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ireadbookssopleasehelpmebabes's review against another edition
5.0
I thought this was going to be the type of book I would easily forget.
It wasn't.
It was great, fast paced interesting and I really enjoyed it.
It wasn't.
It was great, fast paced interesting and I really enjoyed it.
marga1995's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
lauel's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
patchworkbunny's review against another edition
2.0
I was expecting S.T.A.G.S to be a dark boarding school tale with a hint of horror and was thoroughly looking forward to reading it. Greer has received a scholarship to attend the prestigious school whilst her single father is working abroad. She's from Manchester and not from old money, so she doesn't fit it. So she's quite surprised when she received The Invitation from the Medievals to the annual huntin' shootin' fishin' weekend at Longcross.
Now at the very start Greer admits to being a murderer and the blurb gives away the fact that people end up being hunted. So the main impetus to carry on reading was to find out who they killed. It was overall a bit tame, no one ever seems to be in mortal danger. Yes, the hunting aspect is cruel but it felt more like pranks played by bullies rather than any murderous intent. I thought there'd be more running (or hiding) for their lives.
Honestly, I found the Medievals were caricatures of posh people and therefore were a bit unbelievable. They reject technology and all things they consider "savage", wishing that the world had never moved on from feudal days. Although they have more moral arguments against technology. And Greer was so ridiculously mooney-eyed over Henry, even when it was obvious to everyone that he was a bit of a nob.
When you're not caught up in the story or characters, it's a lot easier to be irritated by small details and unfortunately this happened a lot in this case. One thing that's worth saying is there is a spoiler for The Fault in Our Stars. Why do that? I know it's been read/watched by a lot of people but there will always be new readers coming along, especially when you're writing for young adults. There are ways you can reference things that will be understood by fans yet vague enough not to directly spoil.
I probably should have DNFed it but I was reading on my daily commute and I'd got so far that I wanted to know who they actually killed. It's all a bit convoluted and I felt it was trying to be too many things at once.
Review copy provided by publisher.
Now at the very start Greer admits to being a murderer and the blurb gives away the fact that people end up being hunted. So the main impetus to carry on reading was to find out who they killed. It was overall a bit tame, no one ever seems to be in mortal danger. Yes, the hunting aspect is cruel but it felt more like pranks played by bullies rather than any murderous intent. I thought there'd be more running (or hiding) for their lives.
Honestly, I found the Medievals were caricatures of posh people and therefore were a bit unbelievable. They reject technology and all things they consider "savage", wishing that the world had never moved on from feudal days. Although they have more moral arguments against technology. And Greer was so ridiculously mooney-eyed over Henry, even when it was obvious to everyone that he was a bit of a nob.
When you're not caught up in the story or characters, it's a lot easier to be irritated by small details and unfortunately this happened a lot in this case. One thing that's worth saying is there is a spoiler for The Fault in Our Stars. Why do that? I know it's been read/watched by a lot of people but there will always be new readers coming along, especially when you're writing for young adults. There are ways you can reference things that will be understood by fans yet vague enough not to directly spoil.
I probably should have DNFed it but I was reading on my daily commute and I'd got so far that I wanted to know who they actually killed. It's all a bit convoluted and I felt it was trying to be too many things at once.
Review copy provided by publisher.
itsjustkiwi's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I was going to take half a star from my rating just for the mention of Zoella (got the ick) but then my favourite R.E.M song was mentioned so the .5 stays.
estelle127's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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? Yes
3.5
caffeineaddict980's review against another edition
2.0
Had a good premise along with being creative and original, but just not for me!
ameserole's review against another edition
3.0
Woohoo, another physical down... a shit ton more to go.
S.T.A.G.S has been on my radar since the moment I saw it on Goodreads. Which probably doesn't say much because I feel like I'm always 800 steps behind everyone else. However, when I saw this at B&N I didn't even hesitate, I bought it. No regrets.
In this book, you will beet Greer. Now this book definitely gave me To Best the Boys vibes.. but that's cause I read that ARC way before I even dove into this physical book. Again, no regrets but I think I liked the ARC a lot better. Okay, lies, I totally liked the ARC way better.
Well, if you have or haven't read the book mentioned in the above paragraph, aka [b:To Best the Boys|40556417|To Best the Boys|Mary Weber|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1529323897s/40556417.jpg|62982488], you totally should. In this one, Greer gets an invitation to spend a half term at the country manor of Henry de Warlencourt. It was weird that the invitation just said, "huntin' shootin' fishin'" - and yes, I did say that in my head with a country accent. Yeehaw!
So I naturally assumed that this was gonna sort of be like hunger games and people were going to die. I was on the right track, since Henry invited the misfits from his school and they were the ones being hunted. At this point, I was rooting for Henry to win because what kid thinks of all this? A smart evil genius - that's who.
Overall, it was an okay book. The characters were meh to me so I didn't really care what happened to them or not. I'm pretty sure at one point I just wanted them all to die.
S.T.A.G.S has been on my radar since the moment I saw it on Goodreads. Which probably doesn't say much because I feel like I'm always 800 steps behind everyone else. However, when I saw this at B&N I didn't even hesitate, I bought it. No regrets.
In this book, you will beet Greer. Now this book definitely gave me To Best the Boys vibes.. but that's cause I read that ARC way before I even dove into this physical book. Again, no regrets but I think I liked the ARC a lot better. Okay, lies, I totally liked the ARC way better.
Well, if you have or haven't read the book mentioned in the above paragraph, aka [b:To Best the Boys|40556417|To Best the Boys|Mary Weber|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1529323897s/40556417.jpg|62982488], you totally should. In this one, Greer gets an invitation to spend a half term at the country manor of Henry de Warlencourt. It was weird that the invitation just said, "huntin' shootin' fishin'" - and yes, I did say that in my head with a country accent. Yeehaw!
So I naturally assumed that this was gonna sort of be like hunger games and people were going to die. I was on the right track, since Henry invited the misfits from his school and they were the ones being hunted. At this point, I was rooting for Henry to win because what kid thinks of all this? A smart evil genius - that's who.
Overall, it was an okay book. The characters were meh to me so I didn't really care what happened to them or not. I'm pretty sure at one point I just wanted them all to die.
rowananne's review against another edition
5.0
Dit had ik nooit van tevoren bedacht, maar STAGS is echt één van de beste boeken die ik in lange tijd gelezen heb. Zoveel spanning, zoveel mysterie, ik móést weten hoe het verder ging. Daarnaast zijn alle filmreferenties geweldig en het einde heeft zo'n enorme cliffhanger dat ik het liefst in een hoekje wil gaan huilen omdat het vervolg er nog niet is. Er volgt nog een uitgebreidere recensie op mijn blog, maar voor nu: Lees. Dit. Boek!!