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bleaksalad's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
As someone who has read many thriller/horror/mystery books, I thought Run Time was a breath of fresh air. Even though the concept isn’t exactly original, I was pleasantly surprised by how the author made it feel new and captured my interest.
One of my favorite features of this book is that there is a story within a story WITHIN a story. Though it can be a little confusing, I thought that this triple layer of storytelling that’s dispersed throughout the pages was genius. Trying to figure out how the pages of the movie script foreshadows what’s going to happen in the main plot was super fun.
The issue that kept Run Time from being a full 5 star read for me is that it felt like something bigger was going on for 75% of the book. Honestly I was a little disappointed when everything was revealed. The way Adele talks about what happened on her last movie set was hyped up so much just for it to be way less exciting. But, in retrospect that might be intentional for the ultimate reveal?
Overall, I really liked Run Time. If you’re looking for a creepy, atmospheric read with some Hollywood flair this book is definitely worth your time.
One of my favorite features of this book is that there is a story within a story WITHIN a story. Though it can be a little confusing, I thought that this triple layer of storytelling that’s dispersed throughout the pages was genius. Trying to figure out how the pages of the movie script foreshadows what’s going to happen in the main plot was super fun.
The issue that kept Run Time from being a full 5 star read for me is that it felt like something bigger was going on for 75% of the book. Honestly I was a little disappointed when everything was revealed. The way Adele talks about what happened on her last movie set was hyped up so much just for it to be way less exciting. But, in retrospect that might be intentional for the ultimate reveal?
Overall, I really liked Run Time. If you’re looking for a creepy, atmospheric read with some Hollywood flair this book is definitely worth your time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Car accident, Sexual harassment, and Gaslighting
thebookishnerd_'s review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- 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
3.0
I had high expectations going into this book, I love all things horror and reading about the acting industry. The premise seemed great and the first 100 pages kept me engaged and curious to see where things went. A story within a story, love it. However, around the midway point, the story became dull and repetitive. With the events happening to her, being the exact same as the script shown 10 pages before, I found myself skimming over it, knowing what happens already. Showing the script removed any tension because we knew how it was going to turn out. The latter part of the book felt so quick with everything being revealed, twist after twist. Some make no sense. The final big plot twist that was supposed to explain everything, even before the events of the book came out of nowhere. A complete left turn that felt flimsy. Overall, it was a decent read. I'd recommend if you want a quick easy read that will keep you interested. Maybe for those new to the genre. But not for the more seasoned thriller readers.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood
_thelitlibrarian's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
TW: Gaslighting, Injury/injury detail, Toxic friendship, Murder, Death, Infidelity, Sexual harassment, Blood, Violence
3.75 stars
-
A book, within a book, within a book. At first, Run Time may seem a tad confusing but once you start to iron out the details and figure out what is real, and what is part of the book it starts to make more sense. At one point in her career Adele Rafferty had it all, now, she has a hard time finding a job after an unfortunate event that happened while on set of her last film. Out of the blue she gets a call from a number back home, and it seems to be the opportunity of a lifetime - she's being offered the lead in a film without even having to audition. The only thing? She has to sign a NDA as the film is super hush hush, and the filmmakers don't want anyone knowing about the film.
Adele has been getting cryptic calls and messages warning her not to go to the set as it'll put her in danger, she chooses to brush it off as she needs the money. As soon as she arrives on set things seem a little off, none of the crew is there to greet her, other than Donal, who has just been hired on as well. The second she does meet the crew they are all distant towards her and basically act like she's not there, it doesn't help that the director also seems to have a specific way of doing things but no one is questioning it. Soon after her arrival she starts to find clues that perhaps someone had been there before her, things start happening to her that were in the book, and with the texts she's been getting things just don't add up. As she starts to question everything, it's clear that she's pushing her luck.
The story takes a turn and it soon becomes a story about survival as it appears that she's in danger, the pacing was so fast and I just wanted to get to the bottom and figure out what was truly going on. At one point I didn't know who I could trust as the story spiraled out of control, I really liked how parts of the book were added to break up the plot and give you a look at what was to come!
3.75 stars
-
A book, within a book, within a book. At first, Run Time may seem a tad confusing but once you start to iron out the details and figure out what is real, and what is part of the book it starts to make more sense. At one point in her career Adele Rafferty had it all, now, she has a hard time finding a job after an unfortunate event that happened while on set of her last film. Out of the blue she gets a call from a number back home, and it seems to be the opportunity of a lifetime - she's being offered the lead in a film without even having to audition. The only thing? She has to sign a NDA as the film is super hush hush, and the filmmakers don't want anyone knowing about the film.
Adele has been getting cryptic calls and messages warning her not to go to the set as it'll put her in danger, she chooses to brush it off as she needs the money. As soon as she arrives on set things seem a little off, none of the crew is there to greet her, other than Donal, who has just been hired on as well. The second she does meet the crew they are all distant towards her and basically act like she's not there, it doesn't help that the director also seems to have a specific way of doing things but no one is questioning it. Soon after her arrival she starts to find clues that perhaps someone had been there before her, things start happening to her that were in the book, and with the texts she's been getting things just don't add up. As she starts to question everything, it's clear that she's pushing her luck.
The story takes a turn and it soon becomes a story about survival as it appears that she's in danger, the pacing was so fast and I just wanted to get to the bottom and figure out what was truly going on. At one point I didn't know who I could trust as the story spiraled out of control, I really liked how parts of the book were added to break up the plot and give you a look at what was to come!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Murder, Sexual harassment, Violence, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death, and Infidelity
cady_sass's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
December Thriller by the Book Club pick - 3.5/5
I’ve now written this review 3x and keep clicking in the wrong place by accident and losing it (goodreads, your UI needs work!) so at this point I need to keep it brief, haha.
As a horror movie nerd/fangirl I was really looking forward to this one! Hard to say if that fact is a reason why I feel let down or if the book itself is kind of disappointing. It’s tough to say exactly why it is I didn’t love this without massive spoilers so I’ll just say this: this novel flies so close to the sun with meta/self-aware writing to the point where it becomes a bit predictable.
This is a quick read, will keep you entertained and turning the page until the final chapters even once you’ve figured out what’s going down. There are a few more minor twists that did catch me by surprise and I liked that a lot! Ultimately what kept me from giving this 4 stars is the full on dialogue dump at the end, where two characters sit down and explain whodunnit and why-dunnit in great detail, which is disappointing and unfortunate. Using this plot device is just a clear cut signal, to me, that the author either knew they weren’t writing effectively what was happening as it was happening, or they’re treating the reader like they’re dumb.
I’ve now written this review 3x and keep clicking in the wrong place by accident and losing it (goodreads, your UI needs work!) so at this point I need to keep it brief, haha.
As a horror movie nerd/fangirl I was really looking forward to this one! Hard to say if that fact is a reason why I feel let down or if the book itself is kind of disappointing. It’s tough to say exactly why it is I didn’t love this without massive spoilers so I’ll just say this: this novel flies so close to the sun with meta/self-aware writing to the point where it becomes a bit predictable.
This is a quick read, will keep you entertained and turning the page until the final chapters even once you’ve figured out what’s going down. There are a few more minor twists that did catch me by surprise and I liked that a lot! Ultimately what kept me from giving this 4 stars is the full on dialogue dump at the end, where two characters sit down and explain whodunnit and why-dunnit in great detail, which is disappointing and unfortunate. Using this plot device is just a clear cut signal, to me, that the author either knew they weren’t writing effectively what was happening as it was happening, or they’re treating the reader like they’re dumb.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Bullying, Toxic friendship, Infidelity, Murder, Vomit, and Gaslighting
chapterobsessed's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Run Time, what a wild ride!! 😅
Former soap-star Adele Rafferty hasn’t worked since an incident on her last project, but a chance leading role in a horror film could be the thing to bring her back from that horrible event.
Once on location in Ireland for the horror film “Final Draft”, Adele starts to experience weirdly similar things that also happen in the script. She starts to freak out and thinks the worst. Could this horror film be real life? Or all in her head!!
I really enjoyed it. Fast-paced, locked room, unpredictable and a unique plot. I really liked the addition of the script scenes, especially during the audiobook. I loved the multiple voice actors. It felt like an actual movie and I didn’t want it to end. I did see the twist coming towards the end, but I definitely enjoyed getting there and then after. Can’t wait to read more from this author!!
Thank you, Netgalley and Blackstone Publishing for gifting me an eARC and Blackstone Publishing - Audiobooks for the audiobook in exchange for my honest review.
Former soap-star Adele Rafferty hasn’t worked since an incident on her last project, but a chance leading role in a horror film could be the thing to bring her back from that horrible event.
Once on location in Ireland for the horror film “Final Draft”, Adele starts to experience weirdly similar things that also happen in the script. She starts to freak out and thinks the worst. Could this horror film be real life? Or all in her head!!
I really enjoyed it. Fast-paced, locked room, unpredictable and a unique plot. I really liked the addition of the script scenes, especially during the audiobook. I loved the multiple voice actors. It felt like an actual movie and I didn’t want it to end. I did see the twist coming towards the end, but I definitely enjoyed getting there and then after. Can’t wait to read more from this author!!
Thank you, Netgalley and Blackstone Publishing for gifting me an eARC and Blackstone Publishing - Audiobooks for the audiobook in exchange for my honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail and Gaslighting
Moderate: Murder, Death, and Infidelity
Minor: Sexual harassment and Blood
dogearedbooks's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I listened to the Audiobook and would highly recommend it. It didn't feel as big as it was, the multi voice cast was all very good. Just don't listen to the sample, it is from the end of the book and gives something away.
The story flips between real life and the script the main character is reading and going to be acting out in the film she was hired for. I was never confused, the voice cast did great jobs separating it. It is a very twisty and atmospheric read, though I found it a little wordy I was captured by the audiobook and it seemed to go by very fast.
The ending wasn't as dramatic as I was hoping, but the build up to the end was very good.
I loved The Nothing Man by this author and though this didn't live up to it I am glad I read it and will read more of her work in the future
The story flips between real life and the script the main character is reading and going to be acting out in the film she was hired for. I was never confused, the voice cast did great jobs separating it. It is a very twisty and atmospheric read, though I found it a little wordy I was captured by the audiobook and it seemed to go by very fast.
The ending wasn't as dramatic as I was hoping, but the build up to the end was very good.
I loved The Nothing Man by this author and though this didn't live up to it I am glad I read it and will read more of her work in the future
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting
Moderate: Sexism
Minor: Blood and Sexual harassment
librariangeorgia's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I could not get enough of this book.
I loved the combination of the story being told in real time and then the script showing what Adele was reading/filming. I felt it added more depth to the story as you could see it more from Adele’s POV what it was that she was reading and how that compared to what she was experiencing in real time.
I found the horror elements to be really well written to the point that I started hearing similar noises to what was described in the book and convinced myself that it was all happening in real time.
When the first reveal happened, I honestly was a bit disappointed. I thought, surely this isn’t the whole storyline being revealed. But no, luckily it wasn’t. And the actual full reveal was more unexpected but not surprising. I kinda liked it.
My favourite section of the book was ‘Act ll’ as that was where all the action really kicked in.
I think this is a really good book to read near to halloween if you want to get into a spooky mood. I’d be interested to see this as a film.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Murder, Blood, Infidelity, and Death
Minor: Sexual harassment
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