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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Without giving to much away, I started reading this book thinking one way and was surprised by the turn it took, but enjoyed it even though it wasn't what I thought originally.
Last summer, when this book was making its rounds in the bookish community, I was immediately drawn in by the idea of a town stuck in 1994 while the rest of the world was going about their 21st century lives. The mystery within asked why the townspeople of Clifford Island repeated rituals every day at the same time, whether it was to walk down to the mailbox and wave at their neighbor, play the same song on a boombox strolling through town, or watching the O.J. Simpson freeway chase as if seeing it for the first time.
Although told from multiple points of view, the story is mainly told from former high school teacher, Willow Stone, who is grieving the loss of her son and finds a clue tying him to the island. Once she gets to the island, its strange inhabitants lead her to more questions than answers. One person dying to get off the island and not buying into the superstitions is high schooler Lily Becker, who becomes close with Willow.
One thriller trope I'm not a fan of is the unreliable narrator and while Lily may not have matched this description to a T, her past experiences may have made her more susceptible to supernatural experiences. I found a lot of Lily's actions to be questionable and while the author was showing us how grief can make us desperate, I question whether it would make us stupid, putting ourselves in danger.
I also get really sick of authors' portrayals of anything church related. He made the townspeople seem small minded and gullible and the church pastor as a cult leader with unlimited power. This kind of portrayal has been used so much that it's not bringing anything new or interesting to the table.
While I liked this story, I felt like the supernatural piece really didn't work that well.
Although told from multiple points of view, the story is mainly told from former high school teacher, Willow Stone, who is grieving the loss of her son and finds a clue tying him to the island. Once she gets to the island, its strange inhabitants lead her to more questions than answers. One person dying to get off the island and not buying into the superstitions is high schooler Lily Becker, who becomes close with Willow.
One thriller trope I'm not a fan of is the unreliable narrator and while Lily may not have matched this description to a T, her past experiences may have made her more susceptible to supernatural experiences. I found a lot of Lily's actions to be questionable and while the author was showing us how grief can make us desperate, I question whether it would make us stupid, putting ourselves in danger.
I also get really sick of authors' portrayals of anything church related. He made the townspeople seem small minded and gullible and the church pastor as a cult leader with unlimited power. This kind of portrayal has been used so much that it's not bringing anything new or interesting to the table.
While I liked this story, I felt like the supernatural piece really didn't work that well.
I am banning myself from books that are about islands that contain a supernatural being. So far I’m 0 for 837378282.
I loved this totally unique horror book! The setting, the characters, the plot were all so well done. It was weird and quirky which is what I love in a horror. Definitely one I'll remember plus add in 90's references and you got me!
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:
No
Listened to the audio and I think k that actually made wit way creepier than reading the book. Overall, very good debut but some major plot holes and slow pieces. I really loved when all the parts came together but the documentary type style wasn’t well executed.
I absolutely loved the 90s nostalgia! The cover alone is fantastic, along with all of the period references like the flannel, the POGS!!!!, the music, the OJ Simpson car chase…so much fun.
If you like very slow, creepy burns, this may be a good read for you. I just found it to move a little too slowly without enough of a reward at the end. It could benefit from some tighter editing and losing about 100 pages, but the premise and the story itself is great. I really enjoyed the mixed media throughout, which broke up some of the length. The story itself just got bogged down a lot.
If you like very slow, creepy burns, this may be a good read for you. I just found it to move a little too slowly without enough of a reward at the end. It could benefit from some tighter editing and losing about 100 pages, but the premise and the story itself is great. I really enjoyed the mixed media throughout, which broke up some of the length. The story itself just got bogged down a lot.
This has been on my to-read list for awhile. There were several attempts to get into it, but I never felt pulled in and would put it back on the shelf for later. I finally decided to sit down and actually get through this book. Success!
It started off a little slow at first, but I eventually became invested in finding out Willow's sons secret and why everyone on the island lived in the past. The references to the 90's wasn't as fun as I'd hoped it be, but I was reminded that Skip-Its was a thing! I felt that the story dragged on a little too much and it was hard to relate to some of the main characters, aside from Lily, Harper, and some of the others on the island.
I did really enjoy how the story wrapped up and ended. The visuals were great and pretty spooky! Juliano did a good job of tying up all the loose ends so that the story felt truly complete. I also really enjoyed the mixed media throughout the story. This wasn't a bad read at all, but I felt that some parts of the story were a little flat.
It started off a little slow at first, but I eventually became invested in finding out Willow's sons secret and why everyone on the island lived in the past. The references to the 90's wasn't as fun as I'd hoped it be, but I was reminded that Skip-Its was a thing! I felt that the story dragged on a little too much and it was hard to relate to some of the main characters, aside from Lily, Harper, and some of the others on the island.
I did really enjoy how the story wrapped up and ended. The visuals were great and pretty spooky! Juliano did a good job of tying up all the loose ends so that the story felt truly complete. I also really enjoyed the mixed media throughout the story. This wasn't a bad read at all, but I felt that some parts of the story were a little flat.
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes