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awkwardimagination's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
god what to make of this, i dont think i fully grasped what was going despite being mostly right about what was going on. that being said this fully did not go the way i thought it would at all. I loved the multimedium writing style, i love that in any book. liked jake and matt, rashida grew on me. I started the book really liking claire but then I just got really annoyed with her. started the book hating kevin, ended it hating kevin.
i guess the story was interesting and it kept me occupied for a majority of my near twelve hr flight home, but that ending just threw me off what the fuck.
from my perspective the more "socially sensitive" parts of the book were handedly well, but i truly cant make any distinctive descion on that (i am white) at the beginning it felt like Rashida was put into a stereotypical archetype for black characters (couldnt tell you which one, but it truely felt like id seen it far too many times before) but i dont know enough about media analysis to say that with any certainty. also the only black person, or poc really, in the series. And im hesitant to count her sister and son bc a we dont ever see her son or her sister until the very end. we only interact with the sister through nonverbal communication via rashida until one speaking line in like the epiloge. even still thats not a lot.
best part of the book hands down were all the 60s references. the only one that irked me was the "How many licks?" bc goddammit that is not an obscure reference that only white man in his 60s should get, the rest of them were millenials and if i, a gen-z person, know that reference without it being explained to me so should they.
but yeah thats it. fun found footage horror story but written, filled with fun 60s bits, fucked human experiments, and many questions (who the fuck was the hoodie guy? am i missing something??) ACAB baby ✌️
i guess the story was interesting and it kept me occupied for a majority of my near twelve hr flight home, but that ending just threw me off what the fuck.
from my perspective the more "socially sensitive" parts of the book were handedly well, but i truly cant make any distinctive descion on that (i am white) at the beginning it felt like Rashida was put into a stereotypical archetype for black characters (couldnt tell you which one, but it truely felt like id seen it far too many times before) but i dont know enough about media analysis to say that with any certainty. also the only black person, or poc really, in the series. And im hesitant to count her sister and son bc a we dont ever see her son or her sister until the very end. we only interact with the sister through nonverbal communication via rashida until one speaking line in like the epiloge. even still thats not a lot.
best part of the book hands down were all the 60s references. the only one that irked me was the "How many licks?" bc goddammit that is not an obscure reference that only white man in his 60s should get, the rest of them were millenials and if i, a gen-z person, know that reference without it being explained to me so should they.
but yeah thats it. fun found footage horror story but written, filled with fun 60s bits, fucked human experiments, and many questions (who the fuck was the hoodie guy? am i missing something??) ACAB baby ✌️
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical trauma, Death, Excrement, and Medical content
Moderate: Mental illness, Murder, Gun violence, Vomit, and Torture
jess2obsess's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence
Minor: Vomit, Self harm, Excrement, and Murder
sup_demons's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore and Body horror
Moderate: Child abuse and Alcoholism
Minor: Self harm, Vomit, and Excrement
blacksphinx's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
As a lover of horror and the epistolary format, this book was a highly anticipated release for me. While it turned out to be a fun ride and would make a GREAT movie, it stumbled a bit at a basic level that constantly nagged at me. See, the two hardest aspects of the epistolary format are "does this sound like an authentic record a person would make?" and "does it make sense that this information is being recorded in this situation?"
A large portion of this book is journal entries. The reasoning behind having the characters journal (excerpts would be pulled from them for blog posts to promote upcoming episodes of the TV show) is great. But, often these "journal entries" felt like regular first-person narration, of the kind that constantly pinged my brain as "someone is making stuff up in a reddit post." (who the hell is out here writing down conversations word-for-word with quotation marks hours after the event??) While these entries bothered me, there are other aspects that truly shined - I loved the text messages between Jessica and her sister in particular.
The closer we get to the end of the novel, the more it cracked my suspension of disbelief that people in threatening, possibly lethal, situations with a ticking clock would stop every couple of feet and write about their feelings. It's okay for there to be gaps the audience gets to puzzle over! I promise!
Overall, it is still an entertaining book and a solid B horror movie, but it didn't set the genre on fire or anything. I will be checking out the author's back catalog in the future. If you are looking for more epistolary horror, may I recommend the short story collection Among the Lilies by Daniel Mills?
A large portion of this book is journal entries. The reasoning behind having the characters journal (excerpts would be pulled from them for blog posts to promote upcoming episodes of the TV show) is great. But, often these "journal entries" felt like regular first-person narration, of the kind that constantly pinged my brain as "someone is making stuff up in a reddit post." (who the hell is out here writing down conversations word-for-word with quotation marks hours after the event??) While these entries bothered me, there are other aspects that truly shined - I loved the text messages between Jessica and her sister in particular.
The closer we get to the end of the novel, the more it cracked my suspension of disbelief that people in threatening, possibly lethal, situations with a ticking clock would stop every couple of feet and write about their feelings. It's okay for there to be gaps the audience gets to puzzle over! I promise!
Overall, it is still an entertaining book and a solid B horror movie, but it didn't set the genre on fire or anything. I will be checking out the author's back catalog in the future. If you are looking for more epistolary horror, may I recommend the short story collection Among the Lilies by Daniel Mills?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Death, Murder, Vomit, Domestic abuse, Violence, and Police brutality
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Confinement, Self harm, Excrement, and Physical abuse
Minor: Death of parent, Cannibalism, Racism, Alcoholism, and Injury/Injury detail
anniup's review against another edition
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence and Death
Moderate: Murder, Vomit, and Excrement
Minor: Sexual content
gingermouse's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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? It's complicated
2.5
I really didn't like the style this was written in, large parts of it read like a screen play (because it's supposed to be a TV show i guess). Characters actions are almost stage directions. This makes reading disjointed and pulled me out of the story a lot. I read this in one day because I was on a plane, otherwise I likely would have DNF'd. The mystery isn't even enough to have kept me reading under any other circumstances. The last two chapters are completely unnecessary and the conclusion isn't satisfying. I probably wouldnt have classed this as horror even. Not a completely terrible book but not redeemable for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Vomit, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Violence, Death, Torture, and Confinement
Minor: Suicide
Descriptions of psychological torture. Milgram experiment-esque.
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