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melsage1823's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
A Scrambled Mess Of Short Stories With Only A Few Good Bits.
For this collection being the start of a new series connected to the Pizza Plex games its very disappointing. This collection doesn't do anything to feel fresh or distance itself from the previous Fazbear Frights book. It all ends up feeling hollow. I enjoyed Fraitily and The First Mimic Epilogue but apart from that there's not much to praise. I'd still recommend giving it a go but I didn't like it too much.
From this book alone you can tell the writers are burnout fron having to write 12 Fazbear Frights books. The passion to create genuine authentic horror short stories has been lost. I saw no passion in the stories I was reading especially in the last two stories and it felt way too vague. I don't want stories that solve the lore but I also don't want stories where I can barley understand what's happening. Its a shame that the only bit in the book that was written with genuine passion was the mimic Epilogue.
Unfortunately as much as it pains me to say I only have two positives about this novel as all the stories were very hard to get through. Sorry fnaf fans, this is just my opinion.
First for those who have lost loved ones to cancer please don't read the short story Under Construction it turns Cancer into this mass horror story which is so ableist, harmful and disrespectful. The idea of being lost in the world of vr without being able to tell is horrific and had so much wasted potential. Its like the writers spun a bizzare wheel to come up with the most creative villian they could. Cancer and Jelly babies aren't villians. The writer's wether it was their attention or not should be ashamed of themselves. The story whilst interesting made me very uncomfortable and not at all in the well written horror way. Call me woke, call me a snowflake I don't care it was completely unesssacary.
Secondly I mentioned it before but I felt like all the stories were very dry and style. This also happened in some of the Fazbear Frights stories. It's like the authors can't decide between appealing to middle grade or ya readers and its getting quite annoying as it means that some parts of the story become an absolute annoyance. We're in the fnaf universe I'm here to read tense thrilling horror not someone having dinner and sleeping. The repetive parts of some of the story just get annoying. Lallys Game would have been so much better if the writer's came up with a better way to hide the doll.
Finally the tone. This collection did a really weird thing where it forgot that it was suppose to be a collection of horror short stories minus the Epilogue. It tried to do psychological horror but failed as a result it had all the stories having very sanitised horror with Fraitily's horror only coming through thanks due to it's similarities to Stephen King's Carrie. I sat their puzzled and confused at what I was reading. Horror shouldn't be sanitised down and unfortunately apart from the Epilogue this collection does that. I meant it when I say the Epilogue and Fraitily are the only things worth reading from the collection.
Now with that on the way I do have some elements I liked. For one I like how Lallys Game and Under Construction remembered that they were in a collection about the pizzaplex. Fazbear Frights for some reason went way outside the bounds of the fnaf world, so it makes a change that this series wants to actually connect some of its stories to the Pizza Plex.
First I have to praise the pacing of all the stories in the collection. Fazbear Frights massively suffered from pacing issues and often had uneven poorly fleshed out stories that would have been better as a full story where as Fraitily, Lallys Game and Under Construction are all the perfect length so that despite its flaws you don't lose interest as easily. The stories don't drag on and end at the exact points that they need too. Although the Epilogue is shorter it too is paced really well that we even have a good three act structure squished in. I hope other collections keep this up.
Finally I also have to praise the Epilogue. The first Mimic one has hooked me to the point I want to read all 8 even if I don't like the short stories. Not only does Mimic Epilogue 1 set up the other Mimic Epilogues really well it also is super suspenseful and has a good structure. It reminded me of a black mirror episode. It also wasn't vauge with the audience and was written where you understood what was going on but still didn't have all the answers. The story was also actually engaging and scary as all good horror content should be. Nothing was sanitised in the story which benefited a lot. It props up a collection with some mid stories.
Overall not a good start but a good attempt. I'd say though that it's only worth picking up if your a devoted fan and are interested in the Mimic Epilogues.
My overall rating of this anthology collection would be 3.5 stars. My individual rating would go as followed.
Fraitily: 4 Stars (Slow Burn but its a good sequel to To Be Beautiful from Frights 1)
Lallys Game: 3.5 Stars(Intresting Plot With Sanitised And Boring Horror)
Under Construction: 3 Stars (A basic vr story with wasted potential that thinks turning Cancer into a horror thing is okay)
Mimic Epilogue 1: 5 Stars (A fantastic Epilogue that perfectly sets up the twisted nature of the Mimic)
For this collection being the start of a new series connected to the Pizza Plex games its very disappointing. This collection doesn't do anything to feel fresh or distance itself from the previous Fazbear Frights book. It all ends up feeling hollow. I enjoyed Fraitily and The First Mimic Epilogue but apart from that there's not much to praise. I'd still recommend giving it a go but I didn't like it too much.
From this book alone you can tell the writers are burnout fron having to write 12 Fazbear Frights books. The passion to create genuine authentic horror short stories has been lost. I saw no passion in the stories I was reading especially in the last two stories and it felt way too vague. I don't want stories that solve the lore but I also don't want stories where I can barley understand what's happening. Its a shame that the only bit in the book that was written with genuine passion was the mimic Epilogue.
Unfortunately as much as it pains me to say I only have two positives about this novel as all the stories were very hard to get through. Sorry fnaf fans, this is just my opinion.
First for those who have lost loved ones to cancer please don't read the short story Under Construction it turns Cancer into this mass horror story which is so ableist, harmful and disrespectful. The idea of being lost in the world of vr without being able to tell is horrific and had so much wasted potential. Its like the writers spun a bizzare wheel to come up with the most creative villian they could. Cancer and Jelly babies aren't villians. The writer's wether it was their attention or not should be ashamed of themselves. The story whilst interesting made me very uncomfortable and not at all in the well written horror way. Call me woke, call me a snowflake I don't care it was completely unesssacary.
Secondly I mentioned it before but I felt like all the stories were very dry and style. This also happened in some of the Fazbear Frights stories. It's like the authors can't decide between appealing to middle grade or ya readers and its getting quite annoying as it means that some parts of the story become an absolute annoyance. We're in the fnaf universe I'm here to read tense thrilling horror not someone having dinner and sleeping. The repetive parts of some of the story just get annoying. Lallys Game would have been so much better if the writer's came up with a better way to hide the doll.
Finally the tone. This collection did a really weird thing where it forgot that it was suppose to be a collection of horror short stories minus the Epilogue. It tried to do psychological horror but failed as a result it had all the stories having very sanitised horror with Fraitily's horror only coming through thanks due to it's similarities to Stephen King's Carrie. I sat their puzzled and confused at what I was reading. Horror shouldn't be sanitised down and unfortunately apart from the Epilogue this collection does that. I meant it when I say the Epilogue and Fraitily are the only things worth reading from the collection.
Now with that on the way I do have some elements I liked. For one I like how Lallys Game and Under Construction remembered that they were in a collection about the pizzaplex. Fazbear Frights for some reason went way outside the bounds of the fnaf world, so it makes a change that this series wants to actually connect some of its stories to the Pizza Plex.
First I have to praise the pacing of all the stories in the collection. Fazbear Frights massively suffered from pacing issues and often had uneven poorly fleshed out stories that would have been better as a full story where as Fraitily, Lallys Game and Under Construction are all the perfect length so that despite its flaws you don't lose interest as easily. The stories don't drag on and end at the exact points that they need too. Although the Epilogue is shorter it too is paced really well that we even have a good three act structure squished in. I hope other collections keep this up.
Finally I also have to praise the Epilogue. The first Mimic one has hooked me to the point I want to read all 8 even if I don't like the short stories. Not only does Mimic Epilogue 1 set up the other Mimic Epilogues really well it also is super suspenseful and has a good structure. It reminded me of a black mirror episode. It also wasn't vauge with the audience and was written where you understood what was going on but still didn't have all the answers. The story was also actually engaging and scary as all good horror content should be. Nothing was sanitised in the story which benefited a lot. It props up a collection with some mid stories.
Overall not a good start but a good attempt. I'd say though that it's only worth picking up if your a devoted fan and are interested in the Mimic Epilogues.
My overall rating of this anthology collection would be 3.5 stars. My individual rating would go as followed.
Fraitily: 4 Stars (Slow Burn but its a good sequel to To Be Beautiful from Frights 1)
Lallys Game: 3.5 Stars(Intresting Plot With Sanitised And Boring Horror)
Under Construction: 3 Stars (A basic vr story with wasted potential that thinks turning Cancer into a horror thing is okay)
Mimic Epilogue 1: 5 Stars (A fantastic Epilogue that perfectly sets up the twisted nature of the Mimic)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness, Cancer, and Vomit
Moderate: Death, Violence, Murder, Blood, Gore, and Child death
Minor: Ableism, Xenophobia, and Transphobia
smack_books's review against another edition
3.0
So I was told this series actually was tied to the games and I was excited to see that. It was hard to see how the stories in this book do, though, but maybe it’ll make more sense as I read more of the books.
I should also mention that there are separate stories in this one novel.
I feel like a lot of the time the author(s) added an unnecessary amount of detail in the stories. Certain things didn’t needed to be explained, but the authors did anyways which isn’t a huge deal but still a writing flaw.
The actual story that Lally was in reminded me a lot of the stories in the Fazbear Frights novels which isn’t bad, but those novels aren’t meant to amount to anything in the fnaf universe, and the stories in this book are meant to be. So it feels a little frustrating, but this is the first book so I may be speaking too soon.
My only other thing is the story that talked about AR. It was dragged out way longer than it needed to be. At some points i just kept thinking “ok, I get it, let’s move on” and you’re put through all of this mush and the ending isn’t even satisfying.
I know I just spent this whole time bitching about the book but I honestly didn’t mind it, I liked seeing how the Pizzplex was perceived by the public and how it affected ppl’s lives. Im also excited to see the Mimic’s story progress.
I should also mention that there are separate stories in this one novel.
I feel like a lot of the time the author(s) added an unnecessary amount of detail in the stories. Certain things didn’t needed to be explained, but the authors did anyways which isn’t a huge deal but still a writing flaw.
The actual story that Lally was in reminded me a lot of the stories in the Fazbear Frights novels which isn’t bad, but those novels aren’t meant to amount to anything in the fnaf universe, and the stories in this book are meant to be. So it feels a little frustrating, but this is the first book so I may be speaking too soon.
My only other thing is the story that talked about AR. It was dragged out way longer than it needed to be. At some points i just kept thinking “ok, I get it, let’s move on” and you’re put through all of this mush and the ending isn’t even satisfying.
I know I just spent this whole time bitching about the book but I honestly didn’t mind it, I liked seeing how the Pizzplex was perceived by the public and how it affected ppl’s lives. Im also excited to see the Mimic’s story progress.
ari_bryce's review
dark
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Lally's Game by Scott Cawthon, Kelly Parra and Andrea Waggener 4⭐️ overall this was an okay collection of stories, "Frailty" was the weakest but the other 2 brought the anthology back up in enjoyment and comprehension.
- "Frailty" 3.5⭐️This was a quick story but I feel like it could have used more clarity and world building. It's understandable who Jessica is, but there's nothing to her character beyond that. We don't know why or how any of what she is comes to be in the first place, we're just thrown in with very little backstory and no answers by the end
-"Lally's Game" 4.5⭐️this story read very much like a psychological thriller movie. There's a slow building up and descent into madness underlying the story. It gives off the same vibe as the movie The Secret Obsession and definitely felt more rooted in the FNAF universe than Frailty did because of Lally's part here.
-"Under Construction" 4⭐️ I enjoyed this story and the fact that it left me with questions by the end. Unlike Frailty, this story left questions that could lead to solid endings because there was more substance given to work with at the beginning. Definitely felt like a Freddy's story
- "Frailty" 3.5⭐️This was a quick story but I feel like it could have used more clarity and world building. It's understandable who Jessica is, but there's nothing to her character beyond that. We don't know why or how any of what she is comes to be in the first place, we're just thrown in with very little backstory and no answers by the end
-"Lally's Game" 4.5⭐️this story read very much like a psychological thriller movie. There's a slow building up and descent into madness underlying the story. It gives off the same vibe as the movie The Secret Obsession and definitely felt more rooted in the FNAF universe than Frailty did because of Lally's part here.
-"Under Construction" 4⭐️ I enjoyed this story and the fact that it left me with questions by the end. Unlike Frailty, this story left questions that could lead to solid endings because there was more substance given to work with at the beginning. Definitely felt like a Freddy's story
callmek98's review against another edition
2.0
Wasn’t even remotely scary. I couldn’t even find any horror in the book. It was just sad. Every story was sad.
rystonlentil43's review
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.25
betweenthe_pages's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0