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magerman's review
dark
tense
fast-paced
1.0
Within 16pages I figured out the entire ending, who was going to die and what happened with Simon. Something that made me uncomfortable with this is that Simon is described as her ex fiance which means....she was sixteen when they were engaged, the characters are teenagers!
Which lead to me reading something where it was clear the author didn't know what age she was keeping the characters. I believe this writer has a lot of potential even with something like this that was clearly rushed and very messy.
Which lead to me reading something where it was clear the author didn't know what age she was keeping the characters. I believe this writer has a lot of potential even with something like this that was clearly rushed and very messy.
sadee_lilith_bee's review
4.0
This was such an exciting read! Love the 90s and loved the ending. Great work!
samidonovan's review
3.0
this is one of those stories that would benefit from being longer so that it could go deeper into the characters and mystery. i enjoyed it overall but i wasn't to get as hooked.
mentat_stem's review
dark
lighthearted
medium-paced
4.0
Lots of fun nostalgia. Captures well the joys of hiking. Ramps up to an intense gore fest. Enjoyed the "present" PoV more, but the detective's PoV offered the comfort of your standard police procedural.
very interesting argument for the dangers of a truly toxic personality
Love the cover and hope the author continues their writing journey.
Love the cover and hope the author continues their writing journey.
holley_cornetto's review
This novella reads rather quickly. I was able to finish it in two sittings.
The situation:
A group of young women set off to “the mountain” on a hiking trail where the main character’s fiancé, Simon, went missing one year ago. Although she’s moved on romantically, she still seeks some sort of peace and closure surrounding Simon’s disappearance.
While the girls are out on their trek, things begin to go horribly wrong (as things tend to do in horror stories) and the girls find themselves in a fight for survival against an unknown assailant. I won’t say more, because I don’t want to give away any spoilers.
The vibe of this story was well done. There were enough 90s references to please those of us who like nostalgia. In the acknowledgements, the author cites Christopher Pike as an influence. Having devoured many of his novels as a teenager, I can see that.
Verdict:
A short and thrilling read that will be easy to blow through. Come for the 90s nostalgia, and stay for the creepy mystery.
The situation:
A group of young women set off to “the mountain” on a hiking trail where the main character’s fiancé, Simon, went missing one year ago. Although she’s moved on romantically, she still seeks some sort of peace and closure surrounding Simon’s disappearance.
While the girls are out on their trek, things begin to go horribly wrong (as things tend to do in horror stories) and the girls find themselves in a fight for survival against an unknown assailant. I won’t say more, because I don’t want to give away any spoilers.
The vibe of this story was well done. There were enough 90s references to please those of us who like nostalgia. In the acknowledgements, the author cites Christopher Pike as an influence. Having devoured many of his novels as a teenager, I can see that.
Verdict:
A short and thrilling read that will be easy to blow through. Come for the 90s nostalgia, and stay for the creepy mystery.
januaryapril's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
4.0
A fun little book. I have read other "girls lost in woods" novellas and this was definitely better. Overall the tension was written well and the dual timeline was a nice touch that helped the story move well. The underlying story and character motivations felt a little off to me. I think everything background wise would have made more sense if they were college aged instead of high school. But overall I felt like the climax and ending were paced well and I was satisfied with how the story went. (book bought on etsy)
mfrisk's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
3.5
I enjoyed this read - it was a fast paced novella which touched on relationships - both romantic in nature and friendship while also getting us right into the action too. I liked the characters and the build up to the reveal but ultimately felt more could have been done to get there even in the context of a novella. I wish there was more of a why to the reveal as well instead of the unclear/random explanation. It ended up feeling too rushed when I felt they could have gone a bit further there. That being said, I hope to read from this author again as I enjoyed their writing style and think I’ll enjoy what they write next.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Blood, Cannibalism, Violence, Body horror, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Domestic abuse, Sexism, and Infidelity