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4.07 AVERAGE
4.07 AVERAGE
adventurous
funny
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:
Complicated
Slightly disappointed with this third installment of the Dave and John books. Lacked a bit of momentum for me, and the whole 'John being sex obsessed and describing how big his nob is' sections get pretty boring after the first time.
This one wasn't my favorite. I got really bogged down towards the middle and it took me a while to get back into it.
This entry into the John Dies at the End series represents a maturing of David Wong as a writer. And do not think for a second that I don't get the irony of using 'mature' in a review of a David Wong novel. The eponymous first volume was crazy and wonderful but clearly the result of an ongoing web story. The second, This Book is Full of Spiders..., felt a bit too planned out and fell a bit flat. This third entry has everything great a David Wong book should have while also feeling like a proper, well-constructed novel. You can get a sense of the story from the description and other reviews, so I will not bore you with the details, but will leave you with my final thoughts upon completing the book. "What the hell did I just read?"
I don't think I realized how much I loved this book until I went back and read the prequels. David Wong has grown so much as a writer, and he was so great to begin with.
I _had_ to rate this a 5 star book. It was a moral imperative. Because it felt like every page I would read a passage out loud to my wife, saying "Listen to this!" The wildly imaginative ideas are just so out there, so funny, so fun. Yes, it's ridiculous. That's a huge amount of the fun. Highly recommended to people who like to laugh at funny horror stories. I've read over 50 books this year, and I figure the best 5 or so probably deserve 5 stars...
Shapeshifter parasites posing as kids that people didn't have because they're really larvae intent on feeding on their fake parents by imbedding memories into their brains right before they eat them? And a hotel full of violent bikers looking for their lost kids who they never really had, a navy seal willing to kill anyone standing in the way of him rescuing his fake larvae daughter, shadowy men in shadowy masks, and indestructible FBI (maybe?) agents. And a Batmantis. And lots of memory loss. Lots going on and it all works...
This book was definitely confusing but in a fun way. Lots of visuals that would make for a great movie adaptation. I had to reread constantly because the story line was constantly moving all over the place. Keep an open mind while reading, it’s intriguing.
