Reviews with content warning for Animal cruelty - Penpal

Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

Penpal by Dathan Auerbach

21 reviews

laneychaney's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

So disappointing. Some parts were creepy but nothing scary. The writing was simple and easy to get through. I liked the idea of different memories/stories that tie together…but the end was so bad and rushed and made no sense. It was almost silly.

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scumlow's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-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

2.0

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amandalove2bme's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

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smileysam's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I really enjoyed this book and tore through it in one sitting. I find it rare that I read something that makes me feel genuinely uneasy and this book conveyed that very well. The first chapter felt like a nightmare that the reader alongside the narrator couldn’t wake up from. There were many instances that gave me that stomach-dropping feeling (the Boxes chapter especially). I know some people complain that not every question is answered, but to me, that almost adds to the narrative and way the story is told throughout the book. I found that the themes of this book felt, unfortunately, very grounded in reality. This felt like a story that could happen, which made it all the more terrifying.

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poucks_books's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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? No

4.0

This was absolutely a rollercoaster of a book and even though you can pretty much guess what is happening since the middle of the book, going through it and reading it as it happens makes it absolutely horrifying.

There is one thing that really bothered me about this book though and I tried to go around it, but I couldn't at some times, but the things the MC did as a very young kid, were just not believable. A kid of 5 years old does not think or react as the kid in this book did and it made some things hard to receive in my mind.

But the story and the relationships and the ending were AMAZING! Great read non the less!

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