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jocelyn62013's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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
4.0
I highly recommend the audiobook even though he has chapters well over an hour long. Something about listening to Jade's narration is special. I am also glad I was switching between audio and ebook though because the Baker Solutions memos often referenced files that were named with strings of letters and numbers.
I think by book 3 you know how you feel about this story even if you don't have words for it.
I was highly confused often, but still found myself rooting for Jade and Letha. I honestly find myself wanting to reread the whole trilogy because my slasher/ horror knowledge is not deep enough to catch every nuance thrown at us for clarification. Jade's journey will not be for everyone. If you want clear cut answers and a reliable narrator, that's not this type of horror novel (rabbit trails abound here). However, this book is clearly the end of the trilogy and it feels right.
I think by book 3 you know how you feel about this story even if you don't have words for it.
I was highly confused often, but still found myself rooting for Jade and Letha. I honestly find myself wanting to reread the whole trilogy because my slasher/ horror knowledge is not deep enough to catch every nuance thrown at us for clarification. Jade's journey will not be for everyone. If you want clear cut answers and a reliable narrator, that's not this type of horror novel (rabbit trails abound here). However, this book is clearly the end of the trilogy and it feels right.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pedophilia, Abandonment, and Gore
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, and Addiction
Minor: Medical content and Suicide attempt
readingwithkaitlyn's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-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? No
4.5
Content Warnings
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
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-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
5.0
First I want to say a HUGE thank you to the publisher for reaching out to me and offering an E-ARC of The Angel of Indian Lake, I truly appreciate the gift of getting to read one of my most anticipated reads of 2024 early!
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Murder, and Gore
Moderate: Gore, Body horror, Medical trauma, Grief, Emotional abuse, Blood, Abandonment, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Child death
edoherty's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
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? It's complicated
4.75
I love that I was able to access an advance copy of this book, because waiting for it has been painful. On the other hand, I now have no one to scream with about it because it’s not coming out for three more months.
It’s worth screaming about. It’s even more painful to read than the first book in the trilogy, which is saying something, and it’s brutal in many many MANY ways, but it’s unexpectedly beautiful even in its pain. It's not quite a perfect book - I have some questions about a few scenes and there were points when I was having trouble following the action - but I don’t particularly care.
I love these characters more than I thought I could. Jade is the most Final of Girls, and I love that Letha can see that even when Jade can’t. My heart breaks for them and much as I want to spend more time with them, I also hope that the presumed lack of any more stories about them means that they will finally have the time and space to heal that they so desperately need.
I loved this book.
It’s worth screaming about. It’s even more painful to read than the first book in the trilogy, which is saying something, and it’s brutal in many many MANY ways, but it’s unexpectedly beautiful even in its pain. It's not quite a perfect book - I have some questions about a few scenes and there were points when I was having trouble following the action - but I don’t particularly care.
I love these characters more than I thought I could. Jade is the most Final of Girls, and I love that Letha can see that even when Jade can’t. My heart breaks for them and much as I want to spend more time with them, I also hope that the presumed lack of any more stories about them means that they will finally have the time and space to heal that they so desperately need.
I loved this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Blood, Gore, Grief, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Alcohol, Animal death, Child death, and Abandonment
Minor: Classism, Self harm, Confinement, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Colonisation, Kidnapping, and Pedophilia
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