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alchamp's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Fatphobia, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
minimicropup's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Eerie isolated island (specifically an island off the coast of Prince Edward Island in Canada) and I felt it. I couldn't wait to get off, which made this book feel SO long but I couldn't skim for fear of missing something.
Main POVs: 👍
Omniscient third party narrative voice works really well for giving us different perspectives on the horrors (some characters are more willing to get closer to the situation for reasons that range from saving lives to taking them).
-A general physician and troop leader who is relatable but maybe too idealistic. They are childfree by choice and view their troop leadership role as a way to mentor younger generations
-14 year old golden child trying desperately to meet the standards set by their hypocritical parent
-14 year old bookish, empathetic, nature-loving know-it-all who isn't great at reading the room
-14 year old loyal but skeptical best friend
-14 year old rotting on the inside long before the invasion
-14 year old battling an innate and learned tendency for raging under stress
-epistolary documents (interviews, academic reports, evidence logs and diary entries)
Show'n'tell: 👌
All show through vivid similes and after-the-fact hints via legal and scientific documents. The crayon melted, there are weird bugs in the box, half the class is crying.
Cred rating: 👍👩🔬
Plausible within the narrative universe or suspended disbelief within ours. I feel like there was a bit of a stretch on the ability to manipulate any worm genome to this extent even under pharmaceutical and military NDAs. However, it probably isn't impossible in theory, so go in ready to enjoy the ride and forget the textbooks.
Reading Journey: 👍
Hiking or off-roading and you start finding some disturbing, but seemingly natural things out in the woods. GET OUT NOW but also can't stop looking for more on the way out.
Great match if you like:
-Amplified but realistic body horror
-Creature feature (featuring small but mighty creatures)
-Mad scientist, science gone wrong energy
-Isolated island situation
-Coming-of-age tropes
-Writing and POVs that make you wonder what you would do in that situation
-Survival thrillers
Vibes: 🤢😮💨🫣
Format: Kindle Unlimited
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Fatphobia, Violence, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death
dezaraemd's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Self harm, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and War
ghostbirds's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Fatphobia, Gore, Suicide, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, and Murder
Minor: Cursing, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Sexual content, Vomit, Cannibalism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
aemowers's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Homophobia, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
cepbreed's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Cutter does such a great job characterizing the boys of Troop 52. They make mistakes, they're full of angst and curiosity. The relationships between the boys are complex and I absolutely loved the layers to this. In the first half of the book, I found all of them to be little shits. This continued until the end, but I also realized I was being unfair to these characters. And maybe it was the point to despise them all a little bit.
The structure of this story, traditional chapters intermingled with newspaper articles, interviews, research logs etc was unconventional and I enjoyed it so much. The story wouldn't be the same without it. I read the acknowledgments for once and turns out Cutter was inspired to do this by Stephen King's Carrie, so maybe that will be one of my next reads.
Songs:
- Sick of Being Young - Krooked Kings
- Christmas Kids - ROAR
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Medical content, Grief, and Alcohol
Minor: Fatphobia and Excrement
mrsmishler's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Torture
ladyinverse's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Homophobia, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
major tw for very descriptive animal death/cruelty from pages 194-198 specifically about a cat. i couldn't read those pages but just glanced to see when it ended.princess_marie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Gore, Self harm, Violence, and Vomit
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, and Blood
Minor: Abandonment
randanopterix's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Not for even the remotely faint of heart, I usually have a strong stomach for media like this but event I had to avoid the book for a couple of days when my real life got stressful.
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Fatphobia, Miscarriage, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Dysphoria