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hauntedantiqueshop'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
2.75
I don’t like that Arnold is just… some guy.
I also didn’t love the doppelgänger aspect. I didn’t like it in the movie Lake Mungo (you can tell it inspired most of this book) and I really don’t think it works here the way he was intending. Going from a ghostly supernatural theme to every day true crime then adding in the doppelgänger randomly, it really didn’t mesh well for me.
All that being said, I did actually like it. I just wish it had been taken in a different direction.
Graphic: Alcohol and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Alcoholism, Death of parent, Murder, and Car accident
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Toxic friendship
jess2obsess's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Child death, Toxic friendship, Car accident, Grief, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Stalking
Moderate: Child abuse, Murder, Death of parent, Mental illness, Violence, Death, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Drug abuse and Drug use
phou's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
Many people thought the ending didn't pay off, but I think the opposite... I have this tendency of loving Paul Tremblay's endings regardless of how controversial they are, they are just perfect for me.
TCATEOTW is still my personal favorite Tremblay book, but I'm sure whether I enjoyed AHFOG or this book more, i definitely disliked somethings (mostly the blog entries) about AHFOG but it was SO GOOD overall while I didn't dislike anything about this book, just that it dragged (you have to power through it for a bit) and in fact like I've mentioned several times now the last third was perfect, couldn't put it down from then on.
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Blood, Grief, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Body horror, and Child death
Minor: Religious bigotry, Vomit, and Suicide attempt
killmoore_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I struggled through the first 2/3 of this, and almost put it down a handful of times. It's repetitive, the characters are shallow, and the dialog feels forced. The 70 or so pages of escalation are well done, and I loved the weaved interrogation format, but it fell so flat at the end that I shut the book -angry-, repeating the last line out loud, to myself.
This is the first Tremblay novel I've read, and while I still plan on reading Head Full of Ghosts, I'm nowhere near as excited as I was before reading this. A previous review hit the nail on the head - R.L. Stein trying way too hard to be Dickens.
Graphic: Grief, Blood, Body horror, Death of parent, Mental illness, Violence, Cursing, Murder, Stalking, Alcohol, Child death, Death, and Car accident
louisegraveyard'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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Violence, Toxic friendship, Mental illness, Torture, Physical abuse, Murder, Addiction, Alcohol, Medical content, Grief, Gore, and Body horror
Moderate: Car accident