Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

Night of the Mannequins by Stephen Graham Jones

5 reviews

chloseencounter's review

medium-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

1.0

Night of the Mannequins was one of the shortest stories on my TBR so I decided to throw it in to my Halloween reads and this was probably the worst book I’ve read in awhile. I actually really wanted to DNF it but I hate to do that especially to a novel that’s only roughly 140 pages, so I stuck it out and it was all pretty lackluster. 

The description of the book sounds so fun and interesting, I think this could have been a fun teen romp slasher style

but truthfully it was only a psychotic boy’s ramblings. I disliked the main character so much that just having him narrate the book was sort of irritating. Also for a book seemingly advertised as a slasher, every kill was the exact same which isn’t very interesting or fun. I feel like if you’re gonna do it, take it all the way and make it way more gory and ridiculous. If the author did that, I think this could’ve been more enjoyable but mostly it was just boring and for such a short novel, felt repetitive.

 

I wouldn’t recommend this one unless you’re super desperate for a short story, it was mostly unexciting and unremarkable. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Violence, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Cursing and Stalking

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

bookishbutch's review against another edition

dark sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Grief, Death, Toxic friendship, Blood, Mental illness, and Child death

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis and Cursing

becca_w_'s review

dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Mental illness, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Body horror, Blood, Child death, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, and Violence

Minor: Alcohol, Bullying, Cursing, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic relationship, and Vomit

lilybear3's review

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.0

The writing style just wasn't my cup of tea. I understand it's from a teenager's POV and he's unreliable, but the wordiness and awkwardness got in the way of the flow for me. I wanted to like this more and the title is super interesting. I love that it was like a slasher story, but it missed the mark. I didn't find it as funny as other people have said it is, but that's subjective. I was so confused about the ending, I read it twice but still didn't understand what was going on. I do agree with others that the ending was abrupt. The story is fine for what it was but I didn't live up to what I wanted it to be. 

if the title is night of the mannequins (plural), why is there only one? I guess because Sawyer becomes the mannequin?? Idk I wanted more mannequins lol

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Cursing, Child death, Death, and Gore

booksthatburn's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

NIGHT OF THE MANNEQUINS is an absorbing thriller, expertly balanced and engrossing until the last moments. 

Sawyer is a careful but unreliable narrator. He faithfully tells what happened, but his idea of what is literally happening versus what he's merely convinced is happening leaves a lot of very unsettling possibilities open. By the end I settled on an answer, but part of me still thinks the second option is viable. It shook me on a fundamental level and I’m still thinking about it days later. The story is told mostly linearly, and those small deviations from linearity start to add up as Sawyer gradually decides to tell backstory when it becomes necessary (but usually well after it’s first relevant). 

It’s fantastic, I loved every minute! I can’t recommend it highly enough. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Murder, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Mental illness, Vomit, Violence, Gore, Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Minor: Racial slurs, Medical content, Ableism, Sexual content, and Car accident

TW for Harry Potter reference (brief).