Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Clown in a Cornfield 2: Frendo Lives by Adam Cesare

10 reviews

kikis_a_book_wh0r3's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

I love when authors produce great sequels! Its so rare for me to find series that give me just as much energy and entertainment through the books as the first book gave. And Adam Cesare did an amazing job with this sequel. 

I really love Quinn and the relationship between Cole and Rust. Getting to read more of their friendships/relationships after the horror of the first book was so much fun.

Marta Lee and Izzy .... they were great additions to the story. Hunter was too, although I really wanted to strangle him at times, but I am sure that was the point.... well and Cole when it came to them talking to each other. 

I enjoyed this book thoroughly and Jesse does an AMAZING job with the audio books. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Bullying, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Body horror, Grief, Hate crime, Mass/school shootings, Medical content, and Stalking

elysianbud's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

Begins with Scream VI vibes but then becomes a whole new thing of murder madness and scathing commentary. Very fun and riveting. 

I adore Jerri and I want only lovely, happy things for her...but also I want her in the next book so I guess terrible, awful things will have to happen to her again. Rooting for her! You go, little sister! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Grief, Body horror, Medical content, Gore, Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, Vomit, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Blood, Murder, and Police brutality

Moderate: Homophobia and Transphobia

jackieyvette's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense 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? No

4.5

Very rarely do I like a sequel (unless it's a YA girl 12-14 series) and I can say with my whole chest this is equal to the original. It's fun and frightening in the best way. The characters from the first book expanded in ways that didn't chastise the original material.
The introduction or Jerri was so good and her story was a perfect introduction into the original three's story. The relationship she had with Ms. Reyes was complex to say the least.

'You do deserve this.' will stick around in my head for a while.

Can't wait for the next chapter of this story.

Crying score: nope

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Blood, Death, Medical content, Murder, Torture, Grief, Gore, Mass/school shootings, and Stalking

Moderate: Alcohol and Death of parent

imstephtacular's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Murder, Gore, Body horror, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Gun violence

Moderate: Police brutality, Homophobia, Gaslighting, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Bullying, Child death, Torture, Grief, Physical abuse, Medical content, Cursing, and Death of parent

Minor: Medical trauma and Mass/school shootings

vixenreader's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

• 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

3.75

Not as thrilling or vicious as the first, but it is still an exceptional horror YA about fraudulent conspiracy theories, mob mentality, and the effects of using said lies to target disenfranchised victims. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mass/school shootings, Transphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Violence, Ableism, Cursing, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Alcohol, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Medical content, and Police brutality

Moderate: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Stalking, Torture, and Body horror

Minor: Vomit and Infidelity

Be warned that Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), relationship conflict, fraudulent and harmful conspiracy theories, and underaged drinking are explored in this book as well.

ravenpuff's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Violence, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, Death, Gore, and Grief

haleybre's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

A slasher sequel is rarely as good as the original, yet here we are. 

You also can’t tell me that this wasn’t inspired by the January 6th insurrection.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Gun violence, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Alcohol, Car accident, Grief, and Cursing

avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

I really enjoyed this book! It was as good or better than the first, as I'd hoped. And not as gory as I expected after the first book. It was unique for its mix of horror and social commentary and mystery, and the writing and tone were consistent throughout the story.

 I love Quinn & Rust’s friendship and caretaking of each other without the eye-rolling romance involved! I think Rust is a unique character, he's into weapons but only is them for self-defense and tries to do as little damage as possible. 

I would recommend the duology it's unique and enjoyable as well as thought-provoking. I think both horror fans and horror skeptics will enjoy it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Medical trauma, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Grief, Mental illness, Stalking, Blood, and Cursing

Moderate: Body horror, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Gore, and Child death

Minor: Homophobia

soobooksalot's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Clown In a Cornfield was a surprise favourite in last year's Spooky Season reading.
 So there was no hesitation to order Adam Cesare's sequel this year - Frendo Lives!
 It's one year after the massacre in Kettle Springs, at the hands of the masked Frendos.
 Quinn, Rust and Cole have tried to move on, but social media and conspiracy theory notoriety has questioned if they were victims or perpetrators of the tragedies.
 Meanwhile, Frendo is back. Just in time for Halloween. 
 Clowns In A Cornfield 1 and 2 are classed as YA but rest assured, they're not short on violence and chills.
 Fans of the first Cornfield - don't miss this one! Recommended!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Alcohol, Death, Grief, Blood, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

chloseencounter's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

When I heard a sequel to Clown in a Cornfield was out, I wasn’t sure what it would even be about but I knew I had to read it. This was not only a great start to my Fall/Halloween TBR but an extremely strong sequel. I never in 100 years expected to like Clown in a Cornfield 2 better than the first novel but I think I did. 

This addition to the story felt so much more scary and out of control than the events from the original Baypen Massacre. I spent a lot of the book wondering how the hell our main characters (Quinn, Rust, and Cole, along with a new character who lived through the original tragedy also, Jerry) where even going to get out of this. 

As expected of Clown in a Cornfield this book was fast pace, fun, and didn’t beat around the bush with the outrageous violence and murder. Also, as to be expected,  the overarching themes were extremely politically poignant.   

My only complaint is, while I loved the way characters were built upon from the last novel…I found myself really frustrated at Cole a lot which made me less invested in him, but his actions weren’t things I’d consider to be out of character either. 

The ending could be setting up a third installment of Clown in a Cornfield…or not. I enjoyed the ending either way

and Quinn’s decision to go vigilante mode

If a third book did come out, I’d definitely pick it up, as these books (while not revolutionary) tend to be such fun reads. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Death, and Blood

Moderate: Alcoholism, Alcohol, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Panic attacks/disorders, and Stalking

Minor: Dysphoria and Infidelity