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3.4 AVERAGE
3.4 AVERAGE
All through this book, I kept hoping for a real corker of an ending. I didn't get it. A ghost story that's mostly just a tragedy, the characters are compelling, but the story ultimately didn't move me as much as I wanted it to. The final sentence is kind of chilling though.
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Tengo un dilema moral con esta novela. No tengo claro si me ha gustado o no.
Para empezar, la historia llega a ser excesivamente intrigante. Esto para mí ha sido una de cal y una de arena, porque no entender qué estaba ocurriendo ha conseguido que mi lectura fuera más fina, más atenta. Sin embargo, de la misma manera, sentía que no avanzaba nunca. Supongo que es parte de la intención de la obra.
Cuesta mucho darse cuenta de quien es el narrador. Uno lee este libro y en cierto momento decide hacer números: Danielle, Toe, Kyle y Tim, ¿quién es entonces el quinto joven? Nada más y nada menos que quien te cuenta la historia, un espíritu que prácticamente ha perdido su identidad.
Se hace muy rara de leer, pero eso ha sido lo que más me ha gustado. No es obvia, no es nada habitual.
Por otra parte, elegí esta lectura buscando un libro de terror, y lo que me he encontrado es un drama muy duro sobre tres personas cuya vida quedó destruida tras una tragedia. Creo que el título y la temática inducen un poco a error, pero tampoco ha sido una desagradable sorpresa.
En definitiva, no sé muy bien qué pensar de esta extraña obra. Y sigo sin saber si me gusta.
Para empezar, la historia llega a ser excesivamente intrigante. Esto para mí ha sido una de cal y una de arena, porque no entender qué estaba ocurriendo ha conseguido que mi lectura fuera más fina, más atenta. Sin embargo, de la misma manera, sentía que no avanzaba nunca. Supongo que es parte de la intención de la obra.
Cuesta mucho darse cuenta de quien es el narrador. Uno lee este libro y en cierto momento decide hacer números: Danielle, Toe, Kyle y Tim, ¿quién es entonces el quinto joven? Nada más y nada menos que quien te cuenta la historia, un espíritu que prácticamente ha perdido su identidad.
Se hace muy rara de leer, pero eso ha sido lo que más me ha gustado. No es obvia, no es nada habitual.
Por otra parte, elegí esta lectura buscando un libro de terror, y lo que me he encontrado es un drama muy duro sobre tres personas cuya vida quedó destruida tras una tragedia. Creo que el título y la temática inducen un poco a error, pero tampoco ha sido una desagradable sorpresa.
En definitiva, no sé muy bien qué pensar de esta extraña obra. Y sigo sin saber si me gusta.
Randomly found it while stumbling around Dartmouth's library. I'd just lost a friend in a car accident, so the book hit home pretty hard. It spoke to me, particularly at that time in my life. Started me on a Stewart O'Nan kick. I recommend everything he's written, though I caution the sensitive about "A Prayer for the Dying".
The sterling quality of the writing elevates this novel to where it defies genre. It's so deep and true and profoundly sad. The writer seems to be exploring what being haunted means, not just by "ghosts" but by guilt, regret and even duty. His heros are both the haunted and the haunters. At the beginning, it took me some time to get my bearings and get used to the p.o.v. Also, it felt a little circular and repetitious at the get-go. But this is precisely the intent--this feeling slightly lost in the mundane, hovering between the past and the present--so that you are unaware of the inescapble pull of the story until it's too late. Kudos to the author for making all the characters (even the 'bad' guy) empathetic. And the last chapter--perfect. This is contemporary fiction writing at its best.
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book is not what I expected. While the author has talent, nothing happens in this book. This is not Bradbury OR Jackson, so if you’re looking for horror, stop right there.
Last year on Halloween, a group of teens crash into a tree. Three are killed and two survive, one unscathed and the other with serious injuries.
It is one year later and one of the teens has decided to kill himself and his other surviving friend by reliving the accident. The cop from that night attempts to stop it but is unsuccessful.
That’s it. That’s all that happens.
There are ghosts in a sort of Heart and Souls kind of way, watching the living mourn their one year anniversary. Reading it evoked a sense of mourning, like passing a memorial site on the highway or lingering a little longer than usual after a funeral.
Despite ghosts framing the story, there is nothing spooky or paranormal about this book. It is an examination of the pain endured as lives attempt to move forward following loss.
It was painful to read about Kyle’s mother mourning the death of her living son and trying to learn to love the son she was left with after the accident. It was equally painful to witness the part of him that crossed over kneeling beside her as she slept and her despair.
As someone that has experienced the trauma of grief, I can say that the author did a great job at capturing that sensation, the quiet desperation and anguished hope, and the fear of what will occur in your children’s future once you’re gone.
Were that the book I wanted to read, had expected to read, or even if it had been one I’d been willing to read, I would give this more stars.
I cannot fathom actually wanting to read a book about such things, however, and felt this “Halloween book” about “ghosts,” though accurate enough descriptions, was misrepresented. This was a book about reliving a tragic car accident, grief, and suicide. This was a tedious, painful, sad, depressing book without any redemption at the close.
Because I read to alleviate the stress of life, I did not appreciate this examination of fear and sadness. It felt like tying weights to my ankles and diving headfirst into a pool of grief and spending a couple of days there.
I am sorry that I read this book. I am sorry that I paid full price for it. I will not recommend this book to anyone, despite the writing being strong, because it has no story I want to share with anyone and did not leave me impacted in a positive way.
One star. This is the kind of thing we never want to live, in fiction or in life.
ADDED: The writing is strong. The plot is not comparable to Bradbury or Jackson. It reads like the old movie Heart and Souls, where the ghosts have to observe Robert Downey Jr’s life waiting to fulfill their unfinished business, only the ghosts in this book have no unfinished business. They discuss a “plan” but they do nothing but observe and discuss. Missed opportunity.
Last year on Halloween, a group of teens crash into a tree. Three are killed and two survive, one unscathed and the other with serious injuries.
It is one year later and one of the teens has decided to kill himself and his other surviving friend by reliving the accident. The cop from that night attempts to stop it but is unsuccessful.
That’s it. That’s all that happens.
There are ghosts in a sort of Heart and Souls kind of way, watching the living mourn their one year anniversary. Reading it evoked a sense of mourning, like passing a memorial site on the highway or lingering a little longer than usual after a funeral.
Despite ghosts framing the story, there is nothing spooky or paranormal about this book. It is an examination of the pain endured as lives attempt to move forward following loss.
It was painful to read about Kyle’s mother mourning the death of her living son and trying to learn to love the son she was left with after the accident. It was equally painful to witness the part of him that crossed over kneeling beside her as she slept and her despair.
As someone that has experienced the trauma of grief, I can say that the author did a great job at capturing that sensation, the quiet desperation and anguished hope, and the fear of what will occur in your children’s future once you’re gone.
Were that the book I wanted to read, had expected to read, or even if it had been one I’d been willing to read, I would give this more stars.
I cannot fathom actually wanting to read a book about such things, however, and felt this “Halloween book” about “ghosts,” though accurate enough descriptions, was misrepresented. This was a book about reliving a tragic car accident, grief, and suicide. This was a tedious, painful, sad, depressing book without any redemption at the close.
Because I read to alleviate the stress of life, I did not appreciate this examination of fear and sadness. It felt like tying weights to my ankles and diving headfirst into a pool of grief and spending a couple of days there.
I am sorry that I read this book. I am sorry that I paid full price for it. I will not recommend this book to anyone, despite the writing being strong, because it has no story I want to share with anyone and did not leave me impacted in a positive way.
One star. This is the kind of thing we never want to live, in fiction or in life.
ADDED: The writing is strong. The plot is not comparable to Bradbury or Jackson. It reads like the old movie Heart and Souls, where the ghosts have to observe Robert Downey Jr’s life waiting to fulfill their unfinished business, only the ghosts in this book have no unfinished business. They discuss a “plan” but they do nothing but observe and discuss. Missed opportunity.
For October's Reader Advisory meeting, we were to read a horror title to bring and discuss. In this book, 3.5 teenagers come back to visit and haunt the remaining 2.5 survivors of a Halloween night car crash. The ghosts narrate (sometimes with comedic effect) and takes place entirely during Halloween day, one year after the crash. This book is very atmospheric and falls pretty solidly into the ghost subgenre of horror books. I liked the writing style, the characters and setting of this book, but didn't love it. This book isn't too scary and the gore is pretty limited that this could be recommended to someone looking for a modern contemporary ghost story. It would also work as a recommendation to teens as most of the characters are teenagers.