You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.

Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Fantasticland by Mike Bockoven

33 reviews

opplecopter's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

4.5

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

exlibrisphoebe's review

Go to review page

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

4.5

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

beejumpe's review

Go to review page

adventurous dark funny tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? N/A

4.25

This book did a great job at creating an unreliable narrative that feels indicative of people telling a story of a traumatic incident and the different ways people dealt with it. The characters felt realistic, there were some I loved (Glenn), ones I fucking hated (Sal). Each characters voice is unique and creates a very fun and frightening narrative. I think there are parts that didn’t fit my tastes but overall a fun and great read!
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

th3bookthief's review

Go to review page

challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

itsjustgrumpy's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Wow. Dark, painful and intense. A venture into the depravity that lies just under the surface of humanity, and can be drawn out when there's the temptation of getting away with it. Only slight downside is the sheer number of names that are used for repeating characters. Absolutely LOVED this read.

Edit: 5 stars. Whenever anyone asks me to recommend a book I mention this. It's only fair to give it 5 stars.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

vyralvyris's review

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

A fascinating take on LOTF in a more modern time, the only glaring annoyance being how heavily technology addiction is blamed for the events of the novel.  Otherwise, literally couldn't put it down, listened to the full audiobook in two days.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

paigie_pie's review

Go to review page

dark reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

cassie_04's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

blymanor's review

Go to review page

dark emotional sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Intriguing. Great world-building! The technology aspect of the book was a bit weak and I feel it could have been cut out without affecting the story.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

yvo_about_books's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.75

 Finished reading: November 3rd 2023


“To think our young people are capable of what we saw chills the blood for a very long time.”

It's true that I don't tend to read a lot of proper horror titles, but I saw Fantasticland mentioned and I couldn't resist adding it to my TBR. I have a weak spot for an amusement park setting, and there was just something about this premise that sounded both terrifying and absolutely fascinating. I have to say this before I continue though: this book isn't for everyone and you definitely have to suspend your disbelief to be able to get a positive reading experience. If you are able to do that, make sure to brace yourself for a extremely twisted ride! Seriously, this basically reads like Lord Of The Flies on acid, but set in an amusement park after a hurricane hits. I wasn't expecting the non fiction vibe of this story though; Fantasticland is written in a way that makes you feel like you are reading the result of an investigation by a journalist. This journalist helps narrate the story, although the plot mainly consists in first-person accounts of people present at the park. The interviews are presented in a way that slowly reveals just how bad things got before they were finally rescued... And boy, things get properly twisted and graphic long before that final page. Torture, mutilation and even cannibalism; nothing is too much in this story. What I did find a bit lacking was the explanation of how things escalated so quickly after the hurricane hit... I was expecting something more elaborated, or at least more of an answer to that question. That said, I can't deny that this was a perfect Halloween read. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings