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lawlipop7's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
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
5.0
peterkeep's review
4.0
Can't believe I forgot to write up a review for this!
I know there are more John Cleaver books out, and I don't know much about them (I don't want to spoil anything for myself!), but I'm still counting this as an end of a trilogy.
It's a good end. Really solid. I like that Dan Wells wasn't too soft with how he wrote John Cleaver. The kid is pretty scary, and throughout a lot of the series seems to only have a small grasp on his psychopath alter-ego. It kind of shocked me in [b: Mr. Monster|7167271|Mr. Monster (John Cleaver, #2)|Dan Wells|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1291075456s/7167271.jpg|7542680], but I found that I got quickly acclimated to it. It was weird. John was on the edge of slipping into just a pure bad guy dude with the same kind of justifications for his actions that normal villains have, but I was on his side now. The character is kind of charming in his quirkiness, and so I don't think I really noticed his slips into moral ambiguity and then into "bad-dude" territory as much be the end of the series. Great writing.
The actual plot is nice. I don't think the "monster of the week" format got old, and each demon was different enough to be interesting. There were some twists and turns in this one, some of which I saw coming a mile away, but others that caught me off guard completely. For as much as the books have a similar format, there's a lot different about each in the personality and motivation for the demons. I was going to say that Nobody was my favorite, but thinking back about the three books, and all of the demons are really well done.
I'm interested to see how the rest of the series turns out. I think there's a definite turning point, so I'm counting this as a separate series, but I'm still interested in reading more John Cleaver. There's been a ton of development over these past three books, so pivoting to a new type of storyline will be interesting to see.
I know there are more John Cleaver books out, and I don't know much about them (I don't want to spoil anything for myself!), but I'm still counting this as an end of a trilogy.
It's a good end. Really solid. I like that Dan Wells wasn't too soft with how he wrote John Cleaver. The kid is pretty scary, and throughout a lot of the series seems to only have a small grasp on his psychopath alter-ego. It kind of shocked me in [b: Mr. Monster|7167271|Mr. Monster (John Cleaver, #2)|Dan Wells|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1291075456s/7167271.jpg|7542680], but I found that I got quickly acclimated to it. It was weird. John was on the edge of slipping into just a pure bad guy dude with the same kind of justifications for his actions that normal villains have, but I was on his side now. The character is kind of charming in his quirkiness, and so I don't think I really noticed his slips into moral ambiguity and then into "bad-dude" territory as much be the end of the series. Great writing.
The actual plot is nice. I don't think the "monster of the week" format got old, and each demon was different enough to be interesting. There were some twists and turns in this one, some of which I saw coming a mile away, but others that caught me off guard completely. For as much as the books have a similar format, there's a lot different about each in the personality and motivation for the demons. I was going to say that Nobody was my favorite, but thinking back about the three books, and all of the demons are really well done.
I'm interested to see how the rest of the series turns out. I think there's a definite turning point, so I'm counting this as a separate series, but I'm still interested in reading more John Cleaver. There's been a ton of development over these past three books, so pivoting to a new type of storyline will be interesting to see.
aspygirlsmom_1995's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
zemthy889's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
kindadopish's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
vendea's review
4.0
Dang. So. This was good. Continuing in the vein of previous books in the series, really. If you liked them, you'll like this one. Stakes are upped again, John gets more character development, all good things.
There's some issues with the way Mr. Wells writes about Catholicism and guns that feel very unresearched. This is frustrating to me and if he were a worse storyteller or this were the first book of a series I would be more critical of that fact - it might be enough to induce me not to read more. But because I do enjoy his books and I'm so far into this series I can let it slide.
But I am going to say this: if you're going to write about people who practice a specific religion, please. Talk to someone of that religion. And preferably several someones so you get a decent sample size. Also. Just do some basic googling, e.g. what a cathedral is and what it is not.
That's all.
There's some issues with the way Mr. Wells writes about Catholicism and guns that feel very unresearched. This is frustrating to me and if he were a worse storyteller or this were the first book of a series I would be more critical of that fact - it might be enough to induce me not to read more. But because I do enjoy his books and I'm so far into this series I can let it slide.
But I am going to say this: if you're going to write about people who practice a specific religion, please. Talk to someone of that religion. And preferably several someones so you get a decent sample size. Also. Just do some basic googling, e.g. what a cathedral is and what it is not.
That's all.
orsuros's review
5.0
This book ramped up the intensity of the series and went back to a lot of what made the first book so good while avoiding some of the senseless violence and darkness of the second book. It's a thrilling ride even if it's a bit brutal at times.