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dblue236's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The title and cover tell you pretty much everything you need to know about this book. It's part teen slasher, part satire, all gore, and I honestly kind of loved it despite itself. It reminded me of the movies I loved as a teen, and the "reveal" toward the end that made it feel more like satire added to the fun, rather than detracting from it. This definitely didn't move any mountains, but that wasn't the intent and sometimes that's okay.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Murder, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Blood, Death, Death of parent, and Violence
Moderate: Drug use, Addiction, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Suicide, and Drug abuse
Minor: Confinement, Cursing, Alcohol, and Vomit
elia_stucki's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Body horror, and Death
Minor: Drug abuse
karlaolivera's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
An amazing, fun slasher!
It uses some of the main tropes of the genre por I've never come across a slasher so thought out!
I've seen some mixed reviews but to me everything seemed intentional and when you thought some cliché was comming, it would take a 180 and surprise you!
Amazing horror youn adult novel. (but still very gruesome specially because there is the killing of teenagers involved)
It uses some of the main tropes of the genre por I've never come across a slasher so thought out!
I've seen some mixed reviews but to me everything seemed intentional and when you thought some cliché was comming, it would take a 180 and surprise you!
Amazing horror youn adult novel. (but still very gruesome specially because there is the killing of teenagers involved)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Fire/Fire injury, and Blood
djm_chal's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
I'm writing this a few days after finishing because I can't stop thinking about it. Horror novels aren’t really something I have gravitated towards in the past, and I don’t even remember why I picked this one up to begin with, but it hooked me right from the beginning. Listening to this was a wild ride and definitely helped me not accidentally spoil myself by looking at the bottom of the page before I got there. I had the same kind of reactions I get when watching a horror movie, and kept surprising me until the very end. I'm very intrigued about where the next book will go with these characters and hope it will be just as terrifying and surprising as this one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, and Murder
ruthypoo2's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This is a fast-paced story with a very good menacing slasher versus high school kids premise. And hey, there’s a clown involved and there’s not much that’s scarier than a clown showing up in your house at night… with or without a knife!
The story primarily revolves around a group of high school students, most of whom are entitled, immature, disrespectful, and reckless in their behavior. I imagine that’s requisite to understand why they might end up in the crosshairs of a psycho killer, but it’s also pivotal to the storyline. After the main character, teenager Quinn, and her physician father move from the city to a small rural town, she finds herself accidentally falling in with a group of popular and influential high school peers, the aforementioned teenagers whose behavior is more often than not an annoyance to the adults and authorities in the little town.
The book’s timeline is set during the town’s Founder’s Day celebration, which includes a parade and festival set near a cornfield. Unfortunately, this year’s festivities include a serious dose of revenge and murder with the town’s teen population being dealt most of the damage. Are all the characters likable? Nope, but many are good-hearted people, like Quinn and her father, and the story is packed full of action as they fight to survive Frendo, the town’s clown mascot, recently turned into a killing machine.
I enjoyed this well-written story and felt invested in the outcome of everyone, even the snotty and arrogant problem teens. There are a lot of adult perspectives presented throughout the story so it’s definitely not solely focused on the teens’ experiences. I listened to the audiobook and thought the narrator, Jesse Vilinsky, did a great job presenting the story and portraying a wide range of characters.
The story primarily revolves around a group of high school students, most of whom are entitled, immature, disrespectful, and reckless in their behavior. I imagine that’s requisite to understand why they might end up in the crosshairs of a psycho killer, but it’s also pivotal to the storyline. After the main character, teenager Quinn, and her physician father move from the city to a small rural town, she finds herself accidentally falling in with a group of popular and influential high school peers, the aforementioned teenagers whose behavior is more often than not an annoyance to the adults and authorities in the little town.
The book’s timeline is set during the town’s Founder’s Day celebration, which includes a parade and festival set near a cornfield. Unfortunately, this year’s festivities include a serious dose of revenge and murder with the town’s teen population being dealt most of the damage. Are all the characters likable? Nope, but many are good-hearted people, like Quinn and her father, and the story is packed full of action as they fight to survive Frendo, the town’s clown mascot, recently turned into a killing machine.
I enjoyed this well-written story and felt invested in the outcome of everyone, even the snotty and arrogant problem teens. There are a lot of adult perspectives presented throughout the story so it’s definitely not solely focused on the teens’ experiences. I listened to the audiobook and thought the narrator, Jesse Vilinsky, did a great job presenting the story and portraying a wide range of characters.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Murder, and Blood
Minor: Death of parent
twistykris's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
This book was a major disappointment for me. I was really hoping for a great, suspenseful read just in time for Halloween and while it was sort of a fun and quick slasher, that was about it. The characters were so underdeveloped that they blended together and I honestly didn't care for anyone, even the "good" guys. Another review said the adults were "borderline cartoonish" and I completely agree. Most of the kids were insufferable. The killer reveal was predictable and reasoning behind the major plot was... absurd.
1. The adults in the town hated a certain group of kids SO much that they decided to go on a killing spree (of which innocent kids were victims to) to "save" the town??? And then they tried to pin it on a kid whose sister died in a tragic accident a year ago (and whose dad hates him for it) and the girl who moved to this town 4 DAYS AGO? Make it make sense.
2. The adults calling new-girl Quinn a "whore" and a "slut" when she's literally done nothing was maddening.
3. I also feel like the timeline is so off. The Founder's Day incident happens and the adults who were in this "Make Kettle Springs Great Again" group now decide "let's go slaughter a bunch of kids." It just feels like everything happens SO fast that it doesn't make sense.
4. Ronnie and Matt are just... in on murdering their friends? Because they want to be on the "right side of history"?? Makes 0 sense to me.
5. Cole and Rust's relationship felt oddly thrown in. Sure, they were childhood friends, but they don't get that much interaction with each other in the book. Quinn's POV suggested maybe everyone had a crush on Cole (as in Janet, Ronnie, and Matt), but even from Cole's POV there didn't seem to be any sort of romantic feelings towards Rust. A desire to reconnect, sure, but they were literally hanging out for the first time in years at the party. This doesn't feel like queer rep.
6. And the ending with Cole's dad going to Cuba to "do the job right" was so confusing? How is him going to Cuba relate to killing his son? I think this was supposed to be a cliffhanger to lead into the sequel, but I was just left dumbfounded and confused.
2. The adults calling new-girl Quinn a "whore" and a "slut" when she's literally done nothing was maddening.
3. I also feel like the timeline is so off. The Founder's Day incident happens and the adults who were in this "Make Kettle Springs Great Again" group now decide "let's go slaughter a bunch of kids." It just feels like everything happens SO fast that it doesn't make sense.
4. Ronnie and Matt are just... in on murdering their friends? Because they want to be on the "right side of history"?? Makes 0 sense to me.
5. Cole and Rust's relationship felt oddly thrown in. Sure, they were childhood friends, but they don't get that much interaction with each other in the book. Quinn's POV suggested maybe everyone had a crush on Cole (as in Janet, Ronnie, and Matt), but even from Cole's POV there didn't seem to be any sort of romantic feelings towards Rust. A desire to reconnect, sure, but they were literally hanging out for the first time in years at the party. This doesn't feel like queer rep.
6. And the ending with Cole's dad going to Cuba to "do the job right" was so confusing? How is him going to Cuba relate to killing his son? I think this was supposed to be a cliffhanger to lead into the sequel, but I was just left dumbfounded and confused.
And one of my biggest issues was the audiobook. I liked Jesse Vilinsky's narration in Seanan McGuire's Lost in the Moment and Found. But in this, the accents and the voice she gave for men and teenage boys was just distracting and at times the narration was so overly dramatic to the point it was hard to understand what she was saying.
I will not be reading the sequel, even after that (bizarre) cliffhanger epilogue.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Blood, Gore, Murder, Child death, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Grief, Death of parent, Police brutality, and Medical content
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders
zuzareads's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Mass/school shootings
Moderate: Drug abuse and Death of parent
loosejelly's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
It was a slasher movie put to page! I felt like I was watching a movie in the best way. It was campy and tense and I loved the surprise queer rep!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Murder, Mass/school shootings, and Gore
Moderate: Death of parent, Cursing, and Police brutality
corporealmystic's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Listen, if you are afraid of clowns, this definitely isn't for you.
Frendo is Kettle Springs mascot. His face is on the dilapidated factory outside Quinn's new bedroom. It's not creepy at all, right?
Quinn and her father moved to Kettle Springs for a new start after a very publicized death of her mother. Glenn believed that him and his daughter needed the change, but he didn't realize that the townspeople also wanted a change as well.
The characters are amazingly written and will keep you entertained throughout the book. There are a few twists and turns that you won't see coming in the dynamics of the group that we follow throughout the story.
The atmosphere is small town creepy, and it totally works. The writing style sucks you in and makes you think about being in these situations yourself and how you would react.
Overall, it is a great read! I suggest it for anyone who is a fan of horror and wants some entertainment. I will be picking up the second in the series as soon as possible.
"Make Kettle Springs Great Again!"
Frendo is Kettle Springs mascot. His face is on the dilapidated factory outside Quinn's new bedroom. It's not creepy at all, right?
Quinn and her father moved to Kettle Springs for a new start after a very publicized death of her mother. Glenn believed that him and his daughter needed the change, but he didn't realize that the townspeople also wanted a change as well.
The characters are amazingly written and will keep you entertained throughout the book. There are a few twists and turns that you won't see coming in the dynamics of the group that we follow throughout the story.
The atmosphere is small town creepy, and it totally works. The writing style sucks you in and makes you think about being in these situations yourself and how you would react.
Overall, it is a great read! I suggest it for anyone who is a fan of horror and wants some entertainment. I will be picking up the second in the series as soon as possible.
"Make Kettle Springs Great Again!"
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol, Gore, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Suicide, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, Blood, Bullying, Death, Medical content, Body horror, Child death, Medical trauma, and Violence
lizzyspooks's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Gun violence, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Medical content, Drug abuse, and Death of parent