Reviews

We Need to Do Something by Max Booth III

rooothy69's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

This was a very strange and mysterious book. Even sad, at times. I like books that are vague, but sometimes this one was a little too vague. Like I have come to discover that I like books that tell me exactly what's happening, rather than leaving it vague. I love a show-not-tell but there are ways to show me things are happening, rather than leaving me to guess what just happened. And I understand some of the point of the book is to be mysterious and have you question what's real and what's fake. But still.

justinkhchen's review against another edition

5.0

5 stars

A bleak single-location horror novella that fully utilized its limited scope for grandeur, my favorite type of horror stories often involve degradation of the human psyche, and We Need to Do Something is immediately up my street from page one, by introducing a dysfunctional family that is already hanging on by a thread, even before they are being terrorized by their increasingly desperate situation. We Need to Do Something strikes the perfect balance of ambiguity vs. clarity; the immediate outcome of the family members is clear, but the happening in the world beyond their confined space is completely open to interpretation. Depending on how one interpret the more surreal elements (which are all disturbing in the best way possible), this can be a straightforward survival story gone wrong, or something more outlandish and sinister.

Perfectly paced and no holding back on ugliness of all kinds, We Need to Do Something is not a 'fun' horror, it's emotionally draining, stressful, and hopeless, but at the same time so perfectly captured. Definitely read the author's afterword at the end — 2020 was a hard year for a lot of people, and I can see writing this novella during that time must've been a cathartic exercise.

lindsey_reads06's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

bookphoenixx's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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

3.5

akadras's review against another edition

4.0

um

whimsical_leapling's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Vomit, Alcoholism, and Racism

katjakkinen's review against another edition

dark emotional funny sad tense fast-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

voxvenati's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

3.25

Tense little novella with one or two great moments.

The good: the enclosed space as a concept, the ambiguous nature of it all, the descent into madness, a sense of strangeness, and of course

the man-dog-thing. Also, just the supernatural elements in general. Wasn’t expecting that, hallucinated or otherwise.

The concept was great, but those story elements could have been pushed further.

The bad: I hated the little brother. He didn’t feel like a real younger brother in the way he spoke or was annoying, and it detracted from my enjoyment. The pacing/escalation felt off. My favorite scene from the spoiler above felt like the peak of what we get. I wanted more of that, but the events that followed were less weird and felt like a deescalation. I also wanted more answers. Any answers. Last gripe - they absolutely could have used that toilet tank lid to bust through those American paper walls or even the particle board door.

Also, the mom cuts through the door in the end anyway!

I know no one in this family can think, but Christ.

Short and has its issues, but worth it. 

fairycorebookclub's review against another edition

4.0

I don’t even know what to say other than this reminded me of I’m Thinking Of Ending Things. It’s dark, feral, anxiety-inducing, & obscure. I feel like there’s a lot to unpack in these 150 pages & this was a great book to get me out of a reading slump.

audklem's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0