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justinkhchen's review against another edition
4.0
4 stars
A head-spinning, intensely told horror allegory about faith and trauma.
Picked up this book blindly solely based on Kate's raving recommendation, as well as my own preference for the horror genre—and I can say confidently aside from a few nitpicks, the hype is well-deserved.
Just getting it out of the way: yes, I agree with a lot of readers regarding the depiction of 8-years olds in this book; their behaviors and dialogs are simply too mature to be anywhere close to age-appropriate. I can assume Stephen Chbosky specifically set this age range for dramatic reason, as there are many instances where the scenario becomes even more chilling, when they are performed to/by a kid rather than an early teen. They story did provide a plausible cause for this maturity, but I wish there was a more obvious switch when the 'contact' happened.
Imaginary Friend is like a runaway train, slowing adding speed until it's on the verge of derailment, but somehow still remaining on track. Just like the 'boiling frog' analogy constantly referenced in the story, it took its time scattering clues, and building an extensive cast of memorable characters, until its manic second half, where multiple story threads started to collide and converge in the most dumbfounding, shocking ways.
This relentless creativity turned out to be also this book's Achilles' heel: it simply doesn't know restraint; Imaginary Friend's story built up to a grand final confrontation, but reading it was exhausting due to its repeating false climax/resolution. While the individual scenes are still rendered with accomplished inventiveness, going through them consecutively is likes watching a bad slasher movie, where the killer just wouldn't stay dead (eye-roll).
A complex horror story with substance, Imaginary Friend's is about the inner demon, the skeleton in the closet, existing in all of us, and how it can be both a drive for success, or a bomb for destruction. While I wish the book is in the 500+ pages range, rather than 705, I am now forever scarred with imagery that will continue to show up in my nightmares.
A head-spinning, intensely told horror allegory about faith and trauma.
Picked up this book blindly solely based on Kate's raving recommendation, as well as my own preference for the horror genre—and I can say confidently aside from a few nitpicks, the hype is well-deserved.
Just getting it out of the way: yes, I agree with a lot of readers regarding the depiction of 8-years olds in this book; their behaviors and dialogs are simply too mature to be anywhere close to age-appropriate. I can assume Stephen Chbosky specifically set this age range for dramatic reason, as there are many instances where the scenario becomes even more chilling, when they are performed to/by a kid rather than an early teen. They story did provide a plausible cause for this maturity, but I wish there was a more obvious switch when the 'contact' happened.
Imaginary Friend is like a runaway train, slowing adding speed until it's on the verge of derailment, but somehow still remaining on track. Just like the 'boiling frog' analogy constantly referenced in the story, it took its time scattering clues, and building an extensive cast of memorable characters, until its manic second half, where multiple story threads started to collide and converge in the most dumbfounding, shocking ways.
This relentless creativity turned out to be also this book's Achilles' heel: it simply doesn't know restraint; Imaginary Friend's story built up to a grand final confrontation, but reading it was exhausting due to its repeating false climax/resolution. While the individual scenes are still rendered with accomplished inventiveness, going through them consecutively is likes watching a bad slasher movie, where the killer just wouldn't stay dead (eye-roll).
A complex horror story with substance, Imaginary Friend's is about the inner demon, the skeleton in the closet, existing in all of us, and how it can be both a drive for success, or a bomb for destruction. While I wish the book is in the 500+ pages range, rather than 705, I am now forever scarred with imagery that will continue to show up in my nightmares.
kathrynsjournal's review against another edition
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
1.0
450+ pages too long, repetitive, no clear plot…nor point.
catriona176's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
I started listening to this at the same time as I was reading Needful Things by Stephen King and as the books are quite similar in some of the themes I feel like this suffered as the result. The basic story is relatively engaging though I found the Christian symbolism a bit bit heavy-handed.
priceliketag's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
There’s a 4 star book in here somewhere amongst all of the repetitive world-building. It’s just so long.
katie_kelz's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
4.0
dadverine's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-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? No
4.5
Anyone who thinks this book is christian propaganda is an idiot. For one thing, it is clearly criticizing fundamentalism. For another thing, fundies would want this banned for heresy.
With that out of the way, i think this book was tense and stressful in the way a long horror should be. The imagery was incredible and I loved every bit of it. Its only downfall was the rather simplistic ending, but after all that stress i do think it was a bit of a relief.
With that out of the way, i think this book was tense and stressful in the way a long horror should be. The imagery was incredible and I loved every bit of it. Its only downfall was the rather simplistic ending, but after all that stress i do think it was a bit of a relief.
corboth's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
edsbian's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-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? Yes
4.5
A truly epic horror story, I enjoyed both the prose and characters immensely. The final erruption of chaos in the town was masterful
mystic_bookwyrm's review against another edition
This is a me thing and a soft DNF. I plan to come back to this book.
miranda_reyes's review against another edition
4.0
truly one of the scariest works I’ve read and a master class in slow burn horror. long, but pays off