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halfass_reviewer's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book reminded me of the movie The Happening. Which is to say I enjoyed it immensely. The plot was interesting. In short, it's about a plague. It's about people who see monsters and people who are monsters. It's about surviving not just the monsters, but the narrative that people create and spread. It's about getting better, or not. What I really loved about this story is that it was told as if the reader was actually a member of the group. This is to say, the narrator talked directly to the reader, which really draws me into the story. It was also a short read so that was a plus as well. I think all in all this was a nice little, horror-adjacent story.
<spolier> My only gripe about the story, besides some of the dialogue tag and placement was Lelila's one chapter where she provided her side of the story. I felt the chapter was unnecessary and although it was good background as to how the infection affected her, it wasn't relevant. I was thinking maybe it would somehow relate to the Val guy she and Spence are chasing or maybe the last few chapters would focus on her, but neither of those things happens. We just get a story about how she breaks promises to her younger self, gets married, has a child whom she may not love, and then murders them. No relevance to anything that's going on before or after the story. Unless I missed the point.
<spolier> My only gripe about the story, besides some of the dialogue tag and placement was Lelila's one chapter where she provided her side of the story. I felt the chapter was unnecessary and although it was good background as to how the infection affected her, it wasn't relevant. I was thinking maybe it would somehow relate to the Val guy she and Spence are chasing or maybe the last few chapters would focus on her, but neither of those things happens. We just get a story about how she breaks promises to her younger self, gets married, has a child whom she may not love, and then murders them. No relevance to anything that's going on before or after the story. Unless I missed the point.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, and Dysphoria
Moderate: Child death, Body horror, and Cannibalism
jaimee_reads's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-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? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Body horror, Dysphoria, and Violence
Moderate: Torture
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