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squids_can_read's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Mad Mad Maddy has been hiding her identity from the little town of Springville. But a freak rainstorm reveals the secret that Maddy had been viciously trying to hide. Now this small town is tearing itself apart and Maddy is dead in the middle of it.
I have mixed feelings about this book. I think that the overall plot of this book, with the characterization, was really amazing. But I didn't really believe in the setting.
The plot of this book is basically Carrie by Stephen King if Carrie was African American. Which is fine but I thought that it focused a lot on the beats of Carrie without the author really making it her own. It just seemed like every time that an important plot point came up, I immediately was thinking which part of Carrie it related to. I just wish that the author made the story a bit more her own overall. I'm not going to talk about the characterization except for that I really enjoyed the characterization of the people that were supposed to be good but I thought there was a lack of characterization for the people that are going to be bad.
Finally the setting. I want to preface this by saying that I do not know if this setting was realistic in 2014. I just want to say that it didn't seem to me to be realistic to me but if it is then the setting in the book is done amazingly. So in Springville(small town Georgia) in 2014 there is still an institution of separate but equal. This just seemed really unbelievable to me that a town would outright implement racist institutions instead of the town trying to hide it. One of the characters says that the racism of the school board is full of microaggressions but to me it just read as aggressions. I think that the overall setting would make more sense if the racism was supposed to be more covert than overt. But overall the setting was just really unrealistic to me.
Overall, though, I set aside my belief and really enjoyed this book. I think great read, especially if you enjoyed Carrie by Stephen King but wanted it to discuss more current issues.
I have mixed feelings about this book. I think that the overall plot of this book, with the characterization, was really amazing. But I didn't really believe in the setting.
The plot of this book is basically Carrie by Stephen King if Carrie was African American. Which is fine but I thought that it focused a lot on the beats of Carrie without the author really making it her own. It just seemed like every time that an important plot point came up, I immediately was thinking which part of Carrie it related to. I just wish that the author made the story a bit more her own overall. I'm not going to talk about the characterization except for that I really enjoyed the characterization of the people that were supposed to be good but I thought there was a lack of characterization for the people that are going to be bad.
Finally the setting. I want to preface this by saying that I do not know if this setting was realistic in 2014. I just want to say that it didn't seem to me to be realistic to me but if it is then the setting in the book is done amazingly. So in Springville(small town Georgia) in 2014 there is still an institution of separate but equal. This just seemed really unbelievable to me that a town would outright implement racist institutions instead of the town trying to hide it. One of the characters says that the racism of the school board is full of microaggressions but to me it just read as aggressions. I think that the overall setting would make more sense if the racism was supposed to be more covert than overt. But overall the setting was just really unrealistic to me.
Overall, though, I set aside my belief and really enjoyed this book. I think great read, especially if you enjoyed Carrie by Stephen King but wanted it to discuss more current issues.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Police brutality, Racism, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Bullying, Blood, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, and Racial slurs
moo_lloyd's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Religious bigotry, Bullying, Racism, Racial slurs, Domestic abuse, Police brutality, Hate crime, Death, Violence, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Emotional abuse
nicole_cries_alot's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
5.0
Maddy Washington is such a heart breaking character, abused at home by her racist zealot of a father, tormented at school by the popular girls. I really loved the main popular villain surviving and having to live with the consequences of her cruelty.
Then she is shown genuine human kindness by Kenny who is this versions Tommy Ross and is a much more flushed out character, and because he’s more three dimensional in this story it makes his “loss” and pain all the more heartbreaking.
The pigs blood being replaced with white paint was an interesting twist, I was expecting black paint.
I loved it, I really appreciate the Carrie story already but this version added more to it and made it deeper. I will say I’m disappointed we don’t get more of the POV of Maddys during the destruction of the town and the white prom. That’s my only critique
Maddy is tragic and neither hero or villain, the people around her that ignored the systemic issues in her town are the real villains. Maddy is a girl who snapped and was completely alone in the world. I want to think Maddy found her mother and is happy, her father’s ingrained hatred of her is already what drove away the mother and that is a detail that stood out to me on a second read. I still love this book I wish we had more closure on what happened after Maddy made it out of springville
The only question remains is
Where is Maddy?
Then she is shown genuine human kindness by Kenny who is this versions Tommy Ross and is a much more flushed out character, and because he’s more three dimensional in this story it makes his “loss” and pain all the more heartbreaking.
The pigs blood being replaced with white paint was an interesting twist, I was expecting black paint.
I loved it, I really appreciate the Carrie story already but this version added more to it and made it deeper. I will say I’m disappointed we don’t get more of the POV of Maddys during the destruction of the town and the white prom. That’s my only critique
Maddy is tragic and neither hero or villain, the people around her that ignored the systemic issues in her town are the real villains. Maddy is a girl who snapped and was completely alone in the world. I want to think Maddy found her mother and is happy, her father’s ingrained hatred of her is already what drove away the mother and that is a detail that stood out to me on a second read. I still love this book I wish we had more closure on what happened after Maddy made it out of springville
The only question remains is
Where is Maddy?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Racism, and Child abuse
imanin10's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Child abuse, Police brutality, Cancer, Death of parent, Bullying, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Grief, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Abandonment
Minor: Toxic friendship
bt_wannabe's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Racism, Violence, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Gore
taniasbookdiary's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Bullying, and Racism
Moderate: Police brutality, Racial slurs, Violence, Hate crime, and Fire/Fire injury
beccabou's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
So good! A Steven King ‘Carrie’ retelling with a racist small town spin!
I loved the structure of storyline mixed with a future-set podcast and investigation paperwork snippets (I read the physical copy, but can see why people said the audio would be amazing) so even though you know the overall storyline there is so many details to work out that you’re engaged along the way.
Would have loved the point of view switches to be a tad more obvious as it pulled me out of reading flow, so again the audiobook may be perfect for that.
Gripping, uncomfortable, gory, and a great pace to keep you turning the page!!
I loved the structure of storyline mixed with a future-set podcast and investigation paperwork snippets (I read the physical copy, but can see why people said the audio would be amazing) so even though you know the overall storyline there is so many details to work out that you’re engaged along the way.
Would have loved the point of view switches to be a tad more obvious as it pulled me out of reading flow, so again the audiobook may be perfect for that.
Gripping, uncomfortable, gory, and a great pace to keep you turning the page!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Gore
Moderate: Racism
lillybelle's review against another edition
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Hate crime, Violence, Racism, Child abuse, Police brutality, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Bullying
kelligan's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Racism
Minor: Police brutality and Racial slurs
paperbackghosts's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, Bullying, and Violence