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greatestheights's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I refuse to hide this extremely spoilery review for this very important reason: The dog survives! The book will spend an almost cruel amount of time trying to convince you otherwise, though, so be warned.
More spoilers from here on out, as I bravely dare to rate and review a thriller about a murderous writer going after the bored, grieving woman who roasted his book on Amazon. I too am bored and grieving, but this is Goodreads, and I promise not to be too mean.
Anyway.
I am once again absolutely begging thriller writers to please, for the love of God, stop writing villains with mental illness. It is not the fun plot device you think it is! I've known and cared for two people who have Howard's diagnosis, and it's not a goddamn punch line. People with mental illness are far more likely to be the victims of violence than the perpetrators of it. Too, Howard's diagnosis was a red herring. It added nothing to his character except to perpetuate a bunch of gross stereotypes.
That aside, I enjoyed a lot of things about this book. It was entertaining, creepy, full of twists, and the aforementioned (alive!) dog should have been the narrator. I also spent a ton of time rolling my eyes, sending screenshots to my best friend demanding to know how there could be so many hours left in the audiobook by the fifth time I thought it surely had to be drawing to a close, and wondering how many more times Howard was going to bisect something.
This is just a PSA to all white ladies: If you smell synthetic butter around your remote rental house and think a shadowy figure is watching you sleep, do not pass go, do not collect whatever the fuck, do not CONTINUE BLITHELY LIVING IN THE HOUSE — just leave. Also, don't play Hangman with random old men who have telescopes. Also also, how did this genius astrophysicist warrior woman not know what Hangman was?!
A BIG TW BELOW:
tw tw tw tw infant loss!!!
Idk why I keep picking up books that have surprise infant loss plotlines, but lol, I keep finding them. The detail was particularly brutal, and even though I knew it was coming, I sobbed for the last hour of this book.
Lots of other stuff to say about the plot and characters and Emma's interesting range of choices, but I've truly gone on long enough and I'm still not sure how I want to rate it. Twoish stars because...*gestures broadly*
Taylor Adams, if you're reading this, please don't murder me with a katana.
More spoilers from here on out, as I bravely dare to rate and review a thriller about a murderous writer going after the bored, grieving woman who roasted his book on Amazon. I too am bored and grieving, but this is Goodreads, and I promise not to be too mean.
Anyway.
I am once again absolutely begging thriller writers to please, for the love of God, stop writing villains with mental illness. It is not the fun plot device you think it is! I've known and cared for two people who have Howard's diagnosis, and it's not a goddamn punch line. People with mental illness are far more likely to be the victims of violence than the perpetrators of it. Too, Howard's diagnosis was a red herring. It added nothing to his character except to perpetuate a bunch of gross stereotypes.
That aside, I enjoyed a lot of things about this book. It was entertaining, creepy, full of twists, and the aforementioned (alive!) dog should have been the narrator. I also spent a ton of time rolling my eyes, sending screenshots to my best friend demanding to know how there could be so many hours left in the audiobook by the fifth time I thought it surely had to be drawing to a close, and wondering how many more times Howard was going to bisect something.
This is just a PSA to all white ladies: If you smell synthetic butter around your remote rental house and think a shadowy figure is watching you sleep, do not pass go, do not collect whatever the fuck, do not CONTINUE BLITHELY LIVING IN THE HOUSE — just leave. Also, don't play Hangman with random old men who have telescopes. Also also, how did this genius astrophysicist warrior woman not know what Hangman was?!
A BIG TW BELOW:
tw tw tw tw infant loss!!!
Idk why I keep picking up books that have surprise infant loss plotlines, but lol, I keep finding them. The detail was particularly brutal, and even though I knew it was coming, I sobbed for the last hour of this book.
Lots of other stuff to say about the plot and characters and Emma's interesting range of choices, but I've truly gone on long enough and I'm still not sure how I want to rate it. Twoish stars because...*gestures broadly*
Taylor Adams, if you're reading this, please don't murder me with a katana.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Animal cruelty, Sexism, Kidnapping, Gore, Vomit, Blood, Stalking, Car accident, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Infertility
Moderate: Bullying and Alcoholism
cates_reading_nook's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Reader be warned: Do not read this book in spurts. This is a hunker-down, bring water and caloric reinforcements, and buckle up. This book grabbed me from the second page, and never once let me go. It is funny, and twisty, and empowering. So, so, so good. So, so, so creepy. And I promise I'm not just writing this so I don't get murdered.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Body horror
Moderate: Gore, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Murder
Minor: Car accident and Child death
mflynn8908's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The main character irritated me right from the start. She seemed rude, annoying and overall just mean however, once you learn her back story you understand why.
I did guess what was going to happen about 50% into the story but the author had some twists towards the end that made me second guess if I was correct or not so it did keep me invested in reading the story.
This is the second book I’ve read from this author so far and I can say that I actually enjoyed this one much more than I enjoyed no exit.
I did guess what was going to happen about 50% into the story but the author had some twists towards the end that made me second guess if I was correct or not so it did keep me invested in reading the story.
This is the second book I’ve read from this author so far and I can say that I actually enjoyed this one much more than I enjoyed no exit.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Infertility, Stalking, Gun violence, Mental illness, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Child death and Car accident
Minor: Animal cruelty, Blood, Mass/school shootings, Vomit, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, and Body horror
ohhthehorrors's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Gun violence, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Death, Car accident, Death of parent, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Misogyny, Stalking, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Infertility, and Suicidal thoughts
minimicropup's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
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? Yes
Determined, calamitous, suspenseful
We are following our MC house-sitting someone's vacation house for the winter and another person who has been watching our MC and scheming. Ominous events happen over the course of the MCs stay catalyzed by their one-star review of a self-published horror/thriller book.
- Set in winter along an isolated stretch of coast in Washington, USA
🔔 Somehow the narration on the audio wasn't working for me. I think it just killed the suspense / darkness. The narrator wasn't bad, just maybe not a book that was good on audio for me personally.
🙃 Oops:
No rating because this genre / plot just isn't for me (not b/c I'm scared to rate this, I swear 😉). I knew the genre and plot going in, so I wasn't mislead, I just had a serious case of FOMO when this was released. It's heavy on the action/adventure fight-for-your life plot so I had to skim a bit as I usually do for this genre, and I can't tell if it's because some scenes are too drawn out or because I always lose interest too quickly. The later part of the plot made me feel exhausted, but it wasn't OTT or poorly done, just taxing for me! I loved the tongue-in-cheek humour sprinkled throughout, meaningful commentary on the impact of book reviews and thriller/suspense/horror tropes, and creative narrative POVs.
No rating because this genre / plot just isn't for me (not b/c I'm scared to rate this, I swear 😉). I knew the genre and plot going in, so I wasn't mislead, I just had a serious case of FOMO when this was released. It's heavy on the action/adventure fight-for-your life plot so I had to skim a bit as I usually do for this genre, and I can't tell if it's because some scenes are too drawn out or because I always lose interest too quickly. The later part of the plot made me feel exhausted, but it wasn't OTT or poorly done, just taxing for me! I loved the tongue-in-cheek humour sprinkled throughout, meaningful commentary on the impact of book reviews and thriller/suspense/horror tropes, and creative narrative POVs.
Mood Reading Match Up:
- Home invasion fight-for-your-life survival trope
- Tragedy guiding character development
- Isolated locked-ish room suspense thriller
- Action-adventure fight/hide/flee scenes
Content Heads-Up: Home invasion and stalking. Death of a child. Car accident. [No pet deaths].
Format: Scribd Audio and Kindle
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Violence, Child death, and Murder
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Mental illness
Minor: Animal cruelty
Animal cruelty is on page involving a dog, but for peace of mind it is via close calls, without gratuitous physical violenceemeraldsanto's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Eating disorder, Blood, Medical content, Vomit, Alcohol, Car accident, Gore, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Child death, Alcoholism, Stalking, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, and Suicidal thoughts
gm_vak's review
adventurous
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Grief, Suicide, Death, Gun violence, Animal cruelty, Child death, Vomit, and Car accident
ciaomara's review
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy, Infertility, Stalking, Child death, Murder, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Gun violence, and Grief
solenophage's review against another edition
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
Tone's a little weird. The killer is such a played-up incel stereotype that he can only read as comical, but the other characters seem relatively grounded and we're supposed to take their plights seriously. It felt sort of unbalanced, how 'real' are these characters supposed to be? How much is this satire and how much is it horror? I don't think this book quite hit on a good middle ground.
Otherwise, it was a fun read. It was fast-paced and tense at the right moments, with a heroine that who, while not infallible, was clever and easy to root for. Despite the more outlandish elements, I was never fully taken out of the story and had a hard time putting it down.
And the dog lives, thank god!
Otherwise, it was a fun read. It was fast-paced and tense at the right moments, with a heroine that who, while not infallible, was clever and easy to root for. Despite the more outlandish elements, I was never fully taken out of the story and had a hard time putting it down.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Car accident, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Death of parent, Self harm, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore
Moderate: Gun violence, Infertility, Animal cruelty, Blood, Car accident, Gore, Mental illness, Grief, and Stalking
Minor: Vomit, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, Alcoholism, Sexism, and Suicide
roemsy's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Taylor Adams author of No Exit delivers again! This super fast-paced book sinks its claws into you from the very first chapter and does not let go. Unlike some thrillers, you don’t have to wait til the last half to get any action, this book is action packed all the way through. I actually could not put it down because I was dying to know what happened next. While at times it was a little outlandish I didn’t find that it took away from the story at all because we expect that from this genre. In terms of characters, Emma Carpenter was a troubled protagonist with dimension that you couldn’t help but root for. And don’t even get me started on Deek.
I also loved the meta aspect of it, about horror books and their tropes. I think fans of fast-paced thrillers and Adams’ previous work will devour this one as well. On sale April 25th, 2023, preorder your copy today I promise you won’t regret it!
Thank you to William Morrow, Taylor Adams and Netgalley for this gifted ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I also loved the meta aspect of it, about horror books and their tropes. I think fans of fast-paced thrillers and Adams’ previous work will devour this one as well. On sale April 25th, 2023, preorder your copy today I promise you won’t regret it!
Thank you to William Morrow, Taylor Adams and Netgalley for this gifted ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Vomit, Gore, and Violence
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts
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