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kaiyakaiyo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
- the characters feel dropped into their own universe, and they make very little sense in the context of their town or each other. The neighborhood apparently hired homophobic hicks to beat the daylights out of a gay couple that moved in months ago in broad daylight, one of which is a cop, but the extremely flamboyant rich recluse just kites around town in a rolls royce? said gay couple is trying to adopt a child and “blend in” in HateCrime, USA for completely unexplained reasons? ghost … he just felt like an OC someone made and didn’t flesh out on tumblr? the fucking evil ferret thing?? what goes on. Very much short book syndrome, none of the characters or settings feel complete
- the “cosmic horror” fell pretty flat for me; there’s only so many times you read about a floating orb before it wears off. its power show at the end was frankly laughable, though i cheered @ the couple making it out alive! nothing about the rituals or kidnappings (weirdly blasé compared to the truly violent bits) spooked me even a little. the only horrifying parts of this book were the violent homophobic home invasion and graphic gang rape and stabbing. those are pretty real life horrors though, so this read didn’t really feel like I was reading a horror book, just a really awful Twitter thread about world events with a weird spiritual ad in the middle. I don’t mean to cheapen the deeply traumatic and trigger events here; they were heartbreaking to read. my point is that these were the only events in the book to evoke any sort of reaction from me, and that reaction was a pretty familiar mix of dread/sadness/nausea that comes with hearing about bad things happen to fellow queer people. not exactly the fun spine-tingler read I was after. I HAVE to start checking storygraph warnings before grabbing books that sound vaguely interesting
- the weird aside into the raging homophobic rapist and killer’s child molestation backstory… it added virtually nothing to the book. if we were going to get into “nuance” about why this town is full of vicious bigots, more pages should have been spent actually showing other townspeople. we met like 4. as it stands, it felt very random juxtaposed with the brutal stabbing that followed it. There’s some muddled point about trauma begetting trauma, but we just didn’t spend enough time on the moment for it to evoke any more thought than an SVU episode plot point compared to the other events of the novel. why include it at all ?
- the writing style… it moved quickly, that was nice, but frankly each sentence felt like it relished in the violence being conveyed. gross, almost greasy language, too many similes, major overuse of the words “monster” and “guilt”, overall not fun on the eyes to make up for the lackluster content. the pages were also distractingly ugly. why the background. why. is this a 2009 MS word book report?
Graphic: Murder, Homophobia, Rape, and Hate crime
Moderate: Grief, Ableism, and Kidnapping
annathechaoticreader's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
"For Ghost, his body was nothing more than a compost heap - a crude patchwork of abused anatomy that even the most impulsive surrealist wouldn't dare commemorate on canvas. Ghost knew well he was a monster, a horrible mutation handmade by grief." page 19
Graphic: Biphobia, Blood, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Grief, Hate crime, Death, Homophobia, Torture, Medical trauma, Murder, Body horror, Physical abuse, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, and Pedophilia
Minor: Ableism, Car accident, and Child death
deshanejt's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
However, I can't for the life of me figure out the plot, the point, or the message in this story.
What started in the beginning of the book, and what transpired throughout, LOOSELY connected to what happened in the end- IMO.
I understand there's not always justice for victims of SA and hate-crimes, but it would have been nice to understand how being a witness to that brutality tied into the story.
Graphic: Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Death, Violence, Blood, Rape, Excrement, Kidnapping, and Murder
rebekahmccubbins's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
The author clearly enjoys flowery prose, which is fine when done well. But this was painful to read. Every third sentence was a simile or over-description, making it hard to keep track of what's actually happening in the story. The plot felt half-baked, and the details were confusing. I found myself constantly asking, 'why?'. The characters' motivations didn't feel reasonable.
And the extremely graphic violence against Malik and Brett felt uncalled for. Frankly, that subplot never tied in to a degree that felt justified. So I was left feeling that the author just... WANTED to torture and decimate a gay couple (confusing, because by all accounts, he is gay).
I can't in good faith recommend this story to anyone. If you do choose to read, good luck.
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Ableism, Medical content, Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, Murder, Grief, Hate crime, Gun violence, Cursing, Classism, Confinement, Blood, Biphobia, Stalking, Kidnapping, Rape, Homophobia, Excrement, Violence, Physical abuse, Torture, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault
heartofhorrors's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Blood, Homophobia, Car accident, Excrement, Grief, Murder, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Gore, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Ableism, Suicidal thoughts, Biphobia, Hate crime, Islamophobia, and Violence
unlifeoftheparty's review against another edition
1.75
Graphic: Homophobia, Murder, Rape, Sexual violence, Hate crime, Islamophobia, Death, Sexual assault, and Gore
achay91's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.75
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Car accident, Child death, Cursing, Excrement, Grief, Hate crime, Blood, Gore, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Death and Murder
owlribbon's review against another edition
3.0
Graphic: Violence, Car accident, Sexual assault, Blood, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Death, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Religious bigotry, Excrement, and Homophobia
sophmcgraw's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
Graphic: Rape, Murder, Sexual violence, and Homophobia
dokushoka's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Blood and Homophobia
Moderate: Rape, Violence, Death, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Chronic illness, and Hate crime
Minor: Child death, Pregnancy, Excrement, Murder, Islamophobia, and Grief