for sacrifice
Behind these gates lay dread and fear
Doomed are those who enter here."
Part of Unnerving Magazine’s Rewind or Die series, Cirque Berserk roller skated into my heart with slashery delight & 80's pop culture references that soared across the neon splattered pages!
Jumping around from the 80's to present-day, Cirque Berserk appears to be a decrepit carnival from the outside, but inside it's home to a group of teenagers who made a dangerous deal 30 years before, one where they will remain their current age forever.
::shudder:: Stay a teenager forever? NO FUCKING THANK YOU!
Neon signs & carousels, haunted houses & roller rinks, rituals & shitbag abusive father's, urban legends & subverted tropes. Needless to say, some gnarly shit happens!
Fucking hell this was good!
Graphic: Gore, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Racism