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leebeeloves's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Gaslighting, Medical content, and Torture
schnaucl's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I liked it, although the more I thought about it, the less the premise made sense. The book mentions that people aren't allowed to talk about books that were available outside of Wayward Pines. With such a small population, I'm guessing there aren't many talented writers, and even if there were, how would they get published? But it's not just books that would date people, it's all forms of entertainment, film, music, games, even sports. But to avoid giving away the game on the different time periods you'd also have to eliminate politics, history, technology, slang, fashion, social attitudes. The book was published in 2012 and think about what's changed just since then. People spend a lot more time on their cell phones, which are much more powerful than they were in 2012. Almost everyone relies on their cell phones to be their cameras. Digital storage is cheap. We had the backlash to the Obama years with the Trump years. Abortion is illegal again in much of the country. Baseball has a pitch clock. Pickeleball is a thing.
And think about how people get to know each other. They talk about the things they're interested in, like entertainment. But under these rules you've eliminated that shared cultural understanding.
And that's before you get to no one being able to leave town (no matter how idyllic eventually people are going to want a change of scenery) and the nights where you're suddenly forced to brutally murder someone you probably know personally. And since there are multiple reintegration attempts, how are you supposed to remember if the conversation you had with someone was the current integration attempt or a prior one?
I absolutely believe that telling people everyone they know is dead and they can't go back to their prior life because it's been over for more than a thousand years would cause an unsustainable high number of suicides. I have a hard time believing that this sustained cognitive dissonance plus forced participation in murder wouldn't also result in high rates of suicide or people isolating themselves as much as possible (which I'm assuming would also be considered a failed integration).
At least with the knowledge that you're trying to save humanity there might be a common thing to bind the community together. Here, the only thing binding them together is forced murder and the collective agreement to pretend everything is fine and normal when it's clearly not.
I feel like your best bet would be to select for deep intellectual incuriosity, which doesn't bode well for keeping humanity going long term. That said, I'm not sure the genetic diversity would be enough for that anyway.
And how does the economy work? There's hotel, which I would think can only have guests that are new integrations, which won't have any money... although I thought there was another guest mentioned.
I get that there are literally tons of food stored, but presumably you'd want the community to be self sustaining at some point but I don't think farmers are mentioned. Who maintains the power for the town? How is it maintained? That takes specialized knowledge and some kind of industrial structure. What happens when power lines are damaged?
And think about how people get to know each other. They talk about the things they're interested in, like entertainment. But under these rules you've eliminated that shared cultural understanding.
And that's before you get to no one being able to leave town (no matter how idyllic eventually people are going to want a change of scenery) and the nights where you're suddenly forced to brutally murder someone you probably know personally. And since there are multiple reintegration attempts, how are you supposed to remember if the conversation you had with someone was the current integration attempt or a prior one?
I absolutely believe that telling people everyone they know is dead and they can't go back to their prior life because it's been over for more than a thousand years would cause an unsustainable high number of suicides. I have a hard time believing that this sustained cognitive dissonance plus forced participation in murder wouldn't also result in high rates of suicide or people isolating themselves as much as possible (which I'm assuming would also be considered a failed integration).
At least with the knowledge that you're trying to save humanity there might be a common thing to bind the community together. Here, the only thing binding them together is forced murder and the collective agreement to pretend everything is fine and normal when it's clearly not.
I feel like your best bet would be to select for deep intellectual incuriosity, which doesn't bode well for keeping humanity going long term. That said, I'm not sure the genetic diversity would be enough for that anyway.
And how does the economy work? There's hotel, which I would think can only have guests that are new integrations, which won't have any money... although I thought there was another guest mentioned.
I get that there are literally tons of food stored, but presumably you'd want the community to be self sustaining at some point but I don't think farmers are mentioned. Who maintains the power for the town? How is it maintained? That takes specialized knowledge and some kind of industrial structure. What happens when power lines are damaged?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Torture, Car accident, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Gaslighting, Medical content, Murder, and Confinement
Minor: Death of parent and Infidelity
kellyisntcool's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- 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? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Blood, and Confinement
Moderate: War, Torture, and Murder
Minor: Islamophobia
adragoninspace's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Medical content, Confinement, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Car accident
__codex's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, and Confinement
Moderate: War, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Islamophobia, Medical content, Torture, Medical trauma, and Physical abuse
Minor: Car accident
midwichtriffid's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Emotional abuse, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Body horror, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Blood, Kidnapping, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and War
hobbithopeful's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
From the very first page I was sucked right in, and I felt as scared and helpless as poor secret agent Ethan Burke. We follow our lost main character as he awakens in town with absolutely no idea where he is, and with only vague recollections of his current situation. Matters quickly go from bad to worse as he realizes he has no wallet, no phone, and the sheriff of the town is less then helpful. Burke has to discover what is going on, and try to retain his sanity in a place where everyone is starting to think he is crazy.
Out of every monster, murderer, and creepy crawly mystery thriller I have ever read, there is something about the perfect town where everyone seems and acts happy, but there is a dark undercurrent that always unnerves me more then anything else. *shudders* Give me a vampire or a serial killer any day of the week and I will be find reading it, but the town of Wayward Pines had the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end and my heart racing!
There isn't much I can say about this book without spoilers but let me just say, never in a million years would I have guessed the insidious truth about the seemingly sleepy town of Wayward Pines, and I ran to the library website to put the next book in the trilogy on hold!
Out of every monster, murderer, and creepy crawly mystery thriller I have ever read, there is something about the perfect town where everyone seems and acts happy, but there is a dark undercurrent that always unnerves me more then anything else. *shudders* Give me a vampire or a serial killer any day of the week and I will be find reading it, but the town of Wayward Pines had the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end and my heart racing!
There isn't much I can say about this book without spoilers but let me just say, never in a million years would I have guessed the insidious truth about the seemingly sleepy town of Wayward Pines, and I ran to the library website to put the next book in the trilogy on hold!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Kidnapping, Medical content, Torture, Drug use, Vomit, Blood, Murder, War, Physical abuse, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, and Medical trauma
astareads's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
When I first read this trilogy in 2016 I LOVED IT. Seven years later I've read a lot more and grown to expect a bit more from a book than toxic masculinity and fridging women, so my re-read was a hell of a letdown.
It's a shame since the premise is interesting, although The Lottery-esque setting of Wayward Pines was not believable in the least, let alone how the main character was seemingly invincible.
I might finish the trilogy again if I'm feeling masochistic enough.
It's a shame since the premise is interesting, although The Lottery-esque setting of Wayward Pines was not believable in the least, let alone how the main character was seemingly invincible.
I might finish the trilogy again if I'm feeling masochistic enough.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Torture, Violence, Car accident, Death, Kidnapping, Confinement, War, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
lilifane's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book is basically a Black Mirror episode. Or a combination of several Black Mirror episodes.
It's super fast paced, action packed, mysterious, scary, reads like a video game most of the time.
I liked the premise, I liked the protagonist, I liked the mystery a lot! The way you don't know what is going on most of the time, was really cool. I absolutely loved the ending. And although I know it's a series, it can totally be read as a standalone. I think I even prefer it that way and don't think I will read the other books anytime soon.
Two things that bothered me: I didn't care for the war flashbacks. I understand why they are there but I really didn't like them. And more importantly (and also the reason this isn't a 5 star for me), it was too violent. I was okay with most of the violent scenes because I get their purpose but the bonfire scene was just too much for me. It was really brutal, wish I could unread it tbh.
It's super fast paced, action packed, mysterious, scary, reads like a video game most of the time.
I liked the premise, I liked the protagonist, I liked the mystery a lot! The way you don't know what is going on most of the time, was really cool. I absolutely loved the ending. And although I know it's a series, it can totally be read as a standalone. I think I even prefer it that way and don't think I will read the other books anytime soon.
Two things that bothered me: I didn't care for the war flashbacks. I understand why they are there but I really didn't like them. And more importantly (and also the reason this isn't a 5 star for me), it was too violent. I was okay with most of the violent scenes because I get their purpose but the bonfire scene was just too much for me. It was really brutal, wish I could unread it tbh.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Medical content, Mental illness, Torture, and Violence
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