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bethangwenllian's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Reading this felt similar to playing Until Dawn for the first time and shitting yourself until the ending and then being like ‘oh’.
cayceosborne's review against another edition
4.0
This one is difficult to review. I didn’t particularly enjoy the experience of reading it, yet I couldn’t stop. For most of it, I was uncomfortable and put off by the style. But as I neared the end, I became convinced that that’s exactly what the author intended. What a feat, to be able to affect the reader on so many levels. This book is unsettling and odd and I’m very impressed by it. I just didn’t like reading it very much.
katelibrarian's review against another edition
4.0
I rarely write reviews on here, but this book was was, as others have said, a trippy mind-fuck. It's not long, and can probably be read in a sitting (I read it in a day and I am a pretty slow reader)...but, good lord, is it fucking weird. In a good way. It starts out a little weak but just gets weirder and weirder, and the last 20-30 pages make up for the early weakness. I'll be thinking about this one for a while. Holy shit. There's nothing else I can say...you just have to read it yourself.
moejawish's review against another edition
5.0
“My story is not like a movie, I’ll say. It’s not heart-stopping or intense or bloodcurdling or graphic or violent. No jump scares. To me, these qualities aren’t usually scary. Something that disorients, that unsettles what’s taken for granted, something that disturbs and disrupts reality—that’s scary.”
What I loved most about this masterpiece was its depth of conversations, that when properly analyzed, would provide perpetual value to the lives of its readers. As a thriller it was truly well-written and I found no trouble at all consuming it, rather gladly, in a couple of days.
What I loved most about this masterpiece was its depth of conversations, that when properly analyzed, would provide perpetual value to the lives of its readers. As a thriller it was truly well-written and I found no trouble at all consuming it, rather gladly, in a couple of days.
dunnya's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
5.0
this is not a simple story. it’s a one that will resonate with you, like what is happening to me right now. it has been days and i changed my rating from 4.75 to 5 because i really can’t stop thinking about it. i would be having a normal day then get hit with details and scenes. my initial review was “what the fuck was that” and it still stands.
Iain Reid crafted a well done story and i devoured it.
i’d like to think the calls she was getting was like a wake up call or a call for help from herself (jake’s self). it’s insane to wrap one’s mind around it. i also wanna talk about how you’d think “i’m thinking of ending things” is about killing oneself but the author was like nah it’s not about that, it’s a simple “i wanna get out of the relationship i’m currently in” but it’s not. it’s crazy how she would list things she liked about jake and what is making her stay in this relation but knowing the end, it felt like jake was listing what he liked about himself to pervert him from doing the act. i really really love this book.
Iain Reid crafted a well done story and i devoured it.
saphire_22's review against another edition
2.0
Jake and his unnamed girlfriend (I did not realise she was nameless before writing this review lol) of a few months are on a road trip to meet Jake's parents.With the girlfriend as the narrator,we get to experience everything through her eyes.
Jake decides to go to a school building nearby to discard the empty cups. After doing so,he,for some reason starts making out with his girlfriend but stops after a while when he sees someone peering at them through the window of the school building. Feeling very infuriated due to the unwanted intrusion,he decides to confront the person in the school building despite his girlfriend's protests. Jake's girlfriend waits for some time in the car but gets antsy when Jake doesn't come back. She decides to go to look for Jake in the school building. There she encounters several creepy situations and goes through some sort of existential crisis. She's always wanted to end her relationship with Jake despite liking him as she is very conflicted about being in a relationship versus being alone. She regrets not ending things sooner. Then towards the end something crazy happens and we realise that everything that has happened so far is just a story in Jake's diary,he himself wrote. He did meet a pretty girl years ago but could not bring himself to offer his number to her. He just wonders what would have happened if they did end up together. Finally he kills himself.
Reason for the low rating:
I did not like the weirdly short sentences which ended abruptly.
Also,while reading the story I did feel unsettled and creeped out. But after completing the book, it felt that there were so many things and scenarios we were exposed to that really didn't have anything to do with the ending. They were there just for the sake of existing. The ending was unsatisfactory and did not meet my expectations which were very high due to the intense buildup to the ending. After reading the ending, everything which happened earlier in the story felt inconsequential.The 'deep conversations' between the main characters felt like they went on forever. I tried to make sense of them but maybe I'm not smart enough for them. Basically this story was about Jake getting an existential crisis which I really tried to understand but ended up not really caring about it. Also,Jake was starting to get on my nerves. He was just so controlling towards his girlfriend. Many decisions which the characters made in the story were just...dumb. So it's safe to say that this book didn't blow my mind like I expected it would. :(
Spoiler
The girlfriend encounters several creepy situations throughout the story like a creepy caller, a carcass of a maggot-ridden pig in the family farmhouse of Jake's parents and weird paintings.Even Jake's parents were very cryptic. We also get to know about the girlfriend's encounters with creepy people like a tall man peering at her younger self through her window and a lady with bad intentions toward her mother and her. On the drive back, they stop at a DQ,order lemonades and then head back to the car. ThenJake decides to go to a school building nearby to discard the empty cups. After doing so,he,for some reason starts making out with his girlfriend but stops after a while when he sees someone peering at them through the window of the school building. Feeling very infuriated due to the unwanted intrusion,he decides to confront the person in the school building despite his girlfriend's protests. Jake's girlfriend waits for some time in the car but gets antsy when Jake doesn't come back. She decides to go to look for Jake in the school building. There she encounters several creepy situations and goes through some sort of existential crisis. She's always wanted to end her relationship with Jake despite liking him as she is very conflicted about being in a relationship versus being alone. She regrets not ending things sooner. Then towards the end something crazy happens and we realise that everything that has happened so far is just a story in Jake's diary,he himself wrote. He did meet a pretty girl years ago but could not bring himself to offer his number to her. He just wonders what would have happened if they did end up together. Finally he kills himself.
Reason for the low rating:
I did not like the weirdly short sentences which ended abruptly.
Also,while reading the story I did feel unsettled and creeped out. But after completing the book, it felt that there were so many things and scenarios we were exposed to that really didn't have anything to do with the ending. They were there just for the sake of existing. The ending was unsatisfactory and did not meet my expectations which were very high due to the intense buildup to the ending. After reading the ending, everything which happened earlier in the story felt inconsequential.The 'deep conversations' between the main characters felt like they went on forever. I tried to make sense of them but maybe I'm not smart enough for them. Basically this story was about Jake getting an existential crisis which I really tried to understand but ended up not really caring about it. Also,Jake was starting to get on my nerves
Spoiler
even in the story he himself wrote lollisayoung's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0