Reviews tagging 'Stalking'

Daphne by Josh Malerman

6 reviews

babyfacedoldsoul's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

Unfortunately this was another example of a Malerman book where I was disappointed with the ending. I found the pacing very slow and the book a bit too cerebral for me. It is a good portrait of anxiety however and while I didn't find the characters to be fleshed out very well I did enjoy the interactions especially between the teenagers and their parents. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, and Murder

Minor: Addiction and Alcoholism

cwgonzales's review

dark 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

3.0

A supernatural murder mystery of sorts playing out around a high school girls basketball team. 
The monster murderer side of things is fun, chilling and gruesome, but I’m pretty tired of characters needing to overcome trauma as a key point of a story. 
You can do anything with your BARE HANDS, got it? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Stalking, and Murder

Minor: Bullying, Confinement, Drug use, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Car accident

bradblaz's review

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

its so funny to write an incredibly by-the-books slasher where the characters have actual interiority. genuinely it rocks.

really enjoyed the red herrings of making daphne seem like one iconic slasher villain, then pulling back a layer to reveal she's more similar to another. handful of these fakeouts throughout the book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gun violence, Violence, Police brutality, Stalking, and Car accident

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Cannibalism, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Blood, and Stalking

Minor: Car accident

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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Gore, Stalking, and Murder