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3.19 AVERAGE
3.19 AVERAGE
My review is based on the first almost half of the book. I stopped because the author made the decision to use a dead household pet as a plot device. Nope.
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
dark
tense
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:
Complicated
hmm... i'm not quite sure what my thoughts are on this one. i remember my mom trying to give this a read a year or two ago, but didn't finish it because she didn't like the identification of the characters (i.e. invader 1, victim 3). my favorite booktuber, hailey hughes, gave this book five stars, and the premise of it seemed rather interesting, so i chose to pick it up. i am not a huge fan of the splatterpunk genre by any means, so this definitely had an impact on my review.
i have not watched the film "funny games", but i know a lot about it, and this seems like a novel adaptation (or rip-off, depending on how you want to look at it) off of that movie. the overall message is the same: violence is exploited in the media, and the way both this author and the director communicated this through their works is the display of senseless violence. i very much enjoy horror that has social commentary or deeper themes beyond the surface level scary elements, and i get that the message is there, but... i don't know... i didn't feel it was executed effectively.
another aspect of the book that annoyed the HELL out of me was the narrator. i felt like i was being mansplained how to break into a house. he was also immensely repetitive, and not in an effective way, more in a wow-this-book-really-needed-an-editor way. half of a page was about the different types of masks an invader could wear (i.e. clown masks, wolf masks, ski masks). i'm dead serious. there were many portions of the book where i felt like what the narrator was saying was just filler to get to a certain page count, which is sad considering this book is only 220ish pages.
i am a huge animal lover, so stars were docked off for the repeated descriptions of animal violence. it felt unnecessary for these awful scenes of family pets being tortured to be mentioned, but as previously mentioned, i think that's what seidlinger was going for: descriptions of senseless acts of torture and violence. to me, descriptions of animal cruelty are NEVER needed. argue with the wall. if you, like me, are sensitive to that type of content, i would avoid this book.
what i DID like, however, was the perspective choice. it is in second person, and we, as readers, are a character involved in the home invasion. it made the reading experience feel so voyeuristic and twisted, which was something i feel is unique among other horror stories i have read.
TWs:
- torture
- gore
- violence & murder
- animal cruelty & death
- rape (kind of off-page?)
- suicide
i have not watched the film "funny games", but i know a lot about it, and this seems like a novel adaptation (or rip-off, depending on how you want to look at it) off of that movie. the overall message is the same: violence is exploited in the media, and the way both this author and the director communicated this through their works is the display of senseless violence. i very much enjoy horror that has social commentary or deeper themes beyond the surface level scary elements, and i get that the message is there, but... i don't know... i didn't feel it was executed effectively.
another aspect of the book that annoyed the HELL out of me was the narrator. i felt like i was being mansplained how to break into a house. he was also immensely repetitive, and not in an effective way, more in a wow-this-book-really-needed-an-editor way. half of a page was about the different types of masks an invader could wear (i.e. clown masks, wolf masks, ski masks). i'm dead serious. there were many portions of the book where i felt like what the narrator was saying was just filler to get to a certain page count, which is sad considering this book is only 220ish pages.
i am a huge animal lover, so stars were docked off for the repeated descriptions of animal violence. it felt unnecessary for these awful scenes of family pets being tortured to be mentioned, but as previously mentioned, i think that's what seidlinger was going for: descriptions of senseless acts of torture and violence. to me, descriptions of animal cruelty are NEVER needed. argue with the wall. if you, like me, are sensitive to that type of content, i would avoid this book.
what i DID like, however, was the perspective choice. it is in second person, and we, as readers, are a character involved in the home invasion. it made the reading experience feel so voyeuristic and twisted, which was something i feel is unique among other horror stories i have read.
TWs:
- torture
- gore
- violence & murder
- animal cruelty & death
- rape (kind of off-page?)
- suicide
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Murder
Moderate: Rape, Suicide
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Wow. A how to for home invasion that I could not put down! Filling me with a wonderful amount of dread, probably the scariest book I’ve read in a long time. Seidlinger really captures the essence of our voyeuristic culture and slaps you in the face with it! I will never forget to check the locks after reading this!
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
i usually don't bother with cws on books that are so over the top, you're expecting extreme gore, child death, etc but i will say a quick cw for rape at 61% - it's very brief and comes out of nowhere, so just a heads up
hmmm. had some very effective moments and was very good at instilling tension, but I wasn't sure I always followed what the author was trying to do. however, I thought the concept was really good and continue to enjoy how a lot of indie authors & presses push the envelope with stories like this!
hmmm. had some very effective moments and was very good at instilling tension, but I wasn't sure I always followed what the author was trying to do. however, I thought the concept was really good and continue to enjoy how a lot of indie authors & presses push the envelope with stories like this!
Idea was incredible, a how-to case and invade someone's home. A how-to get away with murder. Super unique.
I think home invasion may be something I just prefer in movie form.
I think home invasion may be something I just prefer in movie form.
dark
tense
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