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solanacr's review
dark
mysterious
sad
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? N/A
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Homophobia, Death of parent, Murder, Blood, Body horror, and Death
queergoth_reads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I was definitely expecting something different when I started this book. If I had realised it was more literary I don't think I would have been as disappointed as I was with this.
Overall I think it was a good book but it wasn't really a horror and my expectations were all wrong. I didn't find sympathy for any of the characters except maybe Kendra and think she could have done this a bit more at the end.
Overall I think it was a good book but it wasn't really a horror and my expectations were all wrong. I didn't find sympathy for any of the characters except maybe Kendra and think she could have done this a bit more at the end.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Racism, Gore, Blood, and Misogyny
Moderate: Death of parent, Violence, and Homophobia
Minor: Body shaming and Fatphobia
sarahjxde's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Murder, Racial slurs, and Racism
onewoman_bookclub's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Blood, Racism, and Gore
Moderate: Homophobia
apersonfromflorida's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Blood, Toxic relationship, Homophobia, Toxic friendship, and Racism
Moderate: Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Death of parent
Minor: Medical content
sunsetcity's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racism, Violence, Stalking, Gaslighting, Gore, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Medical content, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, and Death
abookwormwithwine's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Reprieve by James Han Mattson is one of those books where I don't really know what I just read, but I know that I liked it. It is described as social horror, which is a genre I had to look up to fully understand what it meant, and now that I do I can say that it is a clear representation. The weird thing is that I feel like a lot of this book went over my head and all of the characters were really hard for me to keep track of, and yet I can't say I didn't like it. I had no idea what to rate it, but the more I thought about it, the more I knew it deserved more stars than I was initially thinking. The plot ultimately leads to the murder and which contestant was killed, but the meat of this story is really about the different characters and a ton of various social stigmas. I really liked how the characters ended up tying together, but I am sure I missed some things as well.
The writing style Mattson uses in Reprieve is very unique as well, which I think is something major that will make it not for every reader. It was interesting to see how this translated into the audiobook, and I think if I ever do a reread, I would read the actual book and make a LOT of notes. The narrator of the audio is JD Jackson, and I'm not entirely sure how I feel about his narration. On one hand, I really liked it, but when I was looking at the book in comparison to how he was reading it, I think I missed out on a lot of inflections and emphases on certain words. This is a pretty long book, and the audio is at over 12 hours, so if you don't see yourself being able to sit down and read it, the audiobook would still be a good option. And do prepare yourself for lots of blood and gore. The Quigley House is downright terrifying, and I can tell you right now there is no way I would ever step foot in that place. I loved the escape room bit, but the things they had to do to get out are very graphic and disturbing. Reprieve is not a story for the faint of heart and that's for sure.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
The writing style Mattson uses in Reprieve is very unique as well, which I think is something major that will make it not for every reader. It was interesting to see how this translated into the audiobook, and I think if I ever do a reread, I would read the actual book and make a LOT of notes. The narrator of the audio is JD Jackson, and I'm not entirely sure how I feel about his narration. On one hand, I really liked it, but when I was looking at the book in comparison to how he was reading it, I think I missed out on a lot of inflections and emphases on certain words. This is a pretty long book, and the audio is at over 12 hours, so if you don't see yourself being able to sit down and read it, the audiobook would still be a good option. And do prepare yourself for lots of blood and gore. The Quigley House is downright terrifying, and I can tell you right now there is no way I would ever step foot in that place. I loved the escape room bit, but the things they had to do to get out are very graphic and disturbing. Reprieve is not a story for the faint of heart and that's for sure.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Gore, and Blood
Moderate: Violence and Homophobia
kylieqrada's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
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
Ok what in the actual Lord Jesus Hallelujah was THAT MESS?!?!?!? First of all, I could not put it down. I devoured it in like 3 sittings. Second, it scared the everloving pants off of me. I was very thankful for the breaks I got to sike myself up for the next cell. Third, the social commentary/social horror element of this was just everything. It was so worth scaring the sh!t out of myself to experience this. Life truly is the real horror.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Gore, and Racism
Moderate: Death of parent, Homophobia, and Violence
malenhar's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Talk about character development! This book was a masterclass on how to write characters and flesh out strong character backgrounds. Now this book was nothing like I expected. I thought I was getting a closed room horror, however this is really a literary novel that is mostly social commentary with a bit of horror thrown in. A lot of reviews stated this this was overly gore heavy however I didn't find it that way at all. It is made very clear that the things contestants are experiencing are fake so all the gore was fake.
I'm not a huge literary fan however I did enjoy this and I can see this becoming a classic in the future.
Bonus points for the awesome sprayed edges and cover design!
I'm not a huge literary fan however I did enjoy this and I can see this becoming a classic in the future.
Bonus points for the awesome sprayed edges and cover design!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Blood
amyspag's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This took me so long to get through and I wasn't sure how I felt the whole time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Gore, Racism, Death of parent, Murder, and Racial slurs