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lycheejelly's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Blood, Bullying, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexual assault, Torture, and Violence
Minor: Body horror, Body shaming, Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Incest, Infidelity, Infertility, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, and Trafficking
sentientnoodle's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
1.0
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Miscarriage
The author pull the pick a type of horror trope so he wrote all of them, poorly, into this bookhouse_of_hannah's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
So this story is divided into seven parts, 135 chapters, and an epilogue. Yeah, I know. This means that the chapters are pretty short though, which really helps with the book not feeling as long as it is. My main fear going into it was that the story would be slow, or drag in the middle. It never dragged for me until the last 100 pages though, so I do wish the author had cut the story to be a little shorter.
it did feel like this could have ended at several different points. I had some moments where it felt like we were heading to the climax....but there were still 400+ pages left. It made me curious to see how this story could keep going without feeling bogged down, and it really surprised me how the stakes kept rising. I ended up really getting into the story, and binged the last 300 pages all today.
I had heard or read that this is a religious horror, but that doesn't really kick in until about half way through the book. I had actually thought I had been mistaken about that until I hit that point, but it ends up really pushing into it, so I'd stear clear if that type of horror isn't your thing.
One thing I really enjoyed about this book is that the adults are not complete idiots. I hate when a story makes the adults to be oblivious fools who can't see what's directly in front of them for the sake of the plot, so this book was a breath of fresh air. I also ended up liking the entire cast of characters even though there are a lot of them. The author does a fantastic job of humanizing them, so it's easy to connect with the town.
One thing that stood out to me, and I've noticed other reviewers have mentioned this as well, is that the children did not feel as if they were 7 years old. I often forgot that this is what their age was supposed to be, and imagined them as more 11-12 years old. Whenever their age was reiterated it just made me laugh, because there is just no way.
This story does get completely ridiculous, and sometimes it is laughably so. I pondered if I should lower the rating at all for that, but honestly I've enjoyed this book so much that I don't think I should.
I adored coming up with theories for what was happening in this book. There were so many moments where I gasped at the end of a chapter, and then read what had happened to my husband. I think this is a fantastic horror novel that any fan of the genre should read !
Graphic: Violence, Torture, Suicide, Sexual assault, Rape, Pedophilia, Mental illness, Grief, Death of parent, Death, Child death, Child abuse, Car accident, Blood, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Addiction and Dementia
Minor: Abortion, Vomit, and Pregnancy
sunnysoprano's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Child death, Suicide, Car accident, Gore, Blood, Child abuse, and Torture
Moderate: Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Medical content, Gun violence, and Dementia
kimdalia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Car accident, Child abuse, Death, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture
Moderate: Infidelity and Suicide
hollykat's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Car accident, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship
mulletapologist's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Suicide
Moderate: Bullying, Car accident, Child death, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Sexual assault
nitny19's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, and Violence
ravensandlace's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Suicide, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Grief, and Sexual assault