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4.09 AVERAGE
4.09 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Murder
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This murder fest was a wild ride from start to finish. The murders were all pretty creative and the added bonus of an adult scooby doo type mystery behind the murderer really kept me invested in the developing plot. I really liked the fast pace writing style and I never felt like the book lagged.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was written for those times when you can't decide if you want to watch a 2000s horror movie or read a book.
I blindly went into this book, judging it by its cover 100%, and I'm glad I did. This is one of those times where it fully paid off because I just found a book that I read in just two sittings (which is fast for me). The characters are thought out but not over-developed. Are they relatable? I don't even know, but I do know that they're realistic.
The entire story kept me hooked and guessing from chapter one. I did not, at all, see any of the ending coming. The entire book arguably plays out like a 2000s horror movie with an endingreminiscent of something from the 80s . The imagery was enough to picture the location, the yurts, the hike. This story is not my usual read, but still deserves 4.5 stars; half a star deducted for leaving some unanswered questions which I would have loved to see mentioned (even in conversation) in the final chapter.
Thank you, Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press, for the ARC opportunity. This honest review has been left voluntarily.
I blindly went into this book, judging it by its cover 100%, and I'm glad I did. This is one of those times where it fully paid off because I just found a book that I read in just two sittings (which is fast for me). The characters are thought out but not over-developed. Are they relatable? I don't even know, but I do know that they're realistic.
The entire story kept me hooked and guessing from chapter one. I did not, at all, see any of the ending coming. The entire book arguably plays out like a 2000s horror movie with an ending
Thank you, Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press, for the ARC opportunity. This honest review has been left voluntarily.
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
The thriller/horror genre is one I’ve really found myself drawn to as of late. Being absorbed into an exciting, fast-paced world was perfect and exactly what I was looking for. I couldn’t wait to have this same thrill happen with Breathe In, Bleed Out, and well… unfortunately it didn’t.
This slasher struggled with what it wanted to be. Half the time when I was reading it, I was questioning whether McAuley was aiming for a camp vibe or wanting to be a little more serious with it. There would be these lines that were so over the top it felt like the author was leaning towards camp, but then none of that would return for chapters. As a reader trying to figure this out, it really pulled me out of the story time and time again.
In a slasher, I never expect to like the characters. I don’t want to either! I don’t want to get attached just to watch them die a horrible death! Yet, all of these characters here were so bland that it took me to a new level of not caring enough, something I didn’t know was possible. If I’m not even hoping that one of them dies a brutal death, I think that is just too far on the other side of the pendulum.
There was a simplicity to the writing that didn’t work for me. I never felt the fear or the horror, never even shock, and I think that is due to the writing doing more showing instead of telling. Everything is just happening, but not in a way that the reader feels they can experience it. I think the deaths were some of the best-written parts of the book, but even then, there still felt like there was a wall up.
When it came to the ending, I stopped three pages from finishing it because it felt like there was just such a disconnect from everything. The lack of build-up to that and the amount of red herrings that were thrown in within ten pages of revealing the killer. It was infuriating, and when I finally finished it, I was thrilled to be done.
Maybe as a low-budget film this would have worked, but as a novel it wasn’t thrilling by any stretch of the means. This simply just didn’t work for me.
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Received as an ARC for Netgalley:
Brian McAuley does it again! Another winner of a slasher novel. This one moves at a real whipcrack pace, with the dialogue, and plot really feeling like it flows exceptionally well.
This book is a balancing act because McAuley understands that there are some techniques used in these wellness clinics that can actually help, but a lot of times it's wrapped up in predatory cultural appropriation. A similar balancing act happens with the characters who are quite often very unlikable but by the end of their journeys feel well drawn.
The slasher elements are done SO WELL and this NEEDS to be a movie tomorrow!
Brian McAuley does it again! Another winner of a slasher novel. This one moves at a real whipcrack pace, with the dialogue, and plot really feeling like it flows exceptionally well.
This book is a balancing act because McAuley understands that there are some techniques used in these wellness clinics that can actually help, but a lot of times it's wrapped up in predatory cultural appropriation. A similar balancing act happens with the characters who are quite often very unlikable but by the end of their journeys feel well drawn.
The slasher elements are done SO WELL and this NEEDS to be a movie tomorrow!
Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the chance to read this book!
While I love the horror genre, I tend to stick to the more supernatural side of the genre wehn it comes to books. But I have always LOVED slasher movies. And this book was a real love letter to the slasher movies of the late 90s and early 00s. It was a nice dose of nostaligia. There were all kinds of Easter eggs for slasher movie fans, from the grumpy locals that are mad about the highfalutin fancy LA people coming into their town to a crazed cannibal pickaxe killer man urban legend. Even the friend group all felt straight out of a slasher movie, so passive aggressively bitchy and at each other's throats the whole time. And I love that it had the trope of forshading how/where a character would die, I got so excited when I caught that.
The author does a great job convincing the reader that Hannah, our MC, is a highly unreliable narrator. A traumatized young woman who is willing to lie in her therapy sessions to score more drugs, she also has visual halucinations that make you question what is real.
This will be a great book to read at the close of summer for a nice injection of nostalgia.
While I love the horror genre, I tend to stick to the more supernatural side of the genre wehn it comes to books. But I have always LOVED slasher movies. And this book was a real love letter to the slasher movies of the late 90s and early 00s. It was a nice dose of nostaligia. There were all kinds of Easter eggs for slasher movie fans, from the grumpy locals that are mad about the highfalutin fancy LA people coming into their town to a crazed cannibal pickaxe killer man urban legend. Even the friend group all felt straight out of a slasher movie, so passive aggressively bitchy and at each other's throats the whole time. And I love that it had the trope of forshading how/where a character would die, I got so excited when I caught that.
The author does a great job convincing the reader that Hannah, our MC, is a highly unreliable narrator. A traumatized young woman who is willing to lie in her therapy sessions to score more drugs, she also has visual halucinations that make you question what is real.
This will be a great book to read at the close of summer for a nice injection of nostalgia.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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
I really liked this!!
Was a bit by the book to start, but once shit started going down I ate it up. A really fun slasher-wellness-camp-spiritual-whodunnit. Some characters were a bit basic and stereotyped, and there was some questionable decision making, but it still made for a fun read.
Thank you to NetGalley for the arc.
Was a bit by the book to start, but once shit started going down I ate it up. A really fun slasher-wellness-camp-spiritual-whodunnit. Some characters were a bit basic and stereotyped, and there was some questionable decision making, but it still made for a fun read.
Thank you to NetGalley for the arc.
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
medium-paced