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shrikebait's review against another edition
4.0
Wow! This was a wild ride.
Like the first two books in the Messy Man trilogy, this book is best read in the context of the series. As a standalone, it would be very difficult to follow and you miss out on the best parts of this book: the payoffs. So many images, themes, and timelines that felt random in the first couple books are resurrected and finally explained. I was absolutely thrilled to recognize what I thought were insignificant moments circle back as major plot points.
Personally, I feel that books in a series should be able to stand alone to some degree. While I am so excited that I stayed along for the whole ride, I worry that many readers may not be willing to wait multiple books for many of the twists to pay off. I would recommend this book as well as the trilogy as a whole to readers who are okay with waiting for that satisfaction. If you are looking for a light read, this series may not be your thing. And you MUST read them in order for the full effect!
Thank you again to Sorensen for allowing me to check out the Messy Man Trilogy for free. I'm leaving this review of my own accord and will be compiling a trilogy review for that edition.
Like the first two books in the Messy Man trilogy, this book is best read in the context of the series. As a standalone, it would be very difficult to follow and you miss out on the best parts of this book: the payoffs. So many images, themes, and timelines that felt random in the first couple books are resurrected and finally explained. I was absolutely thrilled to recognize what I thought were insignificant moments circle back as major plot points.
Personally, I feel that books in a series should be able to stand alone to some degree. While I am so excited that I stayed along for the whole ride, I worry that many readers may not be willing to wait multiple books for many of the twists to pay off. I would recommend this book as well as the trilogy as a whole to readers who are okay with waiting for that satisfaction. If you are looking for a light read, this series may not be your thing. And you MUST read them in order for the full effect!
Thank you again to Sorensen for allowing me to check out the Messy Man Trilogy for free. I'm leaving this review of my own accord and will be compiling a trilogy review for that edition.
tyto_alba's review against another edition
5.0
I cannot believe how good this series is. I was afraid this final entry couldn't possibly live up to the sheer strength of the previous books, but it absolutely does.
This books focuses on Ellen and Peter and jumps between the two of them. Occasionally, this would be a little frustrating as I found myself far more concerned about what was happening to Peter, but then the BEST character, Riggs, was heavily featured in Ellen's story so I was quickly appeased. (NOTE: I love Riggs so much, it's not even funny. He is just such a fun character to read about in a book that can get rather dark; I can't describe him as anything other than delightful.) All the characters are great and feel like real people. I cared a lot for them, so much so that I actually had to put the book down for almost a week because I was too afraid to see anything bad happen to them, particularly Whisper. Who knew the creepy demon in book one taunting the child about coming into his punishment-room would be so endearing to me in book three?!
Before I ramble on any longer, I will conclude by saying, if you want to read a good horror series with interesting characters and a rather intricate and well thought-out plot, you NEED to read these books.
This books focuses on Ellen and Peter and jumps between the two of them. Occasionally, this would be a little frustrating as I found myself far more concerned about what was happening to Peter, but then the BEST character, Riggs, was heavily featured in Ellen's story so I was quickly appeased. (NOTE: I love Riggs so much, it's not even funny. He is just such a fun character to read about in a book that can get rather dark; I can't describe him as anything other than delightful.) All the characters are great and feel like real people. I cared a lot for them, so much so that I actually had to put the book down for almost a week because I was too afraid to see anything bad happen to them, particularly Whisper. Who knew the creepy demon in book one taunting the child about coming into his punishment-room would be so endearing to me in book three?!
Before I ramble on any longer, I will conclude by saying, if you want to read a good horror series with interesting characters and a rather intricate and well thought-out plot, you NEED to read these books.
booksonawire's review against another edition
4.0
I think this has an original take on the traditional haunting tropes, but it moves through time and the soul splintering can be kind of confusing. Ellen is the main reason I enjoyed this. The whole series is very quick to read with shorter chapters.
an_anonymous_reader's review
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.25
johnlynchbooks's review
4.0
Chris Sorenson made a believer out of me. The opening salvo of the trilogy, The Nightmare Room, was one of the first "haunted house" stories I read and actually enjoyed. It's a trope I don't particularly care for. I enjoyed it so much, in fact, that I devoured it's sequel, The Hungry Ones, even though I was skeptical how the author could even do a sequel, never mind a trilogy of books. Sorenson knocked that out of the park, too. So color me surprised, although I shouldn't be, that The Messy Man is another great read.
Multiple threads are at play here. This time we follow a child Ellen Marx on adventure that starts off with a card from her dead father. Another thread running parallel to this, is the continuation of Peter and where we left him off in the previous iterations of the series.
I really enjoyed following both of the threads here. Sorenson mentions in the author note having trouble getting this one down due to the pandemic, but reading this one you wouldn't be able to tell. This is a book that manages to both feel tied to the series, yet carves it's own identity. If I had to nitpick, I did feel it took a while to get going, and there were times when Ellen acted her age, and other times she acted in ways that didn't seem true to an eleven year old. Other than that, this is an excellent cap to the previous books and fans will be delighted to have one last go with the messy man.
Multiple threads are at play here. This time we follow a child Ellen Marx on adventure that starts off with a card from her dead father. Another thread running parallel to this, is the continuation of Peter and where we left him off in the previous iterations of the series.
I really enjoyed following both of the threads here. Sorenson mentions in the author note having trouble getting this one down due to the pandemic, but reading this one you wouldn't be able to tell. This is a book that manages to both feel tied to the series, yet carves it's own identity. If I had to nitpick, I did feel it took a while to get going, and there were times when Ellen acted her age, and other times she acted in ways that didn't seem true to an eleven year old. Other than that, this is an excellent cap to the previous books and fans will be delighted to have one last go with the messy man.
catra121's review
4.0
Another good book in this series. I really enjoyed it and the characters definitely drew me in and were a strength in this story. I'd recommend the whole series.
screamdogreads's review
3.5
The Messy Man is the creepy and unsettling conclusion to The Messy Man trilogy. The first two books are focussed more around the haunted house aspect of the story, whereas this one delves deeper into the more supernatural elements at play. At first, I wasn't sure how I felt about the new direction this book was taking, but, I found as it went on, I liked it more and more.
As unusual as this is, I still think that the second book is my favorite in the series. However, this is still a fantastic offering, and provides a satisfying conclusion to a brilliant horror series. I can't say too much without spoiling some rather major plot points, all I can really say is please, give this series a go, you won't be disappointed.
As unusual as this is, I still think that the second book is my favorite in the series. However, this is still a fantastic offering, and provides a satisfying conclusion to a brilliant horror series. I can't say too much without spoiling some rather major plot points, all I can really say is please, give this series a go, you won't be disappointed.