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readbooksovermygrave's review against another edition
dark
emotional
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? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Blood, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Murder
Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Grief, and Drug use
amaranth_wytch's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Bullying, Classism, Gore, Toxic friendship, and Violence
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Mental illness, Drug use, Sexism, Stalking, and Sexual harassment
jackieyvette's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
As far as YA horror goes this is a fine book. The storyline was pretty standard, the characters were run of the mill and the ending was easy to follow. But it was just so long. I feel like 100 pages could have been removed AT LEAST.
I've read better YA horror, but I would probably rec to someone who is just looking for something.
Crying Score: none
I've read better YA horror, but I would probably rec to someone who is just looking for something.
Crying Score: none
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Gore, Death, Blood, Violence, Murder, and Toxic friendship
markedwithanm's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
Graphic: Stalking, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Murder, Violence, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Death, and Bullying
arangele's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I was in the mood for something creepy and even a bit scary. This felt more like a teen drama. That makes sense now that I see it's YA. I still found it an entertaining, quick read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Gaslighting, and Drug abuse
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
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
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
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
sm_moon's review against another edition
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Classism, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Gaslighting, and Grief