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crystalstarrlight's review against another edition
adventurous
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? It's complicated
1.0
Reread time again! Perhaps this is too soon after "Red Fox", but I really want to see if maybe this series perks up for me. Is the magic completely gone?
Bullet Review:
It’s official - the magic is dead.
This was agonizingly painful to get through, from the atrocious grammar/editing to the awful characters to the sluggish pace to the questionable actions of these supposedly adult characters.
Full review:
Dex and Perry have relationship drama for 200 pages until finally, when they are on D'arcy's Island (after a rousing game of drunken Never Have I Ever), they are spooked. Lots of screaming and running back and forth across the island ensue.
About 10 years ago, I quit this series the first time at book 4, tired of the slut shaming, the cheating, the toxic relationship. I had been loving the series up to that point, but I needed a break. Last year, I got a kick of nostalgia and wanted to reread one of the few books I related to at the time, where I really felt a connection to the main character. That turned out slightly differently than I expected.
Yet I continued to book 2, which was not an improvement (in my opinion of course). Inside I was dreading getting to book 4, knowing that's where Old Me quit.
Last night, I "white knuckled" read to the end just so I can sit here and draw the line. This is where I part ways with the series. I wish Halle and her fans well; I'm proud she managed to make 10+ books out of this series and have a prolific writing career. But I don't hate read or snark read much anymore; I've found it doesn't give me enjoyment and just makes me despise reading. I would rather focus my attention to the heaps of books I have that I may enjoy better.
But I write these reviews for me, to get the jumbled thoughts in my head out in a streamlined fashioned, so for the last time for the Experiment in Terror series, let's elaborate on what drove me to quit the series here.
I feel somewhat like a broken record (can I use this expression anymore or did I lose a bunch of people at the out of date simile?), but basically this book was everything I disliked about Red Fox + 1 million:
Grammar? Absolutely dreadful - I feel so bad at how the editor did Halle dirty here. I have a slew of status updates about the grammar from the confusion between "lay" and "lie" to misplacing "only" and drastically changing the meaning of the sentence to repeating words that were obviously changed in editing such as "My view was started starting". I get I'm weird for fixating on this, but I agonize over the grammar in my reviews, and I daresay, it's better than the book I paid money for.
Canadian/British culture instead of American ones? Yup - Perry somehow knows New York's hockey team but doesn't care or follow hockey. (Hockey isn't that big here in the US; I think if she knew a couple of American football teams or had a boyfriend who loved hockey, it would make more sense)
Stream of pop culture references? I managed to stop citing each and everyone, just by sheer willpower to finish this book before the next millennium.
People sustaining multiple injuries and somehow managing to survive without immediately going to the ER? Absolutely - Perry gets hit on the head, Dex's nose is broken, Perry's wrists are cut, both of them go into freezing cold water multiple times and still come out with all their appendages, and the list goes on.
Constant use of ableist slurs, especially as insults? Oh yeah, it's bad in this book - everyone is the s-word, an r-word or "crazy" or "a nutter". I get I say "crazy" in the common vernacular, but I am trying to do better, especially in the world around me. No one here cares - a shame because both Perry and Dex have a slew of mental health issues.
Using "gay" as an insult? Well, why not!
How about taking a horrific tragedy about Chinese lepers and twisting it to make the two white missionaries the only people with names and stories and making everyone else a mindless zombie? Sure - white people are the only ones who do anything in the world. #obvioussarcasm
As bad as all these are, the absolute worst continues to be Dex and Perry themselves. I keep trying to describe how awful of people they are, and I feel like I fail to convey how really, truly awful these people we are forced to follow are. So, here we go, round 2 or 3 of my trying desperately to get my thoughts out in a semi-streamlined fashion:
Dex routinely gives Perry mixed signals - one minute he's coy and flirty, the next it's suddenly "I can't kiss you, that would be inappropriate". One minute he's "I have your back" and the next he doesn't believe her when she says she sees ghost - even though this is book 3! One minute, he's like "This series needs you" but does he ever meet with her to go over ideas for their series? Work with her to give her the background she needs to write her script? At one point Perry even admits he has her by the neckhold. Dex is absolutely the worst and every status update I read from Old Me saying I want to kiss him after smacking him makes me literally want to hurl.
And yet Perry is an awful person, because she falls in lust (I refuse to call this love) within TWO MONTHS of knowing him (she is still finding out HUGE plot points of his history), she cannot say anything that is on her mind (partly because of her own inability to communicate due to being immature and poorly equipped and party because Dex is horrible and wouldn't believe her), she uses personal details to be mean during fights, her first response is usually anger, she slut shames and fat shames women even when she has never met them (Jennifer) and she never is proactive about any of the background work for these episodes (what is it that Perry even does on this series? She does barely any research, doesn't write her own scripts, doesn't film, only seems to obsess over online comments about her weight, which is basically confirmed to be 130 pounds - what a whale of a 5'2" girl (not)).
I am not so stupid or neurodivergent to say I don't understand two broken people getting together. I do get it. But these aren't just broken people - these are people with serious problems that need serious mental health (therapy, drugs, etc.). No, really. They are toxic to everyone around them - notice how few friends either of them have and the terrible relationships they have to the few around them.
Dex has a girlfriend, but when he finds out she's pregnant, he has no issues going to a strip club with his coworker. What?! He also constantly flirts with Perry, despite having a girlfriend, and at one point they do get intimate. And afterwards, instead of being a mature adult, he treats Perry like trash. So this cheating emotionally inept sleaze is supposed to be the man I want to pair with the protagonist? She deserves better than a cheating louse who can't be honest about his feelings when he's 10 years her senior!
Perry has no friends to speak of. The last few books, where she met old college "friends", she basically trash talked them and insinuated they were shallow. She has had one boyfriend, but she's over him, but she's still mad at him. This time around, she doesn't slut shame every woman she meets, but that's solely because there aren't many characters in this entry. She has a terrible relationship with her parents - as someone who came from a very complicated nuclear family, I won't put too much blame on Perry herself here. But I will say, her inability to be honest with her family and their inability to actively support her makes it clear she doesn't have the greatest background for being an emotionally healthy person.
"But", I hear you saying, "It was the island making them do it." Really? Where was that made clear? I've read multiple stories about people getting a strange pull from the beyond to behave in ways out of their character. None of Perry's or Dex's actions were so extreme or different from their terrible characterizations that I couldn't believe them doing it. Nothing Perry said in her internal dialogue indicated that it was the island - and no, I don't think a character saying, "Look at what this place is doing to you" is enough justification for "the island made me do it".
So much of this book is just excuses for Perry and Dex to flirt but never talk about their feelings, to be in close quarters, but never go "all the way". It's an agonizing mess of "unresolved sexual tension" and one that I really wasn't prepared for when I see that the series is supposedly called "Experiment in Terror". To be honest, this reminds me of another book I read in 2012 that I loved but I despised in the 2020's: Wild Space. A lot of angry people screaming at each other, experiencing constant, mind-numbing physical pain, but never saying their true feelings.
It really isn't until Chapter 10 that the spooks come out in full force, and the book is 20 chapters long (the latter chapters are the shorter ones). To give credit where it is due, I think the spooks had a potential to be really good. Potential, because I really ascribe to the thought that the best horror is more than just jump scares and gore. Good horror is building dread - and up until Perry's first conversation with Mary, we had that building dread. Unfortunately, once that happens, once the barrier is broken between natural and supernatural, the horror just fizzles and we are left with two awful people running around an island.
The last part, one that I'm not sure I quite have words for: I really am struggling to understand the paranormal/supernatural in this world. What caused the island to be haunted? Was it really people not taking responsibility for their actions? If I deny culpability in my life "I didn't take out the trash, no one asked me", does that mean I haunt people? Is that why Old Roddy haunted the lighthouse? What made the ghosts and zombies come out to play - was it Perry's mere presence? Or would they have done that anyway? In the first book, you can ignore these questions; the second book was more about shapeshifters, so it wasn't relevant. But by this point, I have questions, and the answers were not very fulfilling.
I still think I did a terrible job of really getting into the meat of what made this series like wool or chalk on my skin. At the end of this, I want to be clear: Karina Halle can write whatever book she wants. That's totally her prerogative. And it is mine to read, to finish, to quit, and to review whatever I want as well.
Once upon a time, I really enjoyed some of the Experiment in Terror series. It was escapism for a poor, sad, lonely young woman who was still trying to find herself. When I started this reread, I wanted to rekindle the magic and finish the series. I got about halfway through this book when I realized I wasn't enjoying myself and committed to ending my journey here. I'm learning more every day what I love and what I don't - and this was a "don't". This was a chore to get through, and I can’t imagine dragging myself through more of the toxic relationship of Dex and Perry with half-assed spooks thrown in for shizz and giggles.
Bullet Review:
It’s official - the magic is dead.
This was agonizingly painful to get through, from the atrocious grammar/editing to the awful characters to the sluggish pace to the questionable actions of these supposedly adult characters.
Full review:
Dex and Perry have relationship drama for 200 pages until finally, when they are on D'arcy's Island (after a rousing game of drunken Never Have I Ever), they are spooked. Lots of screaming and running back and forth across the island ensue.
About 10 years ago, I quit this series the first time at book 4, tired of the slut shaming, the cheating, the toxic relationship. I had been loving the series up to that point, but I needed a break. Last year, I got a kick of nostalgia and wanted to reread one of the few books I related to at the time, where I really felt a connection to the main character. That turned out slightly differently than I expected.
Yet I continued to book 2, which was not an improvement (in my opinion of course). Inside I was dreading getting to book 4, knowing that's where Old Me quit.
Last night, I "white knuckled" read to the end just so I can sit here and draw the line. This is where I part ways with the series. I wish Halle and her fans well; I'm proud she managed to make 10+ books out of this series and have a prolific writing career. But I don't hate read or snark read much anymore; I've found it doesn't give me enjoyment and just makes me despise reading. I would rather focus my attention to the heaps of books I have that I may enjoy better.
But I write these reviews for me, to get the jumbled thoughts in my head out in a streamlined fashioned, so for the last time for the Experiment in Terror series, let's elaborate on what drove me to quit the series here.
I feel somewhat like a broken record (can I use this expression anymore or did I lose a bunch of people at the out of date simile?), but basically this book was everything I disliked about Red Fox + 1 million:
Grammar? Absolutely dreadful - I feel so bad at how the editor did Halle dirty here. I have a slew of status updates about the grammar from the confusion between "lay" and "lie" to misplacing "only" and drastically changing the meaning of the sentence to repeating words that were obviously changed in editing such as "My view was started starting". I get I'm weird for fixating on this, but I agonize over the grammar in my reviews, and I daresay, it's better than the book I paid money for.
Canadian/British culture instead of American ones? Yup - Perry somehow knows New York's hockey team but doesn't care or follow hockey. (Hockey isn't that big here in the US; I think if she knew a couple of American football teams or had a boyfriend who loved hockey, it would make more sense)
Stream of pop culture references? I managed to stop citing each and everyone, just by sheer willpower to finish this book before the next millennium.
People sustaining multiple injuries and somehow managing to survive without immediately going to the ER? Absolutely - Perry gets hit on the head, Dex's nose is broken, Perry's wrists are cut, both of them go into freezing cold water multiple times and still come out with all their appendages, and the list goes on.
Constant use of ableist slurs, especially as insults? Oh yeah, it's bad in this book - everyone is the s-word, an r-word or "crazy" or "a nutter". I get I say "crazy" in the common vernacular, but I am trying to do better, especially in the world around me. No one here cares - a shame because both Perry and Dex have a slew of mental health issues.
Using "gay" as an insult? Well, why not!
How about taking a horrific tragedy about Chinese lepers and twisting it to make the two white missionaries the only people with names and stories and making everyone else a mindless zombie? Sure - white people are the only ones who do anything in the world. #obvioussarcasm
As bad as all these are, the absolute worst continues to be Dex and Perry themselves. I keep trying to describe how awful of people they are, and I feel like I fail to convey how really, truly awful these people we are forced to follow are. So, here we go, round 2 or 3 of my trying desperately to get my thoughts out in a semi-streamlined fashion:
Dex routinely gives Perry mixed signals - one minute he's coy and flirty, the next it's suddenly "I can't kiss you, that would be inappropriate". One minute he's "I have your back" and the next he doesn't believe her when she says she sees ghost - even though this is book 3! One minute, he's like "This series needs you" but does he ever meet with her to go over ideas for their series? Work with her to give her the background she needs to write her script? At one point Perry even admits he has her by the neckhold. Dex is absolutely the worst and every status update I read from Old Me saying I want to kiss him after smacking him makes me literally want to hurl.
And yet Perry is an awful person, because she falls in lust (I refuse to call this love) within TWO MONTHS of knowing him (she is still finding out HUGE plot points of his history), she cannot say anything that is on her mind (partly because of her own inability to communicate due to being immature and poorly equipped and party because Dex is horrible and wouldn't believe her), she uses personal details to be mean during fights, her first response is usually anger, she slut shames and fat shames women even when she has never met them (Jennifer) and she never is proactive about any of the background work for these episodes (what is it that Perry even does on this series? She does barely any research, doesn't write her own scripts, doesn't film, only seems to obsess over online comments about her weight, which is basically confirmed to be 130 pounds - what a whale of a 5'2" girl (not)).
I am not so stupid or neurodivergent to say I don't understand two broken people getting together. I do get it. But these aren't just broken people - these are people with serious problems that need serious mental health (therapy, drugs, etc.). No, really. They are toxic to everyone around them - notice how few friends either of them have and the terrible relationships they have to the few around them.
Dex has a girlfriend, but when he finds out she's pregnant, he has no issues going to a strip club with his coworker. What?! He also constantly flirts with Perry, despite having a girlfriend, and at one point they do get intimate. And afterwards, instead of being a mature adult, he treats Perry like trash. So this cheating emotionally inept sleaze is supposed to be the man I want to pair with the protagonist? She deserves better than a cheating louse who can't be honest about his feelings when he's 10 years her senior!
Perry has no friends to speak of. The last few books, where she met old college "friends", she basically trash talked them and insinuated they were shallow. She has had one boyfriend, but she's over him, but she's still mad at him. This time around, she doesn't slut shame every woman she meets, but that's solely because there aren't many characters in this entry. She has a terrible relationship with her parents - as someone who came from a very complicated nuclear family, I won't put too much blame on Perry herself here. But I will say, her inability to be honest with her family and their inability to actively support her makes it clear she doesn't have the greatest background for being an emotionally healthy person.
"But", I hear you saying, "It was the island making them do it." Really? Where was that made clear? I've read multiple stories about people getting a strange pull from the beyond to behave in ways out of their character. None of Perry's or Dex's actions were so extreme or different from their terrible characterizations that I couldn't believe them doing it. Nothing Perry said in her internal dialogue indicated that it was the island - and no, I don't think a character saying, "Look at what this place is doing to you" is enough justification for "the island made me do it".
So much of this book is just excuses for Perry and Dex to flirt but never talk about their feelings, to be in close quarters, but never go "all the way". It's an agonizing mess of "unresolved sexual tension" and one that I really wasn't prepared for when I see that the series is supposedly called "Experiment in Terror". To be honest, this reminds me of another book I read in 2012 that I loved but I despised in the 2020's: Wild Space. A lot of angry people screaming at each other, experiencing constant, mind-numbing physical pain, but never saying their true feelings.
It really isn't until Chapter 10 that the spooks come out in full force, and the book is 20 chapters long (the latter chapters are the shorter ones). To give credit where it is due, I think the spooks had a potential to be really good. Potential, because I really ascribe to the thought that the best horror is more than just jump scares and gore. Good horror is building dread - and up until Perry's first conversation with Mary, we had that building dread. Unfortunately, once that happens, once the barrier is broken between natural and supernatural, the horror just fizzles and we are left with two awful people running around an island.
The last part, one that I'm not sure I quite have words for: I really am struggling to understand the paranormal/supernatural in this world. What caused the island to be haunted? Was it really people not taking responsibility for their actions? If I deny culpability in my life "I didn't take out the trash, no one asked me", does that mean I haunt people? Is that why Old Roddy haunted the lighthouse? What made the ghosts and zombies come out to play - was it Perry's mere presence? Or would they have done that anyway? In the first book, you can ignore these questions; the second book was more about shapeshifters, so it wasn't relevant. But by this point, I have questions, and the answers were not very fulfilling.
I still think I did a terrible job of really getting into the meat of what made this series like wool or chalk on my skin. At the end of this, I want to be clear: Karina Halle can write whatever book she wants. That's totally her prerogative. And it is mine to read, to finish, to quit, and to review whatever I want as well.
Once upon a time, I really enjoyed some of the Experiment in Terror series. It was escapism for a poor, sad, lonely young woman who was still trying to find herself. When I started this reread, I wanted to rekindle the magic and finish the series. I got about halfway through this book when I realized I wasn't enjoying myself and committed to ending my journey here. I'm learning more every day what I love and what I don't - and this was a "don't". This was a chore to get through, and I can’t imagine dragging myself through more of the toxic relationship of Dex and Perry with half-assed spooks thrown in for shizz and giggles.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Violence, Ableism, Mental illness, Cursing, and Self harm
Moderate: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting
jess2obsess's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Body horror, Child death, and Sexual content
Moderate: Ableism, Racism, Toxic relationship, Chronic illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Body shaming, Abortion, and Alcohol
Minor: Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Vomit, Rape, and Fatphobia
heidithebee's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fatphobia, Cultural appropriation, and Toxic relationship
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