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theaceofpages's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
While I didn't love this book, I'm sure others will. It is definitely dark and creepy with an interesting mysterious hidden world if that is the kind of horror you enjoy!
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. As always, all opinions are my own.
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, and Gore
Minor: Blood, Self harm, and Animal death
henrygravesprince's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Addiction, Violence, Alcohol, Death, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Self harm, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood
Minor: Misogyny, Ableism, Animal death, Vomit, and Excrement
Conspiracy theoriesbookeduntil's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Grief, Death, Alcohol, Gore, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Body horror, and Blood
Moderate: Vomit, Car accident, and Self harm
Minor: Abandonment
sol_journal's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
The writing was pretty enjoyable. There were some bits where the details kind of went over my head, but I tend to read in inconvenient places and times (usually during my downtime at work or late at night before bed) so that could very well be the reason.
- The action that happens in the story hits as it’s happening- if that makes sense. The setting is already building up on eeriness and dread, that feeling like you know something is gonna happen but you don’t know *when*. But you also don’t really expect what will happen until you’re suddenly thrown into the scene.
- This book consumed me. It became a fan-favorite *fast* for the fact that I love this genre of horror. I’m a big fan of the Kids on Bikes TTRPG game ‘Kollok 1991’ and this gave very similar vibes! And if I haven’t stated it enough, I loved SARs stories growing up. This was everything I forgot I loved wrapped into one with a door leading straight into the thick of it (get it? Doors are kinda problematic around here- I’ll see myself out now…)
- I feel like this was horror in that it was creepy, but not too scary? It has some gore though, wonderfully done action scenes IMO that I could almost see when I sat down and focused on reading. I really would say that this is great for people who don’t like to get scared but kind of want a nice little chiller.
- Sometimes the characters grated me by how they acted? Theo has some development, but she says stuff that kinda contradicts? An example- she mentions that a conspiracy theorist isn’t really a bad thing because it means somebody out there is ‘crazier than her’ and also means she’s ’not alone in her belief’. But another scene further in, she uses ‘conspiracist/conspiracy theorist’ as an insult/thinks of them insultingly. It’s little things like this, but I feel like it’s just showing how Theo grows along the way too. Her thoughts do kinda change later/she eventually learns to work with different people. I think it’s the fact that Theo is tough to love at first (but man does she fight her way into your heart by the end)
Moderate: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Blood, Violence, Death, and Grief
Minor: Emotional abuse and Animal death
- The main character’s mother is kinda mean and looks down on her. She’s in a few scenes so that’s the biggest note with the ‘Emotional Abuse’ tag because she does kind of shit-talk her daughter when she’s on-page. - Animal death in that there are creatures described to be canine-like but they aren’t really canines. Not sure if the similarity to dogs, however, would be triggering to people as these creatures do get attacked/killed on-page. - Alcoholism in that the main character leans to the idea of drinking to cope. Its on and off mentioned, but it is mentioned more often in the first half of the book.