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penofpossibilities's review
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Lesbophobia, Drug use, Child death, Death, Sexual harassment, and Hate crime
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Car accident, Vomit, Alcohol, Abandonment, Addiction, and Violence
Minor: Dementia, Fatphobia, Death of parent, and Abortion
owenwilsonbaby's review
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
"She'd pass a flooring place and imagine her life selling carpet. She'd pass a beauty salon and imagine her life doing hair. Mostly she tried to imagine contentment: the state of being content. She didn't think it was something she'd ever been before, so it was difficult for her to accurately imagine how it might feel. But she did try."
I loved this! The last 600 page novel I read was Dune and in some ways that felt like such a slog in comparison to this. I occasionally had issues - pauses that lasted too long, issues with the pacing - especially when the beginning and middle felt like they were building to something that wasn't quite carried to fruition by the culmination of Alex and Libby's plot and the modern Hollywood plot. The tone at the start was also interesting to adjust to, with a very camp Gothic element - often an interesting shift when the narrator themselves is a bit of an all-knowing, anonymous character (and frequently reminds the reader of this).
That said, all of these are minor quibbles in an otherwise fun and absorbing take on queer horror. Danforth has a brilliant grasp on when to employ terror and when to employ horror. The novel has lots of potential themes but ultimately seems to be about the dangers of spectacle, not unlike my other horror favourite of this year, Jordan Peele's Nope. I also loved Harper, Audrey and Merritt's characters, who are all complex and three-dimensional. Merritt was especially interesting and accurate as a survivor of bereavement by suicide, and someone who came to writing and success young and is now floundering in her 20s.
I loved this! The last 600 page novel I read was Dune and in some ways that felt like such a slog in comparison to this. I occasionally had issues - pauses that lasted too long, issues with the pacing - especially when the beginning and middle felt like they were building to something that wasn't quite carried to fruition by the culmination of Alex and Libby's plot and the modern Hollywood plot. The tone at the start was also interesting to adjust to, with a very camp Gothic element - often an interesting shift when the narrator themselves is a bit of an all-knowing, anonymous character (and frequently reminds the reader of this).
That said, all of these are minor quibbles in an otherwise fun and absorbing take on queer horror. Danforth has a brilliant grasp on when to employ terror and when to employ horror. The novel has lots of potential themes but ultimately seems to be about the dangers of spectacle, not unlike my other horror favourite of this year, Jordan Peele's Nope. I also loved Harper, Audrey and Merritt's characters, who are all complex and three-dimensional. Merritt was especially interesting and accurate as a survivor of bereavement by suicide, and someone who came to writing and success young and is now floundering in her 20s.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Mental illness, Grief, Animal death, Homophobia, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Vomit
Moderate: Suicide, Death, and Death of parent
Minor: Fatphobia
decie's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
5.0
honestly a little bit offended nobody told me about this book. dark academia that isn't pretentious? contemporary and historical storylines that are beautifully woven together? a witty, self-aware narrator? sapphic characters EVERYWHERE in a book clearly written FOR sapphics? yes pls. it's sharp, fast, and kept me up at night. so. fucking. good.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Child death, Drug use, Gore, Misogyny, Body horror, Lesbophobia, Murder, Grief, and Homophobia
Moderate: Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, and Hate crime
Minor: Alcoholism, Stalking, Addiction, Ableism, Forced institutionalization, Pregnancy, and Mental illness
momster2010's review
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
I enjoyed this book once the pace started to pick up after the first quarter or so. However some of the main characters just weren't likeable at any point in the book to me. While they did redeem themselves somewhat more could have been done to sell that. It could have had a more solidified ending. Also a bit more mystery would not have hurt anyone.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Classism, Murder, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Torture
bedtimesandbooks's review
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Suicide, Child death, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Murder, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Sexism, and Sexual assault
gann's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexism, Homophobia, Suicide attempt, and Murder
aseel_reads's review
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
I absolutely adored the narrative style, having it break the fourth wall was super engaging. I liked the switch between the two time periods and having a mix of horror and the occult in it. I really enjoyed the rawness of the characters, especially merit and I liked how queer the book was. I think the ending could have had a more shocking event, which would have tied the story more holistically.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Child death, Infidelity, Murder, Pregnancy, Suicide, and Violence
jacemchale's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I really didn't expect to enjoy this book so much when I started it but now I think a piece of me will hold onto the story and all of it's characters.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol, Death, Sexual content, and Drug use
Minor: Cursing, Dementia, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Alcoholism, Vomit, Forced institutionalization, Sexual violence, Car accident, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Murder
maryellen's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Death
Moderate: Lesbophobia and Sexual assault
Minor: Sexual content
bethsreading's review against another edition
dark
funny
tense
slow-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
2.25
I had high hopes for this book but sadly it was ultimately really disappointing. It was a great concept, I loved the queer rep, the spooky cursed girls school, and the experimental haunted film set. However, in the end, this book was just a mess.
My main issue with it is that it needed some serious, brutal editing. It was far too long and the pacing was completely off. As a result, some parts really dragged, others felt completely irrelevant, and worst of all it was then impossible to built any proper tension. This is meant to be a horror novel and any scenes with scary content got lost in a surrounding sea of boring filler. The first 50% of this book was just set up and I think over half of it could easily be cut and you could still understand the characters’ motivations and the background for the shooting of the film. By the time we got to the ‘main’ part of the story where they’re filming at Brookhants, there wasn’t enough time to give many spooky specifics. There had been so much set up and it just fell flat. At one point they said: ‘Things kept happening all the time now at Brookhants. Who could even keep up to write them all down?’ You could?? Is this not a horror novel?? Is this not what I’ve read 400 pages of build up to witness?? It was so frustrating! Squeezing so many storylines into one super long book just didn’t work and none of them had enough breathing room. I think it would’ve worked much better as two books; the first one could be about the girls who died at Brookhants and the film being made, and then the second book could be about the origins of the curse and Libbie/Alex. Then we could get the depth that the author clearly wanted to give to each aspect of the story but the pacing and tension would’ve been so much better.
Sadly, I found the narrator to be particularly annoying. They use ‘Readers’ to address us and while this is a personal gripe, I don’t mind it being used when done well but in this context it felt out of place and awkward. The tone of the narrative voice was conflicting. It seemed as though they were both ‘above’ social media and gen z culture but also a part of it. There was a large focus on social media which I find is always hard to do well and in this case it was not great. The references felt a bit out of touch and a times cringey (they even used an emoji mid sentence at one point, which I hope was meant to be ironic but it did not land at all). It is important for it to be in there in the modern day storyline and some elements of it worked but many did not in my opinion.
My next problem is very small but I found it so unbelievably frustrating. Because this book was so long, the font was really small and that meant that the astrixs indicating footnotes were teeny tiny that I could never see them! I would get to the bottom of a page and see an unread footnote and have to go back playing Where’s Wally to try and find it, which completely ruined the flow of reading.
Overall, I was sad that this book wasn’t what I wanted it to be and what I thought it could have been. On paper it was exactly my sort of thing and could’ve been a new favourite. The issues with the book that I have focused on in my review overshadowed the good parts of the novel and I think that is in part out of frustration that it did not live up to my expectations. If you felt similarly about this book and you want a fantastic mystery thriller (with some genuinely scary parts too) that is also set in a secluded school, then please read the Truly Devious series by Maureen Johnson, I promise it will not disappoint.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Murder, and Suicide
Moderate: Car accident