Reviews

Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky

paumduclaud's review against another edition

3.0

3.5
Empecemos con lo que sí me gustó del libro. Está muy bien escrito. Escogí este libro porque es de terror y en ese rubro no decepcionó. Las escenas de terror son muy buenas, especialmente las que son desde el punto de vista de Christopher. También me gustaron los personajes. Todos son muy humanos, reales, con defectos y vidas y pasados complicados. Otra cosa que me gustó es el “toque Chbosky” en el libro. A pesar de ser de terror, hay reflexiones, muchas sobre la humanidad, la bondad, la comunidad. Para 2/3 del libro, yo juraba que le pondría 4-5 estrellas.
Dicho eso, va lo que no me gustó. El libro tiene un fuerte tinte espiritual/religioso con el que definitivamente no me identifico, y nadie me advirtió que estaba ahí. Y creo que no había necesidad de meterlo. Creo que el libro pudo haber llamado por sí solo a la reflexión sin meter un dios y una religión específica. Porque claro, con la religión vienen opiniones. Opiniones que no quedan abiertas a debate sino como verdades.
En conclusión, es un buen libro de terror y si te identificas con esa línea de pensamiento y religión, o es algo que puedas ignorar, este libro te va a gustar. Si eres más como yo, no lo recomiendo.

undadarsea's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

• 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

2.0

emrodav's review against another edition

2.0

My first real failure/DNF of the year :(

I made it to about page 300, but it felt like so little was happening that I just got bored. And there was still 400 pages to go!

So I ended up skimming the rest of the book. And I’m glad I did, because I don’t think I would’ve been satisfied at all with the ending after all that.

It makes me sad though because based on the first few hundred pages or so, I thought the premise had some promise! I think if the book had been hacked down to maybe 400 pages instead of 700, it could’ve really worked. But there was just too much that didn’t advance the story to keep me interested.

Moral of the story: some authors can make long, long horror work (Stephen King, sometimes Joe Hill), and others can’t.

jenhurst's review against another edition

4.0

I’m thinking the low rating is just because horror can be really divisive for people.
When this was announced I was really excited because I love perks of being a wallflower, but then I heard mixed reviews so I hesitated to pick it up. I’m not sure if I lowered my expectations enough but I really liked this. I was invested the whole way through, I thought this was sufficiently creepy and I can see this fitting in with the horror films I usually watch. If you like horror, I think you’ll enjoy this.

foxythng's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense slow-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

4.75

beth_zovko's review against another edition

2.0

This is a quibble, but did anyone get distracted by the repetitive use of words like "little," "screamed," and "the nice man?" I thought it was a narrative device to convey a young child with limited vocabulary, but since every characters' POV contained the same wording, I think it's just lazy writing.

einstein7931's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

leanne_83's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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

3.5

dumb_library's review against another edition

4.0

3.5-4 stars! I completely agree with most of the reviews I’ve seen of this book. The last 200 or so pages were SO repetitive and I ended up just skimming through them to finish this book. The first 500 pages were AMAZING and I was thoroughly creeped out. I just wish the ending followed suit.

nataliamar's review against another edition

3.0

Que livro LONGO.
Nada contra livros longos, até tenho alguns favoritos que são, mas esse aqui é longo sem motivos.
A construção dos personagens é interessante, o que realmente dá para fazer num livro longo. Não achei maçante nem nada, mas o finale começa em 50% do livro. NA METADE DO LIVRO COMEÇA O ATO FINAL. Então pensa comigo o quanto de enrolação não foi? Os 10 segundos para dia 25/12 duraram umas 80 páginas. Ele contava coisas que aconteciam num curto espaço de tempo em muitas e muitas e muitas páginas. Rolou um mini plot twist ali pelos 85% e ainda tinha 15% de livro! 15% de um livro de 800 páginas é página pra cacete.
Assim, para mim esse Stephen bebeu da fonte do outro Stephen e eu reconheço o esforço, ele está aprendendo direitinho, vi umas coisinhas de The Stand aqui e ali e dou os parabéns a ele por isso. Como é o primeiro nele desse estilo, quem sabe nos próximos ele não melhora? Irei acompanhar.