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hydecircus's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Child death, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Pedophilia, Racism, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Animal death, Death of parent, Blood, Child abuse, Classism, Death, Suicide attempt, Violence, Drug abuse, Gore, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Classism, Alcohol, Colonisation, Grief, Incest, and Car accident
readingwithkaitlyn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Body horror, Gun violence, Murder, Death, Child death, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, and Grief
Moderate: Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, Racism, Medical content, Mental illness, Self harm, Religious bigotry, Emotional abuse, Classism, Torture, and Animal death
Minor: Alcoholism, Rape, Genocide, Sexual content, Pandemic/Epidemic, Pedophilia, Car accident, Excrement, Alcohol, Confinement, Sexual assault, Vomit, Forced institutionalization, Pregnancy, Suicide, Abandonment, and Ableism
danaslitlist's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
I wasn't sure how well this book would do in wrapping up the series and tying all the pieces together. Many a fan of books has experienced the pain of the final installment not living up to what was promised. However, I was beyond pleased and satisfied with this book....even if the bears were a surprise. This has to be the most off the rails book in the trilogy and I honestly believe that it took Stephen Graham Jones' talents to pull it off. In someone else hands, I don't see it falling into place correctly as it did in Mr. Jones.
The core of this story is facing demons and the successes and failures of ones past. And the way that everything is brought back to the beginning, the way the parallels are set up was beyond satisfying.
The Angel of Indian Lake kicks off with one of the most intriguing opening lines I've experienced and doesn't slow down from there at all. Reuniting with Jade, and by extension Stephen Graham Jones, is like being reunited with your best friend who is equally obsessed with slasher films as you are. The entire first chapter is a solid reintroduction to Proofrock and the absolute horrors that living there entails. I didn't think it was possible to really be able to love Jade more than I did from book one but there is something beautiful and transformative about Jade in this final installment.
Seeing how much Jade has changed and how much she hasn't is so reminiscent of Sidney Prescott. Jade has changed for the better. She isn't who she was in book one or book two. And yet, her core, her heart is forever Jade Daniels: slasher girl.
To see her trying so hard to NOT be the girl who cried slasher, to see her change who she is in order to survive, all the while her being completely oblivious to the fact that those choices and those changes ARE how a final girl behaves. That's how a final girl survives.
Jade has always been the final girl in defiance of the trope: not just because she defies the stereotypes (she's not the virgin, she's not the good girl, she's not the white girl) but because the way she survives is by defiance. We have to look at this trilogy how we would look at a slasher movie franchise. The events of the first two acts (books one and two) have now shaped our hero into the final girl. She has emerged.
Just like the rest of the series, The Angel of Indian Lake is a love letter to horror movies. This book is meant for the movie buffs who find themselves inexplicably drawn to slashers, drawn to their stories, and those who feel an understanding for the Jasons and the Carries, just as Jade does.
I truly believe that Jade Daniels will stick with me for the rest of my life and I will be returning to her over and over again.
Graphic: Self harm, Murder, and Gore
Moderate: Gore, Body horror, Medical trauma, Grief, Emotional abuse, Blood, Abandonment, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Child death