Reviews with content warning for Vomit - Night of the Mannequins

I think once I understood that there was going to be a lot fewer mannequins than I thought there would be, I had a great time. I love Jones's storytelling and this was a really fun, fast read and maybe one of the few slashers I've ever really enjoyed.

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becca_w_'s review

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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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ahumblebard's review

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dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

It's really hard to discuss this book without getting into the spoilers, but the non-spoilery version is...it's absolutely not what I expected. I came into it sort of expecting a fun monster-movie romp. Spoilers below (SERIOUSLY spoilers below, I cannot stress enough not to click if you plan on reading it and want to be surprised.)

It wasn't that. At all. The story is told from a first-person perspective, in a sort of rambling teenage-boy voice (which makes sense, because he's a teenage boy), and while we're able to follow along with his thought processes, I guess, it was still a let-down for me to get to the end of the story and realize that there wasn't going to be a twist where his delusions turn out to be true. It really just was all in his head. It just made it all so much darker and bleaker that way, because it was all for nothing.

No shade if you really liked this one or anything, but it really wasn't for me.

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booksthatburn's review against another edition

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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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mar's review

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dark fast-paced

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

2.75

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violet_pages's review

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dark funny 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

3.0

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talislibrary's review

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dark sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

Stephen Graham Jones is able to find the horror in the most random or mundane of things. I have yet to read one of his books that doesn't stick with me long after finishing, and I anticipate this will certainly follow this pattern.

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