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fallingquinnlove's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Read this book in a day, couldn't put it down; felt extremely predictable in some respects (Obviously, if you pick Bram's girlfriend, he is going to pick Saundra. Don't intentionally make enemies with people who scare other people for fun!) , but with enough twists to stay interesting. Very easy to read; kind of the perfect book to get me out of a reading slump (I haven't read YA in years, but I think that's why it worked).
My main thing, I think, is the fact that it felt like it wanted to be a movie. It's extremely visual, and in the way that it borrows intentionally and makes explicit reference to a lot of horror movies (as opposed to horror books), I think there's something genuinely lost in the development of it as a book. I imagine it along the lines of "Do Revenge" or "Bodies Bodies Bodies".
Also, be prepared for Gen-Z language that feels a little out of place, particularly outside of dialogue. It was when Saundra's POV had a line about how Rachel had been acting a little "sus" and someone else had a line about thinking that someone else should "prob/def break up". I'm Gen-Z and it's not inaccurate, but it doesn't feel consistent with the mood that Moldavsky seems to want to create.
Overall though, I did enjoy it, I enjoyed the twists and the motifs Everything to do with masks, especially Bram's masks, was brilliant. And I loved the Frankenstein motif, obviously, with the projector scene and the fact the masks are Frankenstein but painted, and everything about Thayer's Shelley lore drops. I also really liked what was being said about class divides in NYC schools.
My main thing, I think, is the fact that it felt like it wanted to be a movie. It's extremely visual, and in the way that it borrows intentionally and makes explicit reference to a lot of horror movies (as opposed to horror books), I think there's something genuinely lost in the development of it as a book. I imagine it along the lines of "Do Revenge" or "Bodies Bodies Bodies".
Also, be prepared for Gen-Z language that feels a little out of place, particularly outside of dialogue.
Overall though, I did enjoy it, I enjoyed the twists and the motifs
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Gaslighting
Moderate: Xenophobia, Drug use, Violence, and Alcohol
Minor: Homophobia and Sexual harassment
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