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arianamadison's review
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Murder, and Child death
devynreadsnovels's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Murder, Cannibalism, Child death, Torture, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Body horror, Stalking, Violence, Cursing, Blood, Kidnapping, and Death
Minor: Car accident, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Confinement, Bullying, and Gun violence
desana75's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Cannibalism, Child death, and Gore
Moderate: Blood, Stalking, and Child abuse
Minor: Car accident
orasmis's review
dark
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Gore, Murder, Death, and Mental illness
Moderate: Bullying, Alcoholism, and Alcohol
markedwithanm'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: Gore, Grief, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Cannibalism, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Kidnapping, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence
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: Panic attacks/disorders, Cannibalism, Cursing, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Gore, Kidnapping, Child death, Murder, Body horror, and Violence
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: Blood, Murder, Cursing, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, and Child death
Moderate: Kidnapping and Gun violence
Minor: Cannibalism
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: Blood, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, and Gore
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