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aparker89's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Car accident, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Self harm, Sexual assault, Stalking, Addiction, Body horror, Dementia, Drug abuse, Drug use, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Torture, Toxic friendship, Violence, Vomit, Classism, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Rape, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
iamastraythought's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
I was afraid of this book going in to it, I hadn't read anything this daunting in a long time, closest I got was Hell Bent, and just the sheer size of it had me wary.
I'm glad I pushed through that fear. This book was spectacular. It reminded me a bit of the show Dark, a bit of Interstellar, and a tiny bit of It. I usually don't go for tales of apocalypse, but this was different, was unique in a way that kept me on my toes. I almost saw what was coming, but couldn't quite guess, and that, too, kept me intrigued.
Graphic: Cursing, Murder, Death, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Child death, Gaslighting, Body horror, Physical abuse, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Car accident, Grief, Gore, Torture, Cancer, Gun violence, Alcohol, Animal death, Excrement, Pandemic/Epidemic, Death of parent, Child death, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Terminal illness
maryellen's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Violence, Bullying, Murder, Confinement, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Torture, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Sexual content
jaedia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Still, there were some great moments and Chuck is definitely a great writer. If you go into this one, just drop any expectations you have.
Graphic: Bullying, Cancer, Cursing, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Suicide attempt, Gore, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Alcohol, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Car accident, Death, Child death, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Grief, Medical content, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Torture, and Drug use
annemariemulksibb's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Murder, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Death
Minor: Mass/school shootings, Suicide, and Vomit
fireblossoms19's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Gore, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence
Minor: Alcoholism, Addiction, and Alcohol
spookshow's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I had been seeing this book across bookstagram a lot, so I guess you could say that it was a bookstagram-made-me-buy-it book. I was super keen to get into it as I've been on a huge horror kick the last twelve odd months, and this one stood out and sounded so different to anything else I'd read. While this wasn't the book that I had hoped that it would be, it didn't disappoint me as such, it just turned out so totally different to what I was expecting and I'm still trying to work out how I feel about it. This ended up being more of a slow build cosmic horror, which isn't a bad thing by any means, I was just expecting something totally different. So I think my feeling of being slightly let down, is definitely a case of - it was me, not the book. I try not to put expectations on books before I read them because I've learned over the years that this can tend to lead to disappointment or feeling slightly let down when something doesn't turn out the way that I had envisioned in my head from the cover and blurb. Let's be honest thought, it's hard to NOT have a preconceived notion on what a book is going to be.
The story is told through mostly three alternating POVs, there are a couple of other's thrown in there throughout the book, but the three main points of view that we read through are Nath, Maddie and Oliver. The book opened on a pretty electrifying scene (pardon the pun, it was totally intended), and I was pretty intrigued by the first character that we meet. I enjoyed the characters of Oliver and Nathan the most. Nathan who is trying his hardest to not turn into the man who terrorised him his whole life, and trying to deal with that ingrained trauma to the point that he probably overanalyses pretty much every action or word that he has with his son. You can see right from the start that he is a genuine guy who managed to break the cycle. Oliver, oh Oliver, this boy was like a sweet beacon of shining light. He feels things too much, he feels EVERYTHING too much. His empathic abilities are off the charts and I couldn't even imagine feeling what he does on the daily. He just wants quite and he wants peace and kindness and I loved seeing that in such a young character. As the story progresses, with everything that happens to him and that he goes through, he never once has malicious or nefarious thoughts towards those who hurt him, he's forever wondering if there's a way that he could fix THEIR pain so that they wouldn't choose to hurt others. He came across as such a selfless character and I loved that about him. Maddie, I liked her enough, but for a huge chunk of the book she just annoyed me mostly. Yes she has trauma and yes she's trying to remember things that she knows are connected to what they're experiencing in present day, but she came across as so self centered to me, until probably the last 150 odd pages, I ended up liking her more by the end, so she did have a lot of redeeming qualities. One thing that bugged me a bit, and still kinda bugs me, is we meet a character pretty early on in the story, I was expecting this character to have a pretty pivotal role in the plot as a whole, but...they just didn't? Not in my opinion anyway. They sort of disappeared and briefly would pop in, but we mostly didn't see them again until the last part of the book and I'm still not overly sure of the point of their existence in the story. Yeah I get the overall thing with the big bad and that it wasn't just going to one person, but this character still seemed rather pointless to me, they just helped drive a part of another plot device. That's probably another "it's me not the book" things though. One thing I absolutely loved was when we meet an alternate version of a character, and my heart just swelled with how this person interacted with another character. I'm trying to be as vague as possible because I don't want to give to much away, but I feel like I'm just speaking nonsense.
The story itself was a twist and sometimes confusing one. There were a lot of strings in this story, and while, yeah, they did all kind of intertwine and have a point, there was a LOT going on. So at times I felt like I was just sitting in a giant pile of strings that were all twisted up and I couldn't find the end or the beginning and it was just a giant mess. Things did straighten out as the story progressed, as they normally do, but for a while there, it felt like a whole lot of nothing was kind of happening. Everything made sense in the end, and yes, everything had a purpose, but there is a lot of set up that is happening in this story, so be prepared for that. The pacing did fall flat for me a fair bit, which is why it took me so long to finish it I think. That and life. I was interested in the characters and where they were heading, it was just a slower paced novel than what I had anticipated it being. Again, not inherently a bad thing, just not what I was after I guess.
All in all, this was a horror novel that really stands out because it IS different to pretty much everything else I've read. And when you read as much as I do, that is refreshing. Wendig is great at writing and creating characters that you can really get behind and that you really hope will make it through the story unscathed as much as possible. I couldn't even begin to imagine how this story came to fruition as it's so complex and there is so much happening in it that I have no idea how Wendig was able to keep everything straight and tie it all up at the end in a way that was satisfying. If you're looking for a horror novel that has more than just the stereotypical cookie cutter characters, characters with flaws and depth and trauma, and a story that is just so different to most others, give this one a go. Don't let the page count or the slow pace put you off, stick with it, it really is a rewarding novel and honestly, I'm still thinking about it a month after finishing it.
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Violence, and Gore
Moderate: Alcohol, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse
midnightgremlin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Vomit, Violence, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Murder, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Infidelity
mburnsides's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
Graphic: Violence, Bullying, Child abuse, Mass/school shootings, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Body horror, Child death, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Gun violence and Death
wintelius's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Physical abuse, Murder, Grief, Death, Suicide attempt, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, and Blood