Reviews

This book is a conundrum. It seemed to have everything that I wanted - thriller, a keen criticism of the high high high class. But it was poorly executed. The first 160 pages were nothing but dull and could easily have been cut in half. I know the writing style is meant to be retrospective and conversational, but there was just so much telling and simple reporting rather than actually letting the reader experience it, it just ended up feeling lazy and clumsy and a poor artistic choice.

Then it picked up for about 80 gripping, well written pages. Then I found it just plateaued. Everything felt oversold and overstated - it didn't trust you enough to let you infer a single thing. Everything was hammered home again and again until it lost all meaning.

And then it just got completely ridiculous. The plot was tight and the overarching plot made sense and was gripping, and then I just felt that Bennett threw all that completely out the window by throwing in some ludicrous curve ball plot elements that felt forced and out of place, which appeared to only be there for the sake of it being unexpected and a twist. Last 50 pages? A bit silly and a bit ludicrous, and demanded that I suspended my disbelief further than I was prepared to.

Overall, I don't have strong feelings on my reading experience. There were parts where I was genuinely interested, and I loved the premise. It had good elements, but they were spoiled with poor plot choices and conclusions. The writing certainly had a strong style, but I don't think it worked here - it made the reader feel detached and seemed half-assed.

The whole thing just seemed a bit half-baked, and it's not something I'd recommend to anyone else.

katykelly's review against another edition

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4.0

Running Man, Hard Target - human hunting now hits schools

A school of privilege, and one in which the wealthiest invite 'lesser' classmates home for the weekend, to be targeted in blood sports. Many films have used similar themes - Battle Royale and Series 7 The Contenders as a sign of a weakening, immoral society, as well as those mentioned above. It's a concept that shocks but also fascinates - who would hunt a fellow human?

At STAG (St Aidan the Great) Boarding School, Greer is a scholarship girl, the only student without money at a highly privileged and ancient institution run by monks. Invited to a fellow sixth former's ancestral home one weekend with fellow misfits, she is put to the test as she begins to suspect her host and his friends of using them as sport.

It moved quickly, but I was a little disappointed in the danger the threesome were put in - rather convenient escapes and near misses, it never had the feeling of 'The Wicker Man' when everyone turns on the victim and you fear for their lives. The final twist isn't too much of a surprise, though I did enjoy the reasoning behind the whole scheme.

Greer herself benefits (to my film fan mind) from a quirky love of films, seeing significant events as key moments in films and telling us what she is reminded of. Personally, I loved these references though I can imagine that not all readers will recognise the references.

Enjoyable enough, not really any surprises but a few elements that make it memorable. Would transfer well to the screen.

With thanks to Netgalley for the advance reading copy.

waitaminuteash's review against another edition

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1.0

I really want to say something good about this book... I had high expectations after reading the reviews and being recommended by a friend, but the book barely met any of them.

For one, the writing isn't what I expected, with so many "kind of" and "sort of" thrown into almost every sentence. I also did not expect the book to have any POC, but there was Shafeen and as a POC myself, I feel like he was unnecessary to the plot. He was necessary as a character, but there was no reason for him to be a POC if his entire purpose in the book was for the other characters to be racist towards him. I think the author wanted to add diversity to a book full of White characters, but they executed it badly. There were a lot of mentions of his "dark skin" and the whole "jungle book Indian" stereotype.

The main character was very very annoying with her "I'm not a feminist because I want to look nice" narrative. She has truly been one of the most annoying main characters I've ever seen in a book (including Wattpad stories).

I only like Chanel in this book if I'm being honest. Chanel and Shafeen should have been the only ones to survive at the end of the story.

I wish Greer fell off the waterfall with Henry.

definitely would not recommend it. There are books on Wattpad with less annoying characters and better writing.

stjehanne's review against another edition

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2.0

Predictable and very on-the-nose. This book obviously tries to comment on social hierarchies and their implications but does so without any nuance or depth.

Characters are as flat as they can be, which results in them being quite comical. Basically, the entire cast consists of caricatures.

Greer also has this rather unfortunate gimmick that forces her to constantly compare the events around her to random films. It’s cute the first couple of times but when she starts ranting about some mediocre movie while something actually tense and interesting is supposed to happen, you learn to hate it quite quickly.

the_reading_vampire's review against another edition

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dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

siri1's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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