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lh_reads'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
4.75
Graphic: Alcohol, Death, Death of parent, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Violence, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Blood, Body horror, and Gore
Moderate: Abortion, Pedophilia, and Rape
noahvarav's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Sexual assault, Pedophilia, and Violence
perthalus's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
It is not clear whether our main character Jade, is an unreliable narrator or not. She is written as a suicidal, delusional “horror chick”, but her backstory is filled with harmless high school pranks, and pretty much everyone but her father’s circle is welcoming to her. This makes the loner “nobody likes me” archetype unbelievable, and furthermore makes her delusional thoughts blurred, am I supposed to believe her or not?
At the end of the book I did like Jade and many of the other characters, but the confused intentions combined with the endless, sometimes unnecessary referencing of other slasher stories felt frustrating. I myself love slasher movies and knew pretty much every film mentioned in this book, but it didn’t do much for me and I can’t imagine it does anything to someone who doesn’t know them. It felt like the story was trying to be better than the slashers mentioned, whilst only being in their shadows. Also, Just Before Dawn sucks and it’s a crime it’s mentioned so many times in this book.
There was an attempt of elevating the slasher genre and subverting it, but it ultimately disappointed me, turning a grounded story into something that looked ridiculous in my head. There were many unanswered questions too, I’m confused why many different things happened in this book, but none of it is explained by the end. I’d read how the ending of this book was great and how it was surprising, but it was only surprising because it wasn’t set up well. It made the climax feel weightless, the story was no longer down to earth.
Somehow though, despite all of this, I was excited to read the book. I read chapters at a time and felt invested enough to get to the end because of how strong the town of Proofrock felt. It didn’t reach it’s potential, but the potential is what kept me reading it. The strongest point of this book is the atmosphere, how the characters look, the lake at night and the rampant gore described during is darker moments. It is satisfying to visualise, and though the characters didn’t fully connect, the world they were in did.
Besides that, I didn’t enjoy some the writers decisions here, such as including themes of sexual assault. With a book subverting the tropes of horror movies, you’d think the writer would avoid the problematic tropes of female sexual assault victims in horror stories. To me it’s a touchy subject that at this point should be left alone by male writers.
I truly hope that as this trilogy continues, Stephen Graham Jones improves on his characters and shortcomings to make an even stronger sequel. Hopefully there will be answers to the unsolved mysteries in this too, otherwise I will be quite disappointed.
Graphic: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Incest, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Self harm, and Child abuse
Minor: Vomit and Pedophilia
katkinslee's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
It dragged out alot in parts and I really had to force myself to continue.
It was an ok read.
Graphic: Blood, Gore, Suicide attempt, and Murder
Moderate: Rape and Pedophilia
gengariite's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? No
1.0
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, and Self harm
anhedonia2'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
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Pedophilia and Rape
demon_catheter's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Blood, Suicide, Body horror, Gore, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Rape, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Incest, and Vomit
Minor: Cultural appropriation, Car accident, Colonisation, Abortion, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Pregnancy
fatherprozac's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Alcohol, Child death, Classism, Gun violence, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Rape, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Racism, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Violence
Minor: Medical content, Bullying, Car accident, Cultural appropriation, Hate crime, Pregnancy, and Vomit
missbreathing's review
- 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
4.5
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
In classic Stephen Graham Jones fashion, this novel is ripe with themes of settler colonialism, classism, and gentrification. It’s also heavy on the meta-slasher angle (think Scream, but on steroids) in a way that really lets the author’s knowledge of the genre shine. This book delivers on both excellently constructed themes and all the gory goodness of a Golden Age slasher film. There is a moment where this balance is thrown off and, for about 100 pages, we don’t get enough slasher-y vibes. But when it picks up, it PICKS UP.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Jade Daniels, our protagonist, is a stand-out character. She’s deeply flawed and makes decisions that leave readers shaking their heads. She’s also incredibly sympathetic and easy to root for. Jade is a the anti-final girl I didn’t know I needed in my life.
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I never would have expected to read a slasher horror through misty eyes, but here we are. This book can be absolutely heartbreaking. The heavy themes and emotional moments are handled with expert care, but do check the trigger warnings if that’s something you need.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
All in all, this is one of my favorite reads of the year. I absolutely cannot wait for the sequel. 🖤
Graphic: Gore, Murder, Suicide attempt, and Self harm
Moderate: Animal death, Incest, Pedophilia, and Rape
thehistoriette'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
3.0
Graphic: Vomit, Suicide attempt, Murder, Suicide, and Body horror
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Physical abuse, Animal death, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Blood, and Rape