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3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
Clown in a Cornfield is that unicorn of a YA novel that is YA only in that its main characters are teenagers that act like teenagers, but, unlike some in the market, Adam Cesare's writing is - for lack of a better word - good.
I'm not going to name any names, but we've all read YA novels, in and out of the horror genre, that feel lazy, are poorly edited, or seem as if they don't think their readers expect high quality. This is the opposite of that.
Clown in a Cornfield starts with a classic premise, Quinn and her father move to a small town from Philadelphia after Quinn's mother dies, and Quinn immediately senses things are off. She barely has a chance to start getting to know any of her classmates before the slaughters begin, and I am fully on board this ride. Though the events timeline is short, Cesare takes the time to show us the inner lives of several characters and the town, and, while we recognize the tropes, he applies just enough spin to keep it interesting, and I am glad to know there are at least two more sequels (not to mention the film) in my future.
Note: Also included a reminder of how handy it continues to be to be able to drive a stick shift.
I'm not going to name any names, but we've all read YA novels, in and out of the horror genre, that feel lazy, are poorly edited, or seem as if they don't think their readers expect high quality. This is the opposite of that.
Clown in a Cornfield starts with a classic premise, Quinn and her father move to a small town from Philadelphia after Quinn's mother dies, and Quinn immediately senses things are off. She barely has a chance to start getting to know any of her classmates before the slaughters begin, and I am fully on board this ride. Though the events timeline is short, Cesare takes the time to show us the inner lives of several characters and the town, and, while we recognize the tropes, he applies just enough spin to keep it interesting, and I am glad to know there are at least two more sequels (not to mention the film) in my future.
Note: Also included a reminder of how handy it continues to be to be able to drive a stick shift.
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
While this book doesn’t necessarily add anything new to the horror genre, it’s a fast paced fun romp for anybody who likes slasher especially the Scream franchise. I don’t know that I would recommend this to anybody under the age of about 17 because it does get pretty graphic pretty quickly. But, overall, it was a fun ride that was so quick. I kind of wanna jump onto the next book immediately. And thankfully, as far as I’ve seen, there are two other books after this so I will be reading those!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Clowns are already scary AF so when they’re in multiple and also trying to kill a whole bunch of teens, well, it’s a nightmare scenario for me. I’ll say I was impressed by Cesare’s surprisingly deft moments of social commentary… they gave some heft to the teen slasher without sacrificing the novel’s engagement with its genre. I know everyone has said A LOT about the double plot twist, but I thought the major reveal that ISN’T the actual whodunnit was handled with more thoughtful grace than I would have imagined.
So yeah. A great end-o-summer read.
(My only note is that I don’t think we needed the sub-plot about Quinn’s mom’s death; it opened a delicate subject matter that the novel wasn’t really interested in properly working through, so it feels needlessly dramatic because it remains underdeveloped.)
So yeah. A great end-o-summer read.
(My only note is that I don’t think we needed the sub-plot about Quinn’s mom’s death; it opened a delicate subject matter that the novel wasn’t really interested in properly working through, so it feels needlessly dramatic because it remains underdeveloped.)
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
very enjoyable, i've never read a slasher in book form until now. nice gore.
now i'll mention how this book had me absolutely floored. i'm sitting out on my porch reading this book, expecting the classic love triangle with quinn and dusty (i'm not sure on the names i'm writing this review months after reading this) and cole. and then that part near the end.. where dusty saves cole from being killed.. and then they KISS. let me tell you i was NOT expecting this. i didn't see this coming from miles away. this did not seem like the type of book to have that. i love it. good for them.
now i'll mention how this book had me absolutely floored. i'm sitting out on my porch reading this book, expecting the classic love triangle with quinn and dusty (i'm not sure on the names i'm writing this review months after reading this) and cole. and then that part near the end.. where dusty saves cole from being killed.. and then they KISS. let me tell you i was NOT expecting this. i didn't see this coming from miles away. this did not seem like the type of book to have that. i love it. good for them.
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
2.5/5
Idk I just...kinda got sick of it. The first 40% was cringe, things got good when people started dying, then I was cringing again.
Spoilers:
[ You're telling me 20% of the town's population is murderous because...they hate teenagers? Seriously? They hate Gen Z and social media SO MUCH they murder literal children??? HUH??? That is the stupidest reason to do anything. How frustrating. Made worse by the text literally saying "they would've gotten caught if Quinn didn't murder them all anyways". WTF WAS THE POINT!!! And don't get me wrong, I'm a sucker for a climax that lasts 50% of the media ( Scream party scene ily; this was very reminiscent of that), but I also have to like the characters enough to care about what's happening. And I didn't, because all I knew was that Cole was potentially an arsonist with a dead sister, Quinn is New and her mom is Dead, and Rust likes guns. I'm not even sure what Ronnie's boyfriend's name is, and I got Ronnie and Janet mixed up with each other until one DIED. It's not that the characters are unlikeable, it's that they're all one trait and nothing more. Which is crazy because this is a book where you basically have unlimited space to dive a little more into them. Like, 20 pages of exposition tops and maybe I'd have cared.
Also the final chapter was silly and felt like things had to be wrapped up nicely with a little bow and that was annoying. I did not need a "Two months later" chapter. Come back to me in maybe a year not months lmao
Edit 08/18/2025: I figured out what bothered me so much! It felt like it was written as if it were to become a movie, rather than a book that was written to be literature. Then I looked it up and saw that it was optioned to become a film before it was published. That tracks and it shows.
Idk I just...kinda got sick of it. The first 40% was cringe, things got good when people started dying, then I was cringing again.
Spoilers:
[
Also the final chapter was silly and felt like things had to be wrapped up nicely with a little bow and that was annoying. I did not need a "Two months later" chapter. Come back to me in maybe a year not months lmao
Edit 08/18/2025: I figured out what bothered me so much! It felt like it was written as if it were to become a movie, rather than a book that was written to be literature. Then I looked it up and saw that it was optioned to become a film before it was published. That tracks and it shows.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Gun violence
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Child abuse