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eggjen's review against another edition
4.0
I think I'd only give about 3 stars to the first half of this book, but somewhere around the middle the plot picks up and the mystery starts to get a little bit more intriguing, making me more inclined to read a few more chapters each night than I was reading before. The last 150 pages I read in basically one day. There are a few characters and plot developments that I had problems with and I do think the book bordered on TOO LONG but over all, I did really enjoy it and I found the overall story to be really fascinating and the pictures and clippings were a nice touch. I was kind of disappointed that the google play app at least doesn't seem to exist anymore. Unless Cordova got to it.
bywell's review against another edition
3.0
Could use more aggressive editing. Story line, characters all excellent but it didn't need to be quite that long.
ryrichards'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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
luminous's review against another edition
5.0
Five stars in spite of flaws. Because overall it's always engaging, full of twists and turns. Flaws: the two sidekicks are not as fully realized as they should be. The audio narration is either divine or cringe worthy, depending on who Weber is voicing. If it's the protagonist, he's wonderful. If it's any other character, he's at best listenable. But most often his other voices jolt you out of the narrative. And if he's voicing someone speaking English as second language, he makes them sound like idiots.
kilobravo's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
honnari_hannya's review against another edition
4.0
Thoroughly enjoyed this one. No one was likeable, but not all stories are meant to have likeable characters. In fact, the characters are even more compelling for how deeply flawed they are—you couldn't trust the any of their motivations outright, and the readers definitely sensed that each one of them was always holding something back. McGrath makes for a really interesting unreliable narrator, especially when you consider his outlook from the beginning compared to how he is at the end. That journey from scepticism to faith and back again happens multiple times throughout the story, oscillating sometimes even within pages of one another, but never unbelievably so.
This is also one of the more successful horror books I've read in a long time. There are cults, forbidden films, witchdoctors, devils, reclusive shut-in directors who live in a haunted house—all of it fairly campy, but not gimmicky. I was able to suspend my disbelief throughout and really get into the mystery surrounding Cordova and his family and fans.
This is also one of the more successful horror books I've read in a long time. There are cults, forbidden films, witchdoctors, devils, reclusive shut-in directors who live in a haunted house—all of it fairly campy, but not gimmicky. I was able to suspend my disbelief throughout and really get into the mystery surrounding Cordova and his family and fans.
mhorne's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-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? No
4.25
This book was very thrilling, but I found the twist to be a bit of a let-down. I think I wanted it to stay more in the realm of the supernatural, and it came back more into reality than I would have wanted.