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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
This book is a mixed bag and so are my feelings about it. At first, this was everything I wanted:
Scary. I mean, terrifying.
Possession horror. My favorite.
Dark Comedy (black comedy/satirical/laugh-out-loud funny)
Found footage/files! Yes! Love that!
Modern (social media is a big component here)
Fast-paced (never a dull moment)
Great dialog and fresh/experimental formats (sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn't =*House of Leaves*)
...but then towards the last part of Part Two, the honeymoon phase was over and my feelings waned. I think this has to do with the protagonist Jack Sparks.
I don't think I've hated a character this much in a long time.
Jack is many things but above all else, he's a narcissistic, egotistical asshole. In the beginning, it's funny--I mean, who belly laughs during an exorcism in a church in a foreign country?
But soon, I found myself getting irritated and frustrated by Jack--and this is where I throw my hands up and say, "I know! I know this is how it's supposed to be!" So don't come at me in defense of Jack Sparks in the comments. This is my honest experience, okay? It's not up for debate.
This is a what, 336 page novel where the reader is asked to tolerate an insufferable asshole. It just wore me out. Towards the end, I was ready for it to be over, and that's not a fun feeling.
But for at least 200 pages I was greatly entertained and terrified! This one got me nervous to turn the lights off one night. So all this being said, I would recommend this book to any horror lover because it's a good time but my recommendation will always come with the caveat that Jack Sparks is annoying and spending a whole novel with him was a bit of a chore but everything else, the originality, writing, storyline, EVERYTHING else is spot on. I'll show up for more Jason Arnopp for sure.
Scary. I mean, terrifying.
Possession horror. My favorite.
Dark Comedy (black comedy/satirical/laugh-out-loud funny)
Found footage/files! Yes! Love that!
Modern (social media is a big component here)
Fast-paced (never a dull moment)
Great dialog and fresh/experimental formats (sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn't =*House of Leaves*)
...but then towards the last part of Part Two, the honeymoon phase was over and my feelings waned. I think this has to do with the protagonist Jack Sparks.
I don't think I've hated a character this much in a long time.
Jack is many things but above all else, he's a narcissistic, egotistical asshole. In the beginning, it's funny--I mean, who belly laughs during an exorcism in a church in a foreign country?
But soon, I found myself getting irritated and frustrated by Jack--and this is where I throw my hands up and say, "I know! I know this is how it's supposed to be!" So don't come at me in defense of Jack Sparks in the comments. This is my honest experience, okay? It's not up for debate.
This is a what, 336 page novel where the reader is asked to tolerate an insufferable asshole. It just wore me out. Towards the end, I was ready for it to be over, and that's not a fun feeling.
But for at least 200 pages I was greatly entertained and terrified! This one got me nervous to turn the lights off one night. So all this being said, I would recommend this book to any horror lover because it's a good time but my recommendation will always come with the caveat that Jack Sparks is annoying and spending a whole novel with him was a bit of a chore but everything else, the originality, writing, storyline, EVERYTHING else is spot on. I'll show up for more Jason Arnopp for sure.
I just randomly picked this off the shelf in one of the bookstores I went to a couple days back. Probably my best decision, as of late. It's true, it was almost impossible to put this thing down! It's so cleverly written and the story grips you from the get-go.
It's funny and entertaining at times, but it's also so creeeepy. I'm one of those people who're forever scarred by The Exorcist's terror. There won't come a day when I'd be like, "The Exorcist? Yeah, I used to be scared of it," no. I'll always be shit scared of this movie, forever. So this was definitely scary at times, for me. I only gasped and scanned my room like 66(6) times while reading this.
Only minor flaw for me was
Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed this, and also loved the whole 'keeping snippets of Jack's past social media/actual stuff mentioned in the book online for us to see too'. Pretty cool use of today's social media in novels.
It's funny and entertaining at times, but it's also so creeeepy. I'm one of those people who're forever scarred by The Exorcist's terror. There won't come a day when I'd be like, "The Exorcist? Yeah, I used to be scared of it," no. I'll always be shit scared of this movie, forever. So this was definitely scary at times, for me. I only gasped and scanned my room like 66(6) times while reading this.
Only minor flaw for me was
Spoiler
that "futuristic storytelling." You get that it's an essential part of the book when you reach the ending, which I thought was 'okay' (I actually loved the first part more but the revelation of Jack's character was still pretty good), it just made it seem all the more....far-fetched. And predictable. I feel like that's what writers of sci-fi turn to whenever they run out of ideas. Can't think of anything interesting to add? Throw some time-travelling in there. Timey wimey.Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed this, and also loved the whole 'keeping snippets of Jack's past social media/actual stuff mentioned in the book online for us to see too'. Pretty cool use of today's social media in novels.
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Blood
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
i know like the whole point is that Jack is insufferable but like god, i just could not deal with it
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Whew was that an emotional ride. Amazing read, I blasted through this book in a single day OMG...
I went from hating Jack to sympathising with him and his backstory by the end of the book. The way his psyche and "true self" are slowly revealed feels very impactful.
The horror/possession aspects are quite unique(the time travel, afterlife thing is certainly a first) and I love how the unreliable narrator aspect was executed: towards the end the realisation both Sparks brothers are equally shitty and unrealiable hits like a gut and adds an extra layer of commentary about social media, a strong theme with this book.
I went from hating Jack to sympathising with him and his backstory by the end of the book. The way his psyche and "true self" are slowly revealed feels very impactful.
The horror/possession aspects are quite unique
Review from The Speculative Herald: http://www.speculativeherald.com/2016/03/22/review-the-last-days-of-jack-sparks-by-jason-arnopp/
The Last Day of Jack Sparks is the story of a successful pop culture journalist, who made his fame writing books that focus on his experience as he explores a given topic. Books like Jack Sparks on Drugs, where he throws himself into the world of drugs and experiments to his heart’s delight, all in the name of research for his book. Not surprisingly, his books can be controversial, they are type of thing people will read to find out why everyone else is talking about them. For his latest book idea, he decides to delve into the world of the supernatural. There is definitely some humor in places as Jack Sparks clearly does not believe in the supernatural, but for the benefit of his book, he has to give things a try.
The interesting thing about this book, is you know going in that Jack Sparks is dead (it’s right there in the title!), and he died in some mysterious way while writing this book on the supernatural. It definitely casts a little darker edge to things as Jack is very honest in that he finds the idea of there being truth in the supernatural as being rather ridiculous. As opposed to an unbiased journalist, he goes into this investigation/research with a very condescending view towards the topic and can be just outright disrespectful. It really makes you wonder why he chose to write this book.
The story is told predominantly through Jack’s own (incomplete) book, with a few other relevant communications and interviews thrown in. This style worked extremely well. It let us get into the mind of Jack Sparks via his book, it gave us a bit of an outside view as well in the interviews and journal entries from other characters. And it also gave us a perspective outside of Jack, who you feel wrote in his own voice, but may not be the most reliable narrator at times as you have to keep in mind this isn’t a straight journal, but a story he intends to publish. How much of what he puts in here is solid truth versus exaggeration for dramatic versus possible delusions or maybe just plain fabrication you can’t always know for sure.
The story really takes off when Jack finds someone has uploaded a mysterious and somewhat creepy video to his YouTube channel. Everything from this point seems to change for Jack and he seems to go into a tailspin. He becomes obsessed with tracking the origin down and this shapes his decisions, decisions that seem lead him deeper into trouble. Reading everything that happened, and hear it from his perspective as it occurs leads the reader through a journey that is humorous, creepy as hell, and unexpected.
Overall, The Last Days of Jack Sparks was a book I had a very hard time putting down, it grabbed me relentlessly and made me reprioritize sleep. I have to confess I love when a book does this, even if I feel it the next day (or rather, later in the day after I take a brief excuse of a nap in place of a real night’s sleep). I left this book feeling like maybe I should have seen some things coming, but I just didn’t. The conclusion is shocking, heartbreaking and absolutely fabulous. I really just loved this one.
The Last Day of Jack Sparks is the story of a successful pop culture journalist, who made his fame writing books that focus on his experience as he explores a given topic. Books like Jack Sparks on Drugs, where he throws himself into the world of drugs and experiments to his heart’s delight, all in the name of research for his book. Not surprisingly, his books can be controversial, they are type of thing people will read to find out why everyone else is talking about them. For his latest book idea, he decides to delve into the world of the supernatural. There is definitely some humor in places as Jack Sparks clearly does not believe in the supernatural, but for the benefit of his book, he has to give things a try.
The interesting thing about this book, is you know going in that Jack Sparks is dead (it’s right there in the title!), and he died in some mysterious way while writing this book on the supernatural. It definitely casts a little darker edge to things as Jack is very honest in that he finds the idea of there being truth in the supernatural as being rather ridiculous. As opposed to an unbiased journalist, he goes into this investigation/research with a very condescending view towards the topic and can be just outright disrespectful. It really makes you wonder why he chose to write this book.
The story is told predominantly through Jack’s own (incomplete) book, with a few other relevant communications and interviews thrown in. This style worked extremely well. It let us get into the mind of Jack Sparks via his book, it gave us a bit of an outside view as well in the interviews and journal entries from other characters. And it also gave us a perspective outside of Jack, who you feel wrote in his own voice, but may not be the most reliable narrator at times as you have to keep in mind this isn’t a straight journal, but a story he intends to publish. How much of what he puts in here is solid truth versus exaggeration for dramatic versus possible delusions or maybe just plain fabrication you can’t always know for sure.
The story really takes off when Jack finds someone has uploaded a mysterious and somewhat creepy video to his YouTube channel. Everything from this point seems to change for Jack and he seems to go into a tailspin. He becomes obsessed with tracking the origin down and this shapes his decisions, decisions that seem lead him deeper into trouble. Reading everything that happened, and hear it from his perspective as it occurs leads the reader through a journey that is humorous, creepy as hell, and unexpected.
Overall, The Last Days of Jack Sparks was a book I had a very hard time putting down, it grabbed me relentlessly and made me reprioritize sleep. I have to confess I love when a book does this, even if I feel it the next day (or rather, later in the day after I take a brief excuse of a nap in place of a real night’s sleep). I left this book feeling like maybe I should have seen some things coming, but I just didn’t. The conclusion is shocking, heartbreaking and absolutely fabulous. I really just loved this one.
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
A great kick-off to spooky season! (Don't judge me, I held off as long as I possibly could, but my spooky list was calling)
Loved the mix of humor and horror on this one, I would go from laughing to heart-racing and jumping at the smallest sounds in one chapter. A few things were left unexplored, and my Kindle deceived me into thinking I still had about 25 minutes left in the book when it ended which made it feel somewhat abrupt. But all things considered a decent ending.
Loved the mix of humor and horror on this one, I would go from laughing to heart-racing and jumping at the smallest sounds in one chapter. A few things were left unexplored, and my Kindle deceived me into thinking I still had about 25 minutes left in the book when it ended which made it feel somewhat abrupt. But all things considered a decent ending.
The unreliable narrator to end all unreliable narrators.