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unsarahble's review
dark
tense
medium-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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Gore, and Murder
daviddiamond's review
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
This story was definitely giving off some serious "A Nightmare on Elm Street" vibes almost to the point where I thought "Does the estate of Wes Craven have grounds to sue?"
But I digress...
This story about a myth that comes to life to stalk the all-girls high school basketball team has way too much basketball in it especially for someone who doesn't like basketball.
It also felt weird every time the girls refer to their fellow teammates as "ballers"...that happened a lot too.
So in short, some scary moments, some clunky writing and a storyline that didn't fully make sense.
Unpopular opinion, I know.
But I digress...
This story about a myth that comes to life to stalk the all-girls high school basketball team has way too much basketball in it especially for someone who doesn't like basketball.
It also felt weird every time the girls refer to their fellow teammates as "ballers"...that happened a lot too.
So in short, some scary moments, some clunky writing and a storyline that didn't fully make sense.
Unpopular opinion, I know.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Gore, Stalking, and Murder
leveledmouse's review
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? Yes
4.5
Let me start by saying I hated Bird Box--one of the worst books (and movies) I've ever had to slog through. This, on the other hand, was GREAT. Malerman handles mental illness and metaphors surrounding that, urban legends, and the slasher genre almost perfectly.
0.5 deducted because I honestly dgaf about sports.
0.5 deducted because I honestly dgaf about sports.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Gore
maddireads13's review
dark
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Car accident, and Murder
connorjdaley's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This author has been an auto buy for me since reading Bird Box (although I don’t always read them immediately). I didn’t get it on release day, but I’m into the timely release.
I strangely read this before/at the same time as/during/ two other reads (Wild Things by Ian Thomas/ Goosebumps: Hall of Horrors: Claws by R. L. Stine) that also starred young kids/teenage girls. It’s interesting to see how all of the author’s portrayed them and the differences. Malerman’s features high school characters from the girl’s basketball team, and it was nice to see him have them act/speak age appropriate. One thing that surprised me though was that it’s meant to be current, but there wasn’t anything indicting the generation in any way in terms of slang.
This book very heavily leans into basketball. It bleeds into the plot, the settings, the characters, everything. As someone that doesn’t really care for it, it made it kind of hard to get into the story for me. While I understand that reading is a way to learn and experience perspectives we do not live ourselves, it just doesn’t work for me in that way. IE. I’ve never been a teenage girl living through the trauma of a horror novel, therefore that’s a perspective I can get behind. However, entire pages about free throws is not the same in my opinion, although I’ve never been a basketball player either.
After reading the afterward where the author speaks to his love of basketball I can accept it though. He also speaks of his experience with anxiety, as this novel goes pretty heavily into bad anxiety, anxiety attacks, and panic attacks. I myself suffer from some pretty bad anxiety, and although what the author is describing does not match my personal experience, knowing it entails a bit of his personal experience makes it more enjoyable.
One writing technique that the author uses that I thoroughly enjoyed was doing away with normal chapters. The novel does feature typical breaking points, but there is not a single conventional chapter in its entirety. At first I think it took me a while to get into in terms to pacing, as well as making a few points confusing, but it lead to one hell of an explosive ending.
Another good entry from the author.
I strangely read this before/at the same time as/during/ two other reads (Wild Things by Ian Thomas/ Goosebumps: Hall of Horrors: Claws by R. L. Stine) that also starred young kids/teenage girls. It’s interesting to see how all of the author’s portrayed them and the differences. Malerman’s features high school characters from the girl’s basketball team, and it was nice to see him have them act/speak age appropriate. One thing that surprised me though was that it’s meant to be current, but there wasn’t anything indicting the generation in any way in terms of slang.
This book very heavily leans into basketball. It bleeds into the plot, the settings, the characters, everything. As someone that doesn’t really care for it, it made it kind of hard to get into the story for me. While I understand that reading is a way to learn and experience perspectives we do not live ourselves, it just doesn’t work for me in that way. IE. I’ve never been a teenage girl living through the trauma of a horror novel, therefore that’s a perspective I can get behind. However, entire pages about free throws is not the same in my opinion, although I’ve never been a basketball player either.
After reading the afterward where the author speaks to his love of basketball I can accept it though. He also speaks of his experience with anxiety, as this novel goes pretty heavily into bad anxiety, anxiety attacks, and panic attacks. I myself suffer from some pretty bad anxiety, and although what the author is describing does not match my personal experience, knowing it entails a bit of his personal experience makes it more enjoyable.
One writing technique that the author uses that I thoroughly enjoyed was doing away with normal chapters. The novel does feature typical breaking points, but there is not a single conventional chapter in its entirety. At first I think it took me a while to get into in terms to pacing, as well as making a few points confusing, but it lead to one hell of an explosive ending.
Another good entry from the author.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
rachelunabridged's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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
4.25
Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC!
~ ~ ~
Don't talk about her. Don't think about her. Or she'll come for you.
During a pre-game sleepover, Kit hears the story of local urban legend, Daphne, from her friend and teammate Natasha. When Kit makes the basket that wins the final game, what should be a time of celebration is soured as thoughts of Daphne invade her consciousness. Then the first body is found, and crazy as it sounds, Kit is sure that Daphne is involved.
~ ~ ~
I could not put this read down! The first page was super compelling and just yanked me right into the story. I really liked Kit as a character. As someone who also deals with anxiety issues, I thought she was super relatable, and I enjoyed following her journey throughout the book. (Love a book with a strong mental health theme.) I also got a really strong nostalgia vibe with this read. I think most of us can relate to having a sleepover and doing all of the spooky things like Bloody Mary, the closet game, and telling scary stories. This read will definitely bring those memories back, ha ha.
Another thing that impressed me about this read was the sense of dread. Right from the beginning, you can feel it, and Malerman did a fantastic job building it up as the story progressed. There were a lot of really brutal scenes that had me actually breathless from the tension. I seriously had to put the book down a few times to recover. But I immediately picked it back up because I wanted to know what would happen next!
The only thing negative that I have to say is that the end was a little disappointing. Thematically, it made sense, but I wanted more answers. Some things felt very swept under the rug to me.
All said and done, I would really recommend this read. It was pretty fast paced, super tense, with some gnarly scenes that really made me squirm. Definitely a great read for spooky season!
~ ~ ~
Don't talk about her. Don't think about her. Or she'll come for you.
During a pre-game sleepover, Kit hears the story of local urban legend, Daphne, from her friend and teammate Natasha. When Kit makes the basket that wins the final game, what should be a time of celebration is soured as thoughts of Daphne invade her consciousness. Then the first body is found, and crazy as it sounds, Kit is sure that Daphne is involved.
~ ~ ~
I could not put this read down! The first page was super compelling and just yanked me right into the story. I really liked Kit as a character. As someone who also deals with anxiety issues, I thought she was super relatable, and I enjoyed following her journey throughout the book. (Love a book with a strong mental health theme.) I also got a really strong nostalgia vibe with this read. I think most of us can relate to having a sleepover and doing all of the spooky things like Bloody Mary, the closet game, and telling scary stories. This read will definitely bring those memories back, ha ha.
Another thing that impressed me about this read was the sense of dread. Right from the beginning, you can feel it, and Malerman did a fantastic job building it up as the story progressed. There were a lot of really brutal scenes that had me actually breathless from the tension. I seriously had to put the book down a few times to recover. But I immediately picked it back up because I wanted to know what would happen next!
The only thing negative that I have to say is that the end was a little disappointing. Thematically, it made sense, but I wanted more answers. Some things felt very swept under the rug to me.
All said and done, I would really recommend this read. It was pretty fast paced, super tense, with some gnarly scenes that really made me squirm. Definitely a great read for spooky season!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Gun violence and Kidnapping
Minor: Cannibalism
jrharris's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
WOW. To say I was impressed by this is an understatement. Malerman has fully dived into the world of slashers now with Daphne.
Centered around the current Samhatten basketball team, a group of girls is stalked by Daphne, a 7ft tall woman dressed in all denim and KISS makeup. The name sounds familiar, like something they heard as children but were told never to speak of again. But why?
Not gonna lie, the concept of Daphne gives Bye Bye Man vibes. If you say her name or even think of her, she’ll come for you. However, this concept is 1000x better than that movie. Daphne, while Michael Myers-esque in the fact she has no lines, carries an unsettling and horrifying presence throughout the whole book. She’s a refreshing take on a slasher killer, with a backstory that will truly horrify you. The kills in this book are truly baffling to read. There were multiple parts that i had to re-read cause I could not believe what happened. It was horrifying and kept me entertained the whole way through.
However, this book is more than just kills! I really enjoyed the main character Kit and her discussions on mental health throughout the book. You can tell that it’s a subject close to Malerman and he portrays anxiety very well throughout this. Overall, I was very impressed with this and Malerman needs to write more slashers!
Thank you so much to NetGalley for the digital ARC I received. My review is all my own personal thoughts and I truly enjoyed every second of Daphne.
Centered around the current Samhatten basketball team, a group of girls is stalked by Daphne, a 7ft tall woman dressed in all denim and KISS makeup. The name sounds familiar, like something they heard as children but were told never to speak of again. But why?
Not gonna lie, the concept of Daphne gives Bye Bye Man vibes. If you say her name or even think of her, she’ll come for you. However, this concept is 1000x better than that movie. Daphne, while Michael Myers-esque in the fact she has no lines, carries an unsettling and horrifying presence throughout the whole book. She’s a refreshing take on a slasher killer, with a backstory that will truly horrify you. The kills in this book are truly baffling to read. There were multiple parts that i had to re-read cause I could not believe what happened. It was horrifying and kept me entertained the whole way through.
However, this book is more than just kills! I really enjoyed the main character Kit and her discussions on mental health throughout the book. You can tell that it’s a subject close to Malerman and he portrays anxiety very well throughout this. Overall, I was very impressed with this and Malerman needs to write more slashers!
Thank you so much to NetGalley for the digital ARC I received. My review is all my own personal thoughts and I truly enjoyed every second of Daphne.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Child death
bahyreads's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This book was an interesting experience. I have very rarely in my life read a book without chapters. It takes a skilled hand to pull it off and I think that Malerman did. It takes a while to get into the group of the book but once you hit about the 30% mark the story really starts picking up.
The way I would describe The plot is what if there was a slasher that worked like the game. You know the thing that we used to play in middle school where if you remembered the game then you lost it. Daphne works in the same kind of way; she pops up when you think about her.
I’m not particularly sure I enjoyed how much of the book was taken through journal entries but I liked the switch and perspectives that we’ve got between the characters.
Overall I would give this book about 3 1/2 stars. Mostly just because the beginning dragged on so long it took me days to get to the parts that actually got to me. The formatting makes the book makes it by definition, not for everybody but I do think that horror enjoyers will like this book.
The way I would describe The plot is what if there was a slasher that worked like the game. You know the thing that we used to play in middle school where if you remembered the game then you lost it. Daphne works in the same kind of way; she pops up when you think about her.
I’m not particularly sure I enjoyed how much of the book was taken through journal entries but I liked the switch and perspectives that we’ve got between the characters.
Overall I would give this book about 3 1/2 stars. Mostly just because the beginning dragged on so long it took me days to get to the parts that actually got to me. The formatting makes the book makes it by definition, not for everybody but I do think that horror enjoyers will like this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, and Blood