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itzbrianna's review against another edition
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
The Mary Shelley Club was a decent mystery. I enjoyed the horror tropes and the subtle references to some horror classics. If you enjoy a combination of mystery and horror tropes, I think you will enjoy this book. Rachel Chavez is a lovable character. She is the new girl, and the outsider at the start of the story. She is a typical teenager. One who blames herself and feels like she is on the outs due to her inability to cope with trauma. But she is a great protagonist nonetheless. You root for her and you want her to succeed. You want her to heal.
The Mary Shelley Club's fear tests start off innocent enough depending on who you ask. It's a very creative way to get back at a bully or someone who has tormented you. But the depth in which this club goes to finish the game is intricate and weaved deeper into society than even Rachel could have imagined. In my humble opinion, this is not a horror book. It's more mystery and thriller to me. Nonetheless, it was a great read.
*****The Following Section Contains Details that Could be Considered SPOILERS****
While I enjoyed this book, the biggest thing missing for me was the horror. I expected a higher body count and I expected more than just a mystery that turns into a murder mystery near the end of the book. There were so many questions at the end of the book as well that weren't answered. This read more like a mystery novel than a horror one. In fact, I am not sure horror fits to describe this book at all. That lack did not deter me from enjoying the story though. I just think if you are expecting a real horror story with this one, you might want to look somewhere else.
The Mary Shelley Club's fear tests start off innocent enough depending on who you ask. It's a very creative way to get back at a bully or someone who has tormented you. But the depth in which this club goes to finish the game is intricate and weaved deeper into society than even Rachel could have imagined. In my humble opinion, this is not a horror book. It's more mystery and thriller to me. Nonetheless, it was a great read.
*****The Following Section Contains Details that Could be Considered SPOILERS****
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Murder, and Stalking
Moderate: Torture and Violence
cactuspunk's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Child death, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Drug use, Homophobia, and Classism
themoodreader's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Alcohol, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Toxic relationship, and Vomit
aturb92's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Mental illness
house_of_hannah's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
3.5 Stars
I went into this without reading the description, so everything was a surprise for me. Despite the page count this is actually a pretty quick read. The font is quite large, so I was flying through the pages. The pacing was weirder though; it simultaneously felt fast and slow. It's one of those where it feels like there's always something happening, but also not at the same time. It's hard to describe.
Who needs enemies when you have these people as friends ? My god, everyone was the absolute worst friend in this book. What awful people ! It felt like the characters in this club were trying to force themselves together even though they only had one common interest. We also never really got to see who they were outside of the club, so it just seemed like everyone was being miserable the whole time.
Don't get me started on the Fear Tests ! Once they explained what those were all I could think was, "This is the US, someone is going to get fucking shot". I have absolutely no idea why they never thought that people would fight back, or maybe have a gun in the house. It really just seemed incredibly stupid and naive. I was never surprised when someone got hurt.
I did really enjoy the horror references ! I think there was only one that went over my head as I had not seen the movie before. Usually books only reference horror classics, so it was neat to actually see some very modern movies represented. I did find it unbelievable though that that many people in the same grade were obsessed with horror and had seen every movie. I would have jumped on a group like that in a second if it existed when I was in high school though.
I did end up being quite engrossed in this book. It made me feel anxiety as to what was going to happen next, and it raised my heart rate a few times. However, the plot is predictable, none of the characters are likable, and I wasn't a fan of the ending. I closed this book thinking about how dumb the Mary Shelley Club actually is, and how their whole concept is actually quite disrespectful to the horror genre rather than embracing it. However, in the end, it does keep with the theme: people are the true monsters.
I went into this without reading the description, so everything was a surprise for me. Despite the page count this is actually a pretty quick read. The font is quite large, so I was flying through the pages. The pacing was weirder though; it simultaneously felt fast and slow. It's one of those where it feels like there's always something happening, but also not at the same time. It's hard to describe.
Who needs enemies when you have these people as friends ? My god, everyone was the absolute worst friend in this book. What awful people ! It felt like the characters in this club were trying to force themselves together even though they only had one common interest. We also never really got to see who they were outside of the club, so it just seemed like everyone was being miserable the whole time.
I did really enjoy the horror references ! I think there was only one that went over my head as I had not seen the movie before. Usually books only reference horror classics, so it was neat to actually see some very modern movies represented. I did find it unbelievable though that that many people in the same grade were obsessed with horror and had seen every movie. I would have jumped on a group like that in a second if it existed when I was in high school though.
I did end up being quite engrossed in this book. It made me feel anxiety as to what was going to happen next, and it raised my heart rate a few times. However, the plot is predictable, none of the characters are likable, and I wasn't a fan of the ending. I closed this book thinking about how dumb the Mary Shelley Club actually is, and how their whole concept is actually quite disrespectful to the horror genre rather than embracing it. However, in the end, it does keep with the theme: people are the true monsters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Bullying, Blood, Gaslighting, and Drug use
Minor: Suicide and Vomit
sallytiffany's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This is a solid book. It kind of moved slowly for me and not a genre I usually get into. The characters are well written but I couldn’t relate to them because I just don’t like horror movies. A fine book, just not written for my taste.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Gore, Toxic friendship, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Drug abuse, Grief, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, and Gun violence
lindsbrarian03's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
martamae77's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, and Death
aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
I absolutely LOVED this. Read it in 24 hrs, I was entirely hooked. I need to read more from this author 100%. I enjoyed the pop culture, especially the horror film, references even though I personally am not big on horror films (I'm jumpy haha) and haven't watched the films referenced. But there were some references that I did know from the handful of horror I've watched and of course urban myths/legends that get told as spooky stories. I had a couple guesses on who the big bad guy was and I was both shocked and not shocked at the same time. Like I had a few theories floating in my brain so I was somewhat prepared for who it was, but I wasn't prepared for the actual execution of the bad guy reveal.
If you like seeing rich kids getting spooked and the token middle class/lower class kids being thrown in the mix, this is for you. Semi-reminiscent of Ace of Spades in that respect where there is a middle-class main character experiencing some scary/tramautizing stuff while in a school full of rich kids. It also does switch POVs once in awhile but the main POV is from Rachelour final girl .
The ending is also kind of open and leaves room for potential sequels which I wouldn't hate because I still have SO MANY questionslike where the hell did Felicity go?? Girl got her head bashed and was able to still leave the scene. Is she going to try to avenge the club/Freddie?? and I enjoyed the writing a lot. Highly suggest reading content/trigger warnings because there are quite of few things in this book that could set off unpleasant feelings/memories for any reader with certain traumas/mental health issues.
If you like seeing rich kids getting spooked and the token middle class/lower class kids being thrown in the mix, this is for you. Semi-reminiscent of Ace of Spades in that respect where there is a middle-class main character experiencing some scary/tramautizing stuff while in a school full of rich kids. It also does switch POVs once in awhile but the main POV is from Rachel
The ending is also kind of open and leaves room for potential sequels which I wouldn't hate because I still have SO MANY questions
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Drug use, Blood, and Death
Minor: Toxic friendship, Classism, Vomit, and Bullying
decklededgess's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
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? It's complicated
4.0
trigger warnings: murder, gore, anxiety, ptsd, home invasion, bullying, death
This book was absolutely phenomenal. This is a standard horror movie with all the classic horror tropes but it draws inspiration from Mary Shelley's life and her writing retreat with Lord Byron and the crew when she came up with Frankenstein.
The thriller/horror components were so well done and the audiobook really enhanced the atmospheric tension of the story. I was on the edge of my seat listening to this and was absolutely flabbergasted by some of the things that happened.
Incredible stuff.
This book was absolutely phenomenal. This is a standard horror movie with all the classic horror tropes but it draws inspiration from Mary Shelley's life and her writing retreat with Lord Byron and the crew when she came up with Frankenstein.
The thriller/horror components were so well done and the audiobook really enhanced the atmospheric tension of the story. I was on the edge of my seat listening to this and was absolutely flabbergasted by some of the things that happened.
Incredible stuff.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death, and Gore
Moderate: Vomit, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Violence, and Sexual harassment