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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
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
This book was an easy 5 stars for me! Such a unique crime thriller, with the perfect touch of SPOOK! It had me on the edge of my seat from the very top.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
❐ MURDER/MYSTERY/HORROR ❐ LITTLE PARTS VARSITY BLUES OR FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS ❐ LITTLE PARTS STRANGER THINGS ❐ LITTLE PARTS QUEER ❐ LITTLE PARTS WTF!!! ❐ TEXAS + FOOTBALL + SOMETHING REALLY DARK & TWISTED
This book had the makings of something great...but It missed the mark with me...too many POV's, and only one narrator kept me hella confused. I would have given Luis Salgas 5 stars for his narration...but I can only give this book's narration two and a half because I never knew whose head I was in. I will say that it helped to at least have whose POV it was on the chapter names. Despite this, I wanted to know what was going on and never gave up trying to do so. This could have been epic with a full-cast, and sadly someone let the full potential of this book down by not having one.
There is plenty of crazy going on in this football-obsessed Texas town of Bentley...and apparently, they are obsessed with more than just football in this town. What are the bright lands and what exactly goes down there...these are the elements to pay attention to when reading this...and I literally never saw IT coming. Jaw-droppingly weird is what it is.
BREAKDOWN✎
Narration ➯ 2½ STARS
Plot ➯ 3.8/5
Characters ➯ 4/5
The Feels ➯ 3/5
Pacing ➯ 3.5/5
Addictiveness ➯ 3/5
Theme, Tone or Intensity ➯ 4.2/5
Originality/Believability ➯ 4/5
Flow (Writing Style/Ease of Listening) ➯ 2/5
Twisty-ness/Mystery ➯ 3/5
Ending ➯ 2.5/5
SUMMATION ➯ 3 STARS
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-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
I left this book feeling gross. It was strange in a bad way. The plot was hard to follow and there were way too many characters to keep up with.
By the end I was still a bit confused about what I had really read.
I would recommend a hard pass on this one.
By the end I was still a bit confused about what I had really read.
I would recommend a hard pass on this one.
The book takes place in a small town in Texas. Dylan, the favorite QB of the high school football team is missing and everyone in the town seams to have a dark secret. Joel, Dylan's brother, is back in town. He is a very successful and accomplished gay man that was able to escape the oppression of this conservative town and is now determined to find out what really happened to his little brother. Moved by love and guilt, he will risk his life and, in the process, will face the ghost from his past.
The book is very well written and I was amazed by the fact that is a debut novel. The style is very much in the tradition of southern gothic with supernatural twists. The people in the town is a character itself and in some aspects it reminds me of Fuente Ovejuna, the play by Lope de Vega. I'm this case, Bentley becomes an accomplice by omission of the unthinkable.
I'm giving it 4 out of 5 because at some point the parade of characters was a little bit confusing. But I really enjoyed it and I think it really deserves the attention the book is receiving.
The book is very well written and I was amazed by the fact that is a debut novel. The style is very much in the tradition of southern gothic with supernatural twists. The people in the town is a character itself and in some aspects it reminds me of Fuente Ovejuna, the play by Lope de Vega. I'm this case, Bentley becomes an accomplice by omission of the unthinkable.
I'm giving it 4 out of 5 because at some point the parade of characters was a little bit confusing. But I really enjoyed it and I think it really deserves the attention the book is receiving.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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
'The Bright Lands' hit me in some unexpected places. This is a supernatural horror novel, but the foundation of it is a rural, working-class town with not much else going for it except "the good ol' days" and the success of its football team. The novel is set in Texas, but I saw parallels with my own town in Vermont.
The plot involves Joel, a successful financial wizard, getting a strange text from his younger brother Dylan that leads him to flying back home for the first time since he was publicly outed and humiliated at the end of high school. He's flown his family to him in New York rather than return to that place.
The night he returns to town his brother, the star of the football team, vanishes. Joel's ex-girlfriend is on the police force and, while working out their differences, they investigate the disappearance and uncover a lot more than they expected.
I can't go further into this without revealing too much, but on top of the supernatural dread, there were some real gems of small-town, homophobic existence. I want to say so much more, and I CAN'T, urghh. The most outlandish parts of this book are so real. As a gay man I often can only look on bemused and sad at the knots a community will twist into, even in this day and age, around an obvious truth. 'The Bright Lands' is about many things, but its mostly about the cankers that form around secrets and the cost paid to maintain them.
The plot involves Joel, a successful financial wizard, getting a strange text from his younger brother Dylan that leads him to flying back home for the first time since he was publicly outed and humiliated at the end of high school. He's flown his family to him in New York rather than return to that place.
The night he returns to town his brother, the star of the football team, vanishes. Joel's ex-girlfriend is on the police force and, while working out their differences, they investigate the disappearance and uncover a lot more than they expected.
I can't go further into this without revealing too much, but on top of the supernatural dread, there were some real gems of small-town, homophobic existence. I want to say so much more, and I CAN'T, urghh. The most outlandish parts of this book are so real. As a gay man I often can only look on bemused and sad at the knots a community will twist into, even in this day and age, around an obvious truth. 'The Bright Lands' is about many things, but its mostly about the cankers that form around secrets and the cost paid to maintain them.
Again, another book that is not a horror yet is classed as one for some reason?
This is a crime/mystery book with like a small supernatural element to it?
I will be completely honest and say... the storytelling in this was terrible. It made the plot super confusing to me - people were popping in and out in such a strange way. The problem was too many plot lines and characters. There was so much going on.
The writing also wasn't great - there's a devastating part in the book which evokes barely any reaction from the characters which felt odd.
The best thing is the original premise - definitely thought provoking and kind of like Us Against You by Fredrick Backman.
Also there's a lot go homophobia in this book so that's fun...
This is a crime/mystery book with like a small supernatural element to it?
I will be completely honest and say... the storytelling in this was terrible. It made the plot super confusing to me - people were popping in and out in such a strange way. The problem was too many plot lines and characters. There was so much going on.
The writing also wasn't great - there's a devastating part in the book which evokes barely any reaction from the characters which felt odd.
The best thing is the original premise - definitely thought provoking and kind of like Us Against You by Fredrick Backman.
Also there's a lot go homophobia in this book so that's fun...
What can I say? Impeccable, thrilling, strange, weird, disturbing, unexpectedly addicting.
This book was presented to me as a horror/thriller with the pecualiarity that its main character was a gay man —which isn't something we usually see in this genre—. It was so much more than that, though. The small town stories always get me, no matter what, and having a character go back to the place they so desperately wanted to run away from for a particular motive is also a trope I just cannot resist.
This book is full of dark themes introduced by its many interesting characters, all twisted and broken and hurt in their own ways, none of them safe to trust— yet you find yourself rooting for them, wishing for them to finally have an ounce of happiness amidst the hardships of their everyday lives.
Also, the topics dealt with in this novel are not to be taken lightly. This book deals with sexuality, with identity, with homophobia, in a way I had never seen before. And it as fascinating as it is horrible. I want to read this story again —now that I've already finished it and have a better understanding of its very complex twists and turns— just to get a better grip on its intense message.
TW: homophobia, violence, death of character/s, drug abuse, sexual abuse.
------
Still need some time to collect my thoughts before rating this but... Wow.
This book was presented to me as a horror/thriller with the pecualiarity that its main character was a gay man —which isn't something we usually see in this genre—. It was so much more than that, though. The small town stories always get me, no matter what, and having a character go back to the place they so desperately wanted to run away from for a particular motive is also a trope I just cannot resist.
This book is full of dark themes introduced by its many interesting characters, all twisted and broken and hurt in their own ways, none of them safe to trust— yet you find yourself rooting for them, wishing for them to finally have an ounce of happiness amidst the hardships of their everyday lives.
Also, the topics dealt with in this novel are not to be taken lightly. This book deals with sexuality, with identity, with homophobia, in a way I had never seen before. And it as fascinating as it is horrible. I want to read this story again —now that I've already finished it and have a better understanding of its very complex twists and turns— just to get a better grip on its intense message.
TW: homophobia, violence, death of character/s, drug abuse, sexual abuse.
------
Still need some time to collect my thoughts before rating this but... Wow.
I had higher hopes for this book than what was delivered. I don't hate the premise or the plot for what they are, but they are very thin in some respects, and the characters do not pick up the slack to carry this story. They were flat and cliched and utterly lacking in personality; a terrible thing for a book with multiple perspectives.
I kept reading simply to find out the answers to the proposed mysteries, but then those answers were...just strange. Which I guess isn't inherently bad, as I did kind of like the supernatural elements, but it wasn't exactly anything groundbreaking. Also, the entire book had moments of problematic elements that made me uncomfortable in an unintentional way. I don't think the commentary on homophobia in particular was approached in any nuanced way.
All in all, kind of disappointing.
I kept reading simply to find out the answers to the proposed mysteries, but then those answers were...just strange. Which I guess isn't inherently bad, as I did kind of like the supernatural elements, but it wasn't exactly anything groundbreaking. Also, the entire book had moments of problematic elements that made me uncomfortable in an unintentional way. I don't think the commentary on homophobia in particular was approached in any nuanced way.
All in all, kind of disappointing.