Reviews tagging 'Stalking'

There's Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins

27 reviews

heidipretzel's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Blood, Alcohol, Murder, Gore, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Stalking

Minor: Alcoholism, Car accident, Deadnaming, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, and Transphobia

xabbeylongx's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

Spoilers Ahead: 

This book was okay. I had high hopes for it, and was expecting it to be a quick read, but I honestly struggled to get through it. 

Makani is a student who has travelled from Hawaii to a new school after an incident she has. She lives with Grandma Young, and has two friends to rely on. A few summers ago she had a friends-with-benefits situation with a guy called Ollie, and she finds herself still drawn to him, even after a summer with no contact. They finally rekindle their relationship, slowly, after she finds out that he still likes her also. 

A girl from their school is brutally murdered. She’s found sliced up, and everybody is saddened, and shocked. A few other people also get killed, by the same person, and people start to feel very scared. They want to find a pattern, and they start to think it’s because of people who stand out, are the best in their field. People who’ve had awards, or moved here - like Makani. 

A lot of people assume it’s Ollie, and Makani seems to be the only one on his side - she doesn’t like people assuming someone’s guilty due to how they look. And anyway, when her Grandma goes away, Ollie stays over, and she finds someone else in the house. He tries to stab her, and Ollie stops him. Luckily, her Grandma comes back in time, although she does get stabbed. But they find out who the murderer is, and Ollie chases him (butt-naked, I may add) but he gets away. 

Her Grandma is okay, but she has to go to hospital, and they’re all so scared. A couple of truck drivers see him, unknowing of the fact that he is a serial killer, and helps him to get around town. He attacks all four of them - Makani, Ollie and her two other friends - and all of the other 3 get stabbed. One of them dies, but the rest make it through. She thinks Ollie is dead for a long time, but he actually survives, and they’re officially together. 

I don’t know why it took me so long to read. Honestly, there were some moments that were genuinely thrilling, and I got chills. Perkins managed to do a fantastic job of creating really chilly scenes, and that was really good. However, I think the excitement went downhill as soon as we were told - halfway through the book, I might add - who the killer is. I was hoping there would be a plot twist - I had my money set on Chris, Ollie’s police officer brother - but I was left bitterly disappointed. I spent most of the book waiting for excitement that never came to be. Apart from the slight chills when the killer was watching them, there wasn’t much to work with. And the ending was rushed, and if there’s one thing I hate, it’s rushed endings. You mean that Alex died and we didn’t get to see how their lives were impacted? Ollie was ‘killed’ and now he’s magically alive? And Chris acts less like a police officer than I do. 

The characters are a little annoying, to be honest. Most of them are very distasteful, and I just can’t seem to like them. Some of them just seem really rude for no reason. Middle school bullies is the vibe I was getting from most of them. 

A lot of the plot doesn’t seem to go together either. Like the whole blaming Ollie thing, did it really affect the plot that much? And Makani’s backstory, it seems a little much, knowing she had to leave because she cut off someone’s ponytail, after being practically TW assaulted? It doesn’t really make any sense. It was an okay read, but nothing special. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Stalking, and Blood

v_neptune's review against another edition

Nothing wrong with it but it just didn't grab me I guess

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking and Murder

vixenreader's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

A classic teen horror novel, familiar troupes are elevated by themes of regret, gossip, presumptions, collective loss, and self-acceptance in spite of regret. Not to mention that it focuses on the interior lives of the victims instead of the villain. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Child death, Death, Medical trauma, Gore, Murder, Blood, Body horror, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Stalking, Cursing, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Toxic friendship, and Racism

Minor: Drug use, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, and Domestic abuse

The nature of the gore involves body mutilation, and there is graphic violence with knives. Narcissism in children and adults is explored throughout the text.

brianna_moye's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gaslighting, Gore, Stalking, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

allejaid100's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Murder

michaelion's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

I love when teens sleuth. The ending was too quick unfortunately. Much to be explored.

I thought the killer's motivation was misogyny. After Rodrigo explained he wasn't a misogynist any more, I figured that was where the plot was going. But the killer's thing being he didn't want people to leave town is easier to sympathize with. Not valid, just kind of understandable.

If you liked this, you'll LOVE Jackal by Erin E. Adams.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Stalking, Violence, Sexual assault, Child death, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Blood, Gore, Misogyny, Abandonment, Bullying, Racism, Body horror, and Sexual content

Minor: Pedophilia, Suicide attempt, Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Transphobia, and Death of parent

kshertz's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This was a scary one for me! There’s a killer on the loose. They rearrange your house and then kill you and rearrange your body. No one is safe from the killer. But who is it? 

I loved the characters and the development of the plot. Some parts described the deaths in way too much detail for me! But it was intriguing and kept me reading nonstop so I definitely recommend it!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Gore, Stalking, Torture, Murder, Bullying, Death, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

eli_reads006's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

The book was thrilling and i could not put it down. Worth the read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Gore, Blood, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Bullying, Alcoholism, Car accident, Mental illness, Medical content, Death of parent, Drug use, Medical trauma, and Stalking

rosesofthespring's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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? Yes

4.0

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It's tense, it's challenging, and I ended up really liking the characters. Stephanie Perkins has a knack for making characters feel multi-dimensional in a short time, which is invaluable for the slasher genre. It makes the escapes feel earned, and the deaths feel like a true loss. I was surprised to learn that this was published before The Woods Are Always Watching, since I feel like this one avoids the pitfalls that bothered me in The Woods.

I hope we get to see more horror from Perkins in the future.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Gore, Medical content, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Body horror, Death, Grief, Murder, Stalking, Gaslighting, Vomit, Alcohol, and Cursing

Moderate: Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Dementia, Racism, Suicide attempt, Transphobia, Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Car accident, Homophobia, Sexism, and Sexual content