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hazel_oat's review
1.0
this is quite possibly the worst book i've read this year. huge TW for repeated violent sexual assault. [list item no. 5 is a spoiler, so be forewarned.]
1. good lord, the writing was AWFUL. please read the following introduction of timmy caperila, quoted below:
Timothy Caperila, who chose the stage name of ‘Timmy C.,’ had so far not experienced the luck he so dearly sought with the ladies— perhaps not the primary driver toward local rock stardom but definitely a factor high on the list. Still a virgin despite that, at six feet, he was the tallest member of the band. With thick, wavy brown hair that hung below his shoulders to frame a boyishly handsome face, he was by far the best looking, too.
Chicks only dig guys with muscles, he thought. These words often echoed in his head. He had convinced himself that girls in his class only seemed to want the brawny, loud guys. At one hundred fifty-nine pounds, brawn escaped him. No matter how much he ate, he never could seem to gain weight. Guess I’m a terminal ectomorph, dammit.
“How’s this, Boss Joda?” he said, backward stroking a D chord, then an A minor to G chord before he shredded a blues scale key of A. He delivered bending and ripping arpeggios and hammer-string pyrotechnics, all of which filled Mr. D’Alessio’s finished basement with more dark, ominous, gritty sound than it could hold.
“Yeah. Yes! I think that’s it! Okay, let me work something out on the keyboard. Tim, go have one of my dad’s beers. He won’t even know it’s missing.”
ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? there is so much more but this was one of the first scenes that made me want to shut the book and i can't bring myself to reread my NUMEROUS highlights.
2. the book is clearly trying to convert anyone who reads it into either a jew or a christian. there are dozens of pages of theology that do not pertain to the story whatsoever - and on top of that, the dense textbook-like theory is not even explained in a way that a non-believer could understand.
3. multiple homophobic and anti-semetic slurs for no real reason? did not enhance any "horror" aspect - really just read like an angry league of legends player.
4. cool zionist commentary - NOT! see below quote:
We are going to solve the problem like Israel solves its Gaza problem.”
“And how’s that?”
“A good plan, executed immediately and violently.”
[spoiler ahead] 5. our MC is subject to repeated sexual assault and is completely unaffected by it. our MC is stalked and has her entire home destroyed and is completely unaffected by it. our MC witnesses necrophilia (in her own house) and is completely unaffected by it. our MC and her best friend are chained to their car and sexually assaulted, have the assault stopped by a rotting corpse who rapes and tortures the criminal, and are completely unaffected by it. AFTER ALL OF THIS, SHE FORGIVES THE GUY WHO HAS BEEN STALKING AND ASSAULTING HER.
in sum, this book fucking sucked and the only reason i finished it was because it was an ARC.
thank you to sunbury press for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review!
1. good lord, the writing was AWFUL. please read the following introduction of timmy caperila, quoted below:
Timothy Caperila, who chose the stage name of ‘Timmy C.,’ had so far not experienced the luck he so dearly sought with the ladies— perhaps not the primary driver toward local rock stardom but definitely a factor high on the list. Still a virgin despite that, at six feet, he was the tallest member of the band. With thick, wavy brown hair that hung below his shoulders to frame a boyishly handsome face, he was by far the best looking, too.
Chicks only dig guys with muscles, he thought. These words often echoed in his head. He had convinced himself that girls in his class only seemed to want the brawny, loud guys. At one hundred fifty-nine pounds, brawn escaped him. No matter how much he ate, he never could seem to gain weight. Guess I’m a terminal ectomorph, dammit.
“How’s this, Boss Joda?” he said, backward stroking a D chord, then an A minor to G chord before he shredded a blues scale key of A. He delivered bending and ripping arpeggios and hammer-string pyrotechnics, all of which filled Mr. D’Alessio’s finished basement with more dark, ominous, gritty sound than it could hold.
“Yeah. Yes! I think that’s it! Okay, let me work something out on the keyboard. Tim, go have one of my dad’s beers. He won’t even know it’s missing.”
ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? there is so much more but this was one of the first scenes that made me want to shut the book and i can't bring myself to reread my NUMEROUS highlights.
2. the book is clearly trying to convert anyone who reads it into either a jew or a christian. there are dozens of pages of theology that do not pertain to the story whatsoever - and on top of that, the dense textbook-like theory is not even explained in a way that a non-believer could understand.
3. multiple homophobic and anti-semetic slurs for no real reason? did not enhance any "horror" aspect - really just read like an angry league of legends player.
4. cool zionist commentary - NOT! see below quote:
We are going to solve the problem like Israel solves its Gaza problem.”
“And how’s that?”
“A good plan, executed immediately and violently.”
[spoiler ahead] 5. our MC is subject to repeated sexual assault and is completely unaffected by it. our MC is stalked and has her entire home destroyed and is completely unaffected by it. our MC witnesses necrophilia (in her own house) and is completely unaffected by it. our MC and her best friend are chained to their car and sexually assaulted, have the assault stopped by a rotting corpse who rapes and tortures the criminal, and are completely unaffected by it. AFTER ALL OF THIS, SHE FORGIVES THE GUY WHO HAS BEEN STALKING AND ASSAULTING HER.
in sum, this book fucking sucked and the only reason i finished it was because it was an ARC.
thank you to sunbury press for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review!
blatdriver's review
2.0
This book was just ok for me, The first half feels almost like a midday movie drama, which I'm not a fan of, and at about the 30% mark I almost gave up, there was a bit of horror but it was very light, at the half way mark it started to get darker and gorier.
This book also has a lot of religious content, which feels a bit preachy at times, there is also a lot of rape in it, and neither of theses things I like reading about.
All in all, it's not a bad book, but just not for me.
*Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for a honest review.*
This book also has a lot of religious content, which feels a bit preachy at times, there is also a lot of rape in it, and neither of theses things I like reading about.
All in all, it's not a bad book, but just not for me.
*Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for a honest review.*
fearnerd's review
4.0
This book left me scatching my head. The more I think about it and puzzle over some of its eccentricities, I can't decide if it's a bad book, a good book, or maybe even slightly a great book. It's definitely a strange book. Basically for its majority, it's a YA romance story with some troubling (triggery) elements (sexual assault, bullying). Then, there are massive discussions of religious ideology dealing with Christian and Jewish faith. Then, there's the other stuff (necrophilia, sodomy, and a walking dead serial killer). It's quite the tale that John James Minster has written. I was entertained for as much as I was puzzled just because I didn't know what kind of book I was reading.
The heavy dose of religion that comes from conversations mostly between teenagers (!) doesn't feel realistic but it does serve a purpose to the overall story. Still, I felt like there was an agenda to the book to convert readers to Christianity. Keep in mind that this book has a murderer who likes to sodomize its victims and cut open their stomachs at the same time. It's kind of funny in a way like an extreme version of a book written by the Kill Creek character Daniel Savage. Despite its clunky and sometimes cringy insertion, I found the religious talk more fascinating than detrimental to the story.
The supernatural horror doesn't come into play until near the book's end, but when it does, it wasn't quite what I was expecting. It's almost slightly humorous when taken into context with the rest of the book about this budding romance between two teens (who plan to marry after doing it once) who get bullied by this group of mean teens consisting of a rapist, two vandals, and two mean girls. These parts all don't seem to fit yet they're jammed together like some weird Legos contraption your three-year-old would make. And somehow I found this fun lol.
⭐️⭐️⭐️
The heavy dose of religion that comes from conversations mostly between teenagers (!) doesn't feel realistic but it does serve a purpose to the overall story. Still, I felt like there was an agenda to the book to convert readers to Christianity. Keep in mind that this book has a murderer who likes to sodomize its victims and cut open their stomachs at the same time. It's kind of funny in a way like an extreme version of a book written by the Kill Creek character Daniel Savage. Despite its clunky and sometimes cringy insertion, I found the religious talk more fascinating than detrimental to the story.
The supernatural horror doesn't come into play until near the book's end, but when it does, it wasn't quite what I was expecting. It's almost slightly humorous when taken into context with the rest of the book about this budding romance between two teens (who plan to marry after doing it once) who get bullied by this group of mean teens consisting of a rapist, two vandals, and two mean girls. These parts all don't seem to fit yet they're jammed together like some weird Legos contraption your three-year-old would make. And somehow I found this fun lol.
⭐️⭐️⭐️
canadianbookaddict's review
4.0
Good Supernatural horror story that I just couldn’t put down.
I really like this one and I can’t wait to read more books by the author.
I give this 4 out of 5
I really like this one and I can’t wait to read more books by the author.
I give this 4 out of 5
lexicarstea's review
5.0
It was my first time reading a John James Minster book and I will definitely read more from him - This one is written in multiple POVs and it follows the story of Anna, the local funeral director's daughter, who is attacked by a colleague of her from high school. I don't wanna spoil the story for you, so I'm just gonna say this: it's a wild ride! From the supernatural elements to the bloody and gory ones. I honestly wanted to put the book down sometimes because the author does a great job describing some scenes, but I couldn't because it kept me hooked! It made me feel like I was watching 80's slasher movies which are one of my favourites to watch. If you like teen dark horror stories, this one is definitely for you.
pbanditp's review
4.0
Anna lives in the family funeral home and dead bodies is something she has grown up with and is used to. What she isn’t used to is all the attention she gets when her best friend Naomi gives her a complete style makeover. Timmy has always found Anna special and writes a song about her for the band that he plays in.
New love leads to jealousy, assault and punishment which spirals downwards to revenge. Bullies can not be easily dissuaded so Anna and Naomi take extreme measures with an ancient religious ritual. Is it God that answers their prayer or something much darker?
The story is heavy on the romance and religious history with the last quarter of the book getting brutally and graphically violent. I felt that the characters were exceptionally religious and having not grown up in that type of environment I found it fascinating yet hard to swallow. Anna is Christian and Naomi is Jewish and they both are incredibly knowledgeable on their faith.
While the story got out of my comfort zone into romance and religion, the overall plot was compelling and I had to see where this ended up.
New love leads to jealousy, assault and punishment which spirals downwards to revenge. Bullies can not be easily dissuaded so Anna and Naomi take extreme measures with an ancient religious ritual. Is it God that answers their prayer or something much darker?
The story is heavy on the romance and religious history with the last quarter of the book getting brutally and graphically violent. I felt that the characters were exceptionally religious and having not grown up in that type of environment I found it fascinating yet hard to swallow. Anna is Christian and Naomi is Jewish and they both are incredibly knowledgeable on their faith.
While the story got out of my comfort zone into romance and religion, the overall plot was compelling and I had to see where this ended up.
charmandi's review
3.0
I mostly enjoyed this book. Not for the weak or faint of heart, that's for sure. Usually, I don't put these on my reviews on Goodreads but, I think it's needed for this one: TW/Content Warning: rape, gore, bullying (I think that is one?), and high religious talk.
This book seems like it would make a fantastic teen horror movie, one of those ones that's super intense but also has those 'teenagers are dumb' vibes. I enjoyed this book for the most part, bordering on YA if not for the gore and some of the content. It was fascinating to see horror tropes played out in an angle of religious need and want as opposed to the highly cynical and atheistic views typically found in horror literature. This was also my undoing. The highly religious aspect of it was at times a bit preachy for me. The characters staying true to their religion until the end is fine, but it feels like it didn't waver or wasn't questioned once, which doesn't speak to the reality of such a high abstract concept under circumstances presented in the story.
Overall, it was a fun read. Super unique concept, easy to read and fast flow all while keeping you on the edge of your seat. (Seriously, some of those passages were brutal.)
This book seems like it would make a fantastic teen horror movie, one of those ones that's super intense but also has those 'teenagers are dumb' vibes. I enjoyed this book for the most part, bordering on YA if not for the gore and some of the content. It was fascinating to see horror tropes played out in an angle of religious need and want as opposed to the highly cynical and atheistic views typically found in horror literature. This was also my undoing. The highly religious aspect of it was at times a bit preachy for me. The characters staying true to their religion until the end is fine, but it feels like it didn't waver or wasn't questioned once, which doesn't speak to the reality of such a high abstract concept under circumstances presented in the story.
Overall, it was a fun read. Super unique concept, easy to read and fast flow all while keeping you on the edge of your seat. (Seriously, some of those passages were brutal.)
lucindaslibrary's review
4.0
4.9/5 stars for me!
If you’re a fan of Grady Hendrix, this book is one you need to grab!
Anna & her best friend Naomi start their summer with a full makeover for Anna, going from drab, plan & boring to fabulous and hot.
Anna goes to a bar to see her crush’s band play one fateful Saturday night. She learns that her feelings towards this young rockstar are mutual and so begins her summer of new, young love. Unfortunately for Anna, she and her crush are bullied by the local “cool” guys. This causes Anna & Naomi to turn to old Jewish magic to get some help.
Little do they realize that their use of magic will turn their life into a nightmare.
This is full of teen angst, nightmares and magic.
It was one fun, spooky read with coming of age lessons about facing your fears, forgiving those who have wronged you, and that first time love.
If you’re a fan of Grady Hendrix, this book is one you need to grab!
Anna & her best friend Naomi start their summer with a full makeover for Anna, going from drab, plan & boring to fabulous and hot.
Anna goes to a bar to see her crush’s band play one fateful Saturday night. She learns that her feelings towards this young rockstar are mutual and so begins her summer of new, young love. Unfortunately for Anna, she and her crush are bullied by the local “cool” guys. This causes Anna & Naomi to turn to old Jewish magic to get some help.
Little do they realize that their use of magic will turn their life into a nightmare.
This is full of teen angst, nightmares and magic.
It was one fun, spooky read with coming of age lessons about facing your fears, forgiving those who have wronged you, and that first time love.