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3.26 AVERAGE
3.26 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Suicide, Violence
Minor: Rape
The main plot line follows the guilt of the group so there is always mentions or inferences of triggering subjects.
Ten teens, all of them have some kind of secret that they want to protect at all cost. But then, they all get invited to an abandoned carneval on an island and the invitation hints that somebodey knows their secrets. Once their, strange things start happening - the carnival comes to live, the kids start seeing things - and then they start dying one by one.
While reading the first half I was so confused. I was sure this was going to be some kind of realistic thriller book, not the supernatural/fantasy horror novel it ended up being. Once I got used to the idea though, I really started enjoying the set up. It was creepy and confusing, with time and space not working to the teens advantages, a mysterious something pitting them against each other.
What did not work for me on the other hand, where the characters. I get that it's part of the story that all of the kids are very, very flawed, but they just ended up being so unlikeable to me, that I ended up not caring that much about their fates. Not only did they all do some really bad stuff, whats even worse for me was that they all seemed a bit bland, like the author just took a pick out of the highschool teens tropes and twisted it a bit to the darker side. If you don't care that much about characters, I guess you wouldn't mind, but for me, that's always the most important part of the story and the book failed to hold up.
I'm also not sure how I feel about the premise itself. It is clear that a central theme to the story is guilt and shame, how it can eat you up inside. I would have loved the story to be more about the darkest places of the human mind and when somebody crosses that certain line, but that theme is not a fun when the characters a being mindcontrolled to get their, instead of reaching that place of madness all by themselves.
After the first two deaths, it became a bit repetetive and all of their secrets were predictable. This was also the point at which the story turned frustrating, because the characters would jsut refuse to think. I think I enjoy a horror book much more, if the characters are incredibly smart and do their absolute best and still fail, as opposed to this: where it seemed for the majority of the book, like they were all just accepting their fate and vibing with it. Of course, they did take action in the end, but it was kind of anticlimactic and with the intruiging monster character I would have wished for more.
All in all, I did race through it pretty quickly, at first because I couldn't figure out, how the plot would get resolved realistically, then to find out more about the fantasy element, and then jsut out of spite because the only character I cared for had died. It wasn't bad and I did enjoy myself, but it's not more than a three star book for me.
While reading the first half I was so confused. I was sure this was going to be some kind of realistic thriller book, not the supernatural/fantasy horror novel it ended up being. Once I got used to the idea though, I really started enjoying the set up. It was creepy and confusing, with time and space not working to the teens advantages, a mysterious something pitting them against each other.
What did not work for me on the other hand, where the characters. I get that it's part of the story that all of the kids are very, very flawed, but they just ended up being so unlikeable to me, that I ended up not caring that much about their fates. Not only did they all do some really bad stuff, whats even worse for me was that they all seemed a bit bland, like the author just took a pick out of the highschool teens tropes and twisted it a bit to the darker side. If you don't care that much about characters, I guess you wouldn't mind, but for me, that's always the most important part of the story and the book failed to hold up.
I'm also not sure how I feel about the premise itself. It is clear that a central theme to the story is guilt and shame, how it can eat you up inside. I would have loved the story to be more about the darkest places of the human mind and when somebody crosses that certain line, but that theme is not a fun when the characters a being mindcontrolled to get their, instead of reaching that place of madness all by themselves.
After the first two deaths, it became a bit repetetive and all of their secrets were predictable. This was also the point at which the story turned frustrating, because the characters would jsut refuse to think. I think I enjoy a horror book much more, if the characters are incredibly smart and do their absolute best and still fail, as opposed to this: where it seemed for the majority of the book, like they were all just accepting their fate and vibing with it. Of course, they did take action in the end, but it was kind of anticlimactic and with the intruiging monster character I would have wished for more.
All in all, I did race through it pretty quickly, at first because I couldn't figure out, how the plot would get resolved realistically, then to find out more about the fantasy element, and then jsut out of spite because the only character I cared for had died. It wasn't bad and I did enjoy myself, but it's not more than a three star book for me.
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I think you have to read it to see your own opinion because it wasn't that bad but it also wasn't good.
It was somewhat predictable, if you don't mind stereotypical high school/college students then you might actually like this book. The characters were to stereotypical for me and ending was boring and one I didn't particularly want. The main character annoyed me but this book was still somewhat likeable due to Jolie and Esme my favourites out of all the characters.
The plot (though I didn't think it was supernatural when I bought) was basic but I liked it.
The different races and sexualities though was something I really enjoyed.
It was somewhat predictable, if you don't mind stereotypical high school/college students then you might actually like this book. The characters were to stereotypical for me and ending was boring and one I didn't particularly want. The main character annoyed me but this book was still somewhat likeable due to Jolie and Esme my favourites out of all the characters.
The plot (though I didn't think it was supernatural when I bought) was basic but I liked it.
The different races and sexualities though was something I really enjoyed.
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-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
It reads like something that would have gained a million views on wattpad. Symbolic, a nice read, but still feels kind of juvenile.
3.5 stars !! the characters were unlikeable for a good 60% of the book but the plot was nice
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes