Scan barcode
urcringyhuman's review
5.0
This book was on my shelf for two years before I read it...I should have read it two years ago. There were parts that genuinely creeped me out, yet I couldn't stop reading. The diary format is overdone, but this felt more like a found footage scenario. It's a unique spin with a highly unreliable narrator. I loved every page.
khamz's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Animal cruelty, Murder, and Torture
library_brandy's review
3.0
Noelle and her friend Alfred work nights at the Boy Meets Girl Inn--a hotel with a colorful history, as long as the color is mostly blood-red. Noelle's been keeping a diary of the weird events she's experienced: the bathroom door slowly swinging shut as if pushed, a lampshade spinning around, odd noises in the basement and other parts of the inn. There are other entries in her journal, too: things she doesn't remember writing, things that she may or may not have done, and Alf confronts her about some of her nighttime behaviors.
After the massacre, the diary is found, and has now been passed along to us, the reader, with annotations from the original detective on the case and from a movie exec who's been developing the source material into a script. The movie guy's annotations aren't that interesting (though it's disheartening how many times he notes that the main character has to be sexy), but the notes from the detective give some background and fact-checking on the case.
The end doesn't come together in any satisfying way--there are too many pieces in it that we're supposed to write off asOOH SPOOKY GHOSTS AND POSSESSION but they don't gel together quite right.
For high school collections (lots of swearing, primarily).
After the massacre, the diary is found, and has now been passed along to us, the reader, with annotations from the original detective on the case and from a movie exec who's been developing the source material into a script. The movie guy's annotations aren't that interesting (though it's disheartening how many times he notes that the main character has to be sexy), but the notes from the detective give some background and fact-checking on the case.
The end doesn't come together in any satisfying way--there are too many pieces in it that we're supposed to write off as
For high school collections (lots of swearing, primarily).
britreads's review
3.0
"I will always admire and respect authors who take a risk or try to tell a story in a different way. This book is set up like a diary, but since the diary serves as a key piece of information in a police investigation, there are annotations from the main investigating officer. AND the diary is eventually handed over to a movie executive, who also makes notes in the margins about how the movie could be shot. I didn’t care too much for the executive’s comments, but I did enjoy the officer’s comments because it called into question a lot of Noelle’s observations and it gave some more insight into the world that Noelle inhabited."
For the full review, check out my blog, https://mylifeisbooked.com/
For the full review, check out my blog, https://mylifeisbooked.com/
careythesixth's review against another edition
4.0
This was one of the most disturbing things I've ever read. I mean that in a good way. I felt nauseated a few times. I appreciate the weirdness of this book and the characters in it, but there were a couple of loose ends, like with Margaret's kid or Noelle's friends. But the overall gross nature of this book was pretty satisfying. Between this and The Lonely, I'll probably read anything Ainslie Hogarth writes.
museoffire's review against another edition
5.0
This book is appallingly good. Ainslie Hogarth has given birth to an entirely new genre here that I'm gonna call the torture porn coming of age novel. This book is marvelously disgusting, beautifully horrible and other words that really don't go together. Noelle is one of the most likable, believable heroines to hit the YA scene in a long time. Equal parts Scout, Katniss and Lizzie Borden if that's even possible. The reader feels for her, hates her choices, and dearly wants her to get out of this nightmare in one piece even though we know it ain't gonna happen.
Noelle has taken a summer job at the "Boy Meets Girl" Inn to escape her relationship with her appalling and increasingly ill father and her own increasingly bizarre blackouts where she drifts through what she calls "pattern space" where her only company are her own warped desires. Her only life line is a diary she keeps religiously in an effort to keep a reign on whatever is slowly overcoming her. As the night of a party to celebrate the horrific murders that once took place in the hotel approaches Noelle's grasp on reality becomes weaker and weaker.
Ms. Hogarth is a truly gifted writer. This book would not have packed half the punch it did without her expertly rendered descriptions, nightmarish "pattern space" sequences, and rich characters.
Whether truly haunted or merely at the end of her psychological rope what happens to Noelle in the course of this crazy awesome story is shattering. The course of her relationships with Alf, a sweet and adorkable co-worker, and the nightmarish home life she endures with her truly psychotic father Herman make for amazing reading.
Noelle's voice is utterly honest, so perfectly pitched to the tone of a disaffected, angry, passionate teenager caught in a sequence of events that would be too much for someone twice her age. Her relationship with the diary really does end up feeling like that between a parent and a horribly abused child, a tragic but definitely fitting metaphor for her own fractured relationship with her horrid parents.
Hogarth also breathes new and oddly hilarious life into one of the oldest literary tropes out there, the idea that we're reading Noelle's diary. She takes it in an entirely new direction by giving us the journal and also supplying the reader with the police notes and notes from the film crew making Noelle's story into a film. Its really nothing short of brilliant. They serve as the perfect comic relief when things have gotten just a little too bleak and bloody and also as a harsh glint of reality amidst Nicole's descent into madness. Other authors have attempted this time and time again but Ms. Hogarth is the only one I've seen get this kind of device dead right. Pun intended.
I seriously loved and was totally horrified by this book. It was funny and tragic and so, so, so bloody scary.
I don't think I will ever sleep comfortably in a hotel again.
Noelle has taken a summer job at the "Boy Meets Girl" Inn to escape her relationship with her appalling and increasingly ill father and her own increasingly bizarre blackouts where she drifts through what she calls "pattern space" where her only company are her own warped desires. Her only life line is a diary she keeps religiously in an effort to keep a reign on whatever is slowly overcoming her. As the night of a party to celebrate the horrific murders that once took place in the hotel approaches Noelle's grasp on reality becomes weaker and weaker.
Ms. Hogarth is a truly gifted writer. This book would not have packed half the punch it did without her expertly rendered descriptions, nightmarish "pattern space" sequences, and rich characters.
Whether truly haunted or merely at the end of her psychological rope what happens to Noelle in the course of this crazy awesome story is shattering. The course of her relationships with Alf, a sweet and adorkable co-worker, and the nightmarish home life she endures with her truly psychotic father Herman make for amazing reading.
Noelle's voice is utterly honest, so perfectly pitched to the tone of a disaffected, angry, passionate teenager caught in a sequence of events that would be too much for someone twice her age. Her relationship with the diary really does end up feeling like that between a parent and a horribly abused child, a tragic but definitely fitting metaphor for her own fractured relationship with her horrid parents.
Hogarth also breathes new and oddly hilarious life into one of the oldest literary tropes out there, the idea that we're reading Noelle's diary. She takes it in an entirely new direction by giving us the journal and also supplying the reader with the police notes and notes from the film crew making Noelle's story into a film. Its really nothing short of brilliant. They serve as the perfect comic relief when things have gotten just a little too bleak and bloody and also as a harsh glint of reality amidst Nicole's descent into madness. Other authors have attempted this time and time again but Ms. Hogarth is the only one I've seen get this kind of device dead right. Pun intended.
I seriously loved and was totally horrified by this book. It was funny and tragic and so, so, so bloody scary.
I don't think I will ever sleep comfortably in a hotel again.
metzizzle's review against another edition
3.0
...What did I just read? Interesting but definitely gross.
ellieroth's review against another edition
5.0
Original de: El Extraño Gato del Cuento
La escritora de The Lonely, uno de los libros más extraño que he leído, y sin duda también uno de mis favoritos, vuelve con esta también extraña novela, sobre un asesinato que no se sabe si fue hecho por una chica un poco fuera de sí o quizá por algo mucho, mucho peor.
Cuando leí Frozen Charlotte, no terminé asustada porque pasamos de posibles fantasmas asesinos a quizá un asesino psicópata. En The Boy Meets Girl Massacre pasa todo lo contrario. Sobra decir que terminé aterrada. Ese dicho de “témele más a los vivos que a los muertos”, no funciona conmigo. Tráeme un asesino serial con hacha o alguna cosa más cruel además de mucha, mucha sangre y no me da miedo, incluso lo disfruto un poco (¿ves porque Seth Bishop, Serial Hottie no me parecía raro?). Pero dame siquiera la idea que hay un fantasma en la historia y estoy gimiendo de miedo. Gritar es para valientes, gemir de miedo es cuando ya estás a punto de hacerte pis. Voy a defenderme un poquito: mi miedo no es irracional, quizá esté canalizando a Marshall (How I Met Your Mother) pero ¡Los fantasmas existen! Vivo en una casa donde han intentado asfixiarme, donde me han hablado cuando no había nadie… entre otras cosa más. Es un poquito difícil no creer en fantasmas después de todo eso.
Sin querer este año estoy explorando un género al que era bastante reacia a leer: Terror. Ainslie Hogarth no solo maneja en la historia la probabilidad de un fantasma sino también de una enfermedad mental, lo que me hizo a mí como lectora asustarme aún más. Me dejó pensando varias veces: ¿debo asustarme? ¿No debo asustarme? No sé si la palabra Terror sea correcta para calificar a The Boy Meets Girl Massacre o quizá suspenso, porque sabes lo que pasará al final, la historia solo nos dice cómo es que posiblemente haya pasado. El saber da mucho más miedo que el no saber.
La narración de Ainslie Hogarth es impecable, otra de las pocas veces que sentí tanta emoción al leer un libro, de esos donde podía sentir cada párrafo era diferente, fue con A Song for Ella Grey. Noelle tiene muchos cambios de humor algunos tan solo entre párrafo y párrafo, y se pueden sentir, mientras lees sabes que si ella estuviera hablando estaría gritando y después inmediatamente puedes sentir que se calma a pesar de que no se específica en la historia. No sé si ese tipo de manejar la historia tiene un nombre, pero si en mi básico conocimiento de literatura pude notarlo, estoy segura que Ainslie Hogarth es algo bastante especial.
Su talento aumenta cuando entiendes que la parte de “Annotated” no solo es una palabra de más en el título. Ainslie Hogarth no solo se metió en la cabeza de Noelle, sino también en la cabeza de un productor de cine y en la de un jefe de policía. Es impresionante como se nota en pequeñísimos fragmentos lo diferente de las personalidades.
Como cosa curiosa y un poco cruel de mi parte: Le recomiendo este libro a quienes todavía tienen la inocente idea de que las productoras hacen adaptaciones de libros porque aman a los lectores. En serio, todavía hay pobrecillos que creen que es por eso. The Boy Meets Girl Massacre les dará una pequeña idea de cómo es que funciona el mundo de Hollywood. Así algunos dejarían de quejarse tanto, la verdad
Ainslie Hogarth trae uno de los libros más interesantes y aterradores del año, solo me queda decir: LÉELO.
Recomiendo leer The Boy Meets Girl Massacre preferiblemente en versión física, tiene detalles que serán difíciles de apreciarlo en una versión digital. Y al ser una novela con toques comedia oscura retorcida, definitivamente no es para todo publico.
Twitter || Blog || Pinterest || Tumblr || Instagram || Facebook
La escritora de The Lonely, uno de los libros más extraño que he leído, y sin duda también uno de mis favoritos, vuelve con esta también extraña novela, sobre un asesinato que no se sabe si fue hecho por una chica un poco fuera de sí o quizá por algo mucho, mucho peor.
Cuando leí Frozen Charlotte, no terminé asustada porque pasamos de posibles fantasmas asesinos a quizá un asesino psicópata. En The Boy Meets Girl Massacre pasa todo lo contrario. Sobra decir que terminé aterrada. Ese dicho de “témele más a los vivos que a los muertos”, no funciona conmigo. Tráeme un asesino serial con hacha o alguna cosa más cruel además de mucha, mucha sangre y no me da miedo, incluso lo disfruto un poco (¿ves porque Seth Bishop, Serial Hottie no me parecía raro?). Pero dame siquiera la idea que hay un fantasma en la historia y estoy gimiendo de miedo. Gritar es para valientes, gemir de miedo es cuando ya estás a punto de hacerte pis. Voy a defenderme un poquito: mi miedo no es irracional, quizá esté canalizando a Marshall (How I Met Your Mother) pero ¡Los fantasmas existen! Vivo en una casa donde han intentado asfixiarme, donde me han hablado cuando no había nadie… entre otras cosa más. Es un poquito difícil no creer en fantasmas después de todo eso.
Sin querer este año estoy explorando un género al que era bastante reacia a leer: Terror. Ainslie Hogarth no solo maneja en la historia la probabilidad de un fantasma sino también de una enfermedad mental, lo que me hizo a mí como lectora asustarme aún más. Me dejó pensando varias veces: ¿debo asustarme? ¿No debo asustarme? No sé si la palabra Terror sea correcta para calificar a The Boy Meets Girl Massacre o quizá suspenso, porque sabes lo que pasará al final, la historia solo nos dice cómo es que posiblemente haya pasado. El saber da mucho más miedo que el no saber.
La narración de Ainslie Hogarth es impecable, otra de las pocas veces que sentí tanta emoción al leer un libro, de esos donde podía sentir cada párrafo era diferente, fue con A Song for Ella Grey. Noelle tiene muchos cambios de humor algunos tan solo entre párrafo y párrafo, y se pueden sentir, mientras lees sabes que si ella estuviera hablando estaría gritando y después inmediatamente puedes sentir que se calma a pesar de que no se específica en la historia. No sé si ese tipo de manejar la historia tiene un nombre, pero si en mi básico conocimiento de literatura pude notarlo, estoy segura que Ainslie Hogarth es algo bastante especial.
Su talento aumenta cuando entiendes que la parte de “Annotated” no solo es una palabra de más en el título. Ainslie Hogarth no solo se metió en la cabeza de Noelle, sino también en la cabeza de un productor de cine y en la de un jefe de policía. Es impresionante como se nota en pequeñísimos fragmentos lo diferente de las personalidades.
Como cosa curiosa y un poco cruel de mi parte: Le recomiendo este libro a quienes todavía tienen la inocente idea de que las productoras hacen adaptaciones de libros porque aman a los lectores. En serio, todavía hay pobrecillos que creen que es por eso. The Boy Meets Girl Massacre les dará una pequeña idea de cómo es que funciona el mundo de Hollywood. Así algunos dejarían de quejarse tanto, la verdad
Ainslie Hogarth trae uno de los libros más interesantes y aterradores del año, solo me queda decir: LÉELO.
Recomiendo leer The Boy Meets Girl Massacre preferiblemente en versión física, tiene detalles que serán difíciles de apreciarlo en una versión digital. Y al ser una novela con toques comedia oscura retorcida, definitivamente no es para todo publico.
Twitter || Blog || Pinterest || Tumblr || Instagram || Facebook
sarah984's review against another edition
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
I usually like this kind of story, with a hungry haunted house, and I've read found footage horror that I've really liked, but this one didn't really do anything for me. All of the characters were annoying and a lot of the writing felt like the author was trying way too hard to be edgy. I get the police footnotes but not enough was done with the filmmaker notes to make them worthwhile.