Reviews with content warning for Animal death - อยากให้เธออยู่ดูตอนจบด้วยกัน

What did I just read?

The entire book is awkward and uncomfortable. Then it gets scary. Then the twist hits and it felt like a major mindf*ck.

Honestly, for a psychological thriller under 250 pages, this was worth the read. I’m curious to see how Netflix is going to make this to life.

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_fallinglight_'s review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

The twist is spelled out from the start (and I'm usually so bad at guessing twists lol) but it's a worthwhile read nonetheless, with interesting observations about relationships and the mind. However, (and I know that's the whole point and whatever) by the last pages I was over the choppy, disorienting, manic writing style.

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allisonshewfelt's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I've been thinking about the ending of this book ever since I read it and that doesn't happen often. Even if I say in my reviews that "this'll stay with me for awhile", it usually doesn't but that's definitely not the case with this book.

This book is different than any other horror I've read in that it's not surface level scary. It's not going to have you spooked hiding under your covers. It's very psychological in that it reaches into your mind and unsettles you. I love in the beginning how deep and philosophical it is even though they're just going on a road trip to meet his parents. It is a pretty slow moving plot with lots of dialogue so be aware of that.

Iain Reid truly knows how to write the isolation trope. I was so scared when the unnamed girlfriend was in the school by herself hiding from the janitor. The part when she sees the janitor get on his stomach and slither down the hall, yeah, never getting that out of my head. Also the painting in Jake's basement with the person with long hair, slightly hunched over, with claw like nails, also scared the crap out of me.

I didn't understand the ending so I had to look it up and it's so much more devastating than I was aware of. I feel so bad for Jake and that's all I'm gonna say. The next time I reread it, I'll follow those reading instructions at the end: read it backwards.

This isn't a watch the movie or read the book. In order to understand the movie, you need to read the book and understand the ending. You're not gonna understand the movie at all if you don't read the book. If you were to watch the movie first, you'd probably get bored in the first 20-30 minutes, feel like you're slowly losing your mind halfway into it and then be incredibly confused on what's happening and why everyone's so old at the end.

I think the adaptation was beautiful but sad. I would have liked to see the creepy paintings and shown her fear of the janitor. The book was definitely scarier than the movie. The movie doesn't really come off as horror at all to someone who might not know the story. Jesse Plemons isn't who I had in mind for Jake but he did an amazing job. And Jessie Buckley fit the role so well. She knew what she was doing. Toni Collette was a great add on too.

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chloevienna's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

really solid horror book - read it in a few hours. i’d seen the movie first, but definitely enjoyed the book more and felt it gave interesting insights. really spooky and oddly deep??

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ekmook's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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inmyhead's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

You definitely are going to have to look up the explanation or re-read the book to understand what's actually happening, it's amazing.

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haleypages's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The first 100 pages felt like the author had crawled inside my head and listened to my thoughts. As the book went on it then began to become more and more unsettling and distressing until it culminated in a completely devastating ending. Not a book for everyone, and not something I would have read if I knew the plot, but I’m glad I did.

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thehhugg's review against another edition

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dark sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This one will stay with me awhile. I saw the end coming, but the way it was narrated made up for its predictability. I feel like I need to eventually reread this to fully absorb everything.

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