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czoltak's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cannibalism, Body horror, and Gore
orangewitchling's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
3.0
I finished this book because the story was convoluted enough to make me curious, but I considered putting it down and reading the last chapters many times. Worth the read? Meh…it wasn’t horrible and I do like the mythological aspect of it, which quite possibly why I finished it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Death, and Violence
jenn_k_reads's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Blood, and Body horror
sarah_shelf's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Gore, and Violence
Moderate: Blood, Death, and Body horror
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Ableism, and Forced institutionalization
Yōkai/demons Cannibalsavidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Four years after four kids left their friend in a cave to die while playing a mysterious game. The four who survived return to play the game, even though they're no longer friends. But who will survive this time, and what's really going on with this mysterious game?
I didn't expect the twists coming in this book, at least not most of them. I could have done without the romantic plotlines. It took up too much of the book. However, I still enjoyed the book.
I would recommend reading the psychical book for this one as the audiobook could be hard to follow at times. Or maybe that was just sleep deprivation.
Overall, it was a decent horror thriller book, that didn't get too badly gorey.
Extra ratings: Fluff- NA Heartfelt- 3.5/5 Helpful-NA Horror- 2.5/5 Inspiration-NA Love- 2.5/5 Mystery- 3.5/5 Predictability- 2.5/5 Spice- 0/5 Suspense-4/5 Tear 2/5 Thrill-4/5 Humor- 0.5/5
I didn't expect the twists coming in this book, at least not most of them. I could have done without the romantic plotlines. It took up too much of the book. However, I still enjoyed the book.
I would recommend reading the psychical book for this one as the audiobook could be hard to follow at times. Or maybe that was just sleep deprivation.
Overall, it was a decent horror thriller book, that didn't get too badly gorey.
Extra ratings: Fluff- NA Heartfelt- 3.5/5 Helpful-NA Horror- 2.5/5 Inspiration-NA Love- 2.5/5 Mystery- 3.5/5 Predictability- 2.5/5 Spice- 0/5 Suspense-4/5 Tear 2/5 Thrill-4/5 Humor- 0.5/5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Child death, Mental illness, and Violence
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Body horror, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Gore
Minor: Forced institutionalization and Ableism
jsreadingcorner's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Thank you to Kristen Simmons and Tor Teen for sending me an ARC! I really enjoyed reading this book. This is not my typical genre, but I was excited to read something of this genre with October and Halloween coming up. I loved seeing different perspectives throughout the book. I was hooked right from the beginning of the book. But, I do wish there was more development or explanation of the game and the world they're in for the reader. But at the same time, it added to the book because I was picking up on small details that would later become important at the same time the characters were. Overall, I enjoyed the experience I had reading this.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore, Abandonment, Blood, Death, and Grief
lizdbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
This book really does feel like Stranger Things in Jumanji with Japanese horror folklore. It reads a lot like an RPG video game. The monsters and the world are truly horrifying. I did not find the characters particularly likeable, but I did root for them to succeed.
Overall an entertaining read and probably will be loved by the right readers.
Overall an entertaining read and probably will be loved by the right readers.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Gore
Moderate: Child death
bookcaptivated's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, Child death, Violence, and Gore
Moderate: Cannibalism, Abandonment, and Body horror
Minor: Ableism, Fire/Fire injury, and Forced institutionalization
ktdakotareads's review
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief, Toxic friendship, Body horror, Confinement, Torture, Death, Blood, Child death, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
snowwhitehatesapples's review against another edition
I'm really sorry but this book is just not for me. My issues with it are largely on a personal level, but they greatly impacted my experience with this book...
1. The Jumanji but heavily Japanese-inspired thing really put me off. Although Japanese culture is treated respectfully enough here, the incorporation of it didn't feel...authentic? I don't know how to explain it well, but all the Asian aspects that popped up in this book felt as though they were plucked and dropped into a Western setting. They just didn't gel well with the Jumanji part of the book and many times, I even forgot it was supposed to be Japanese-inspired.
2. The introduction of the characters by their hobbies instead of creating memorable, solid personalities resulted in lukewarm characters whose importance and memorability lessened with each chapter. By the time I finished reading the first trial, the characters gave off strong "I'm only here to move the plot forward" vibes!
3. There's just so much talk, talk, talking instead of showing or experiencing that the story lost its horror- and attention-grabbing- touch. I wasn't creeped out by what was happening and my attention wandered off a lot throughout the parts I actually managed to read.
1. The Jumanji but heavily Japanese-inspired thing really put me off. Although Japanese culture is treated respectfully enough here, the incorporation of it didn't feel...authentic? I don't know how to explain it well, but all the Asian aspects that popped up in this book felt as though they were plucked and dropped into a Western setting. They just didn't gel well with the Jumanji part of the book and many times, I even forgot it was supposed to be Japanese-inspired.
2. The introduction of the characters by their hobbies instead of creating memorable, solid personalities resulted in lukewarm characters whose importance and memorability lessened with each chapter. By the time I finished reading the first trial, the characters gave off strong "I'm only here to move the plot forward" vibes!
3. There's just so much talk, talk, talking instead of showing or experiencing that the story lost its horror- and attention-grabbing- touch. I wasn't creeped out by what was happening and my attention wandered off a lot throughout the parts I actually managed to read.
Thank you so much Tor Teen and Netgalley for providing me a copy of this in exchange for an honest review!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Violence
Minor: Gore and Body horror