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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
dark
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:
Complicated
This will probably rate higher for those who know what they're getting into reading this book and/or enjoy horror and dark themes more than I do.
The big problems that dropped the rating down for me are: I thought the "horror" would be about the monster, but it only appeared after the humans in the book did some messed up stuff and fed off of that bad energy. It encouraged more bad things, but the real monsters in this book are human and they're the ones committing atrocities. Human beings committing realistic horrible acts of rape, murder, and and rampant pedophilia is a VERY different story than evil creepy monster horror.
The other biggest problem (general spoilers ahead, I'll hide specific ones) is the overall sense of victim-blaming and that queer people are the source of our own problems. I'll give the book props for the male MC being gay and having multiple queer side characters, but they are ALL abused at the very least, most of them raped, some of them murdered.
Some slightly more specific spoilers ahead, but it doesn't reveal who the main villains are, who all dies, how/why.
And the people doing this have a (literally) tear-filled speech about how they couldn't be openly gay, but they had NEEDS, and that's what started all the rape and pedophilia. I personally do not believe pedophiles have a sexuality; a pedophile rapes whatever child(ren) they have access to and control over. But the author makes it very clear this happens because of gay men who wanted to have sex with other men, but couldn't due to the time period and general homophobia. Very little of the blame is cast on the town or homophobia in general, and the ending even goes out of its way to specify that nothing has changed for the town, everyone is still hateful and homophobic, and the new man placed in power is ALSO a pedophile--but he goes after girls now. The monster is only temporarily driven off and "That thing is someone else's problem now."
A really specific spoiler under this one.
The most blatant victim-blaming is that one of the teens who kills multiple people, is a bully, and is written to be Pure Evil is revealed to be a victim of childhood rape and incest right before being called an idiot and shot in the head. The narrative specifically recalls a detailed aspect of his abuse when he's killed. So that's what is most strongly connected to his death (which is also specifically stated to be justified). Not the mass murdering part, the fact that he was raped as a child. The narrative makes it very clear that's what made him evil, that's why he's done all the horrible things he did, and that's why he deserves to die.
I'm not sure I'd call this book outright homophobic, but my opinion after reading the book is that the author seems to have a suspiciously profound interest in making sure he writes every single queer character as being sexually abused and making it clear this all happened at the hands of gay men who acted /because/ they are gay and didn't have an outlet for it, with the monster only showing up and influencing them after that fact. The monster didn't cause any of this, because the Real Monsters are ... gay men, I guess
The big problems that dropped the rating down for me are: I thought the "horror" would be about the monster, but it only appeared after the humans in the book did some messed up stuff and fed off of that bad energy. It encouraged more bad things, but the real monsters in this book are human and they're the ones committing atrocities. Human beings committing realistic horrible acts of rape, murder, and and rampant pedophilia is a VERY different story than evil creepy monster horror.
The other biggest problem (general spoilers ahead, I'll hide specific ones) is the overall sense of victim-blaming and that queer people are the source of our own problems. I'll give the book props for the male MC being gay and having multiple queer side characters, but they are ALL abused at the very least, most of them raped, some of them murdered.
Some slightly more specific spoilers ahead, but it doesn't reveal who the main villains are, who all dies, how/why.
A really specific spoiler under this one.
I'm not sure I'd call this book outright homophobic, but my opinion after reading the book is that the author seems to have a suspiciously profound interest in making sure he writes every single queer character as being sexually abused and making it clear this all happened at the hands of gay men who acted /because/ they are gay and didn't have an outlet for it, with the monster only showing up and influencing them after that fact. The monster didn't cause any of this, because the Real Monsters are ... gay men, I guess
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I was really enjoying reading this novel, and was continually intrigued by the events portrayed therein (supernatural underpinnings and all), but the last 100 pages or so just went way off the rails for me. I found this ending portion much too unbelievable and disjointed, so I was disappointed in the book as a whole, even for a debut novel. However, I am very interested in seeing what John Fram writes next.
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
This will leave you saying what the f***. I wasn’t really sure where it was heading throughout the book but I definitely wasn’t expecting exactly what we got. The climax is about 100 pages long which sounds crazy but it was pretty epic and still felt fast paced, I couldn’t put it down once that scene started.
What I liked: multiple POVs, short chapters, the problems it discussed (homophobia, racism)
What I didn’t like: the writing felt mediocre to me and a few lines made me cringe
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Homophobia, Violence
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Racism, Sexual assault
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This was a cool, but tricky, read. There are a lot of characters and events to keep track of, and the amount of perspectives was a bit off putting, but something about it made me feel compelled to read it.
It is totally a gay horror Friday Night Lights. Fun debut, LONG book.
It is totally a gay horror Friday Night Lights. Fun debut, LONG book.