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zigzagzmak's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
An interesting read! I'm glad I picked it up, and the audiobook was a great listen. The reader had amazing character voices and it really felt like she was acting the book.
I felt like the author didn't know what genre to write this story in, so at times it feels a little disjointed. It wasn't quite horror but it was dramatic but not really a drama either. I don't know where I'd place it even after reading it.
None of the characters were particularly likeable either, which isn't automatically an issue, but I found it hard to root for Mara, since she felt like an incredibly unreliable narrator. She was constantly lying to the other players (especially to Ashley) and possibly even to the reader too. I enjoyed Kylebut then he dies so early on, so that was a bummer. Bullfrog was also interesting to me, but he's not in the main frame of the story for the majority of it, just sort of right off to the side.
I also felt like the endingwasn't satisfying. If you want to write an ambiguous ending to your story, then write it ambiguously. Don't tell us what's going to happen in a few short sentences and then be like "who knows what's gonna happen next!" Because you know who knows? The audience! Because you told us! But you aren't going to explain what actually happened to these characters to strand them? That's what I would have rather had information about, not that they find a ginseng farm.
I felt like the author didn't know what genre to write this story in, so at times it feels a little disjointed. It wasn't quite horror but it was dramatic but not really a drama either. I don't know where I'd place it even after reading it.
None of the characters were particularly likeable either, which isn't automatically an issue, but I found it hard to root for Mara, since she felt like an incredibly unreliable narrator. She was constantly lying to the other players (especially to Ashley) and possibly even to the reader too. I enjoyed Kyle
I also felt like the ending
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Medical content and Gun violence
haave's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Gun violence, and Animal death
princess_marie's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Gore, Body horror, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death and Blood
Minor: Excrement, Vomit, Infidelity, Fire/Fire injury, and Gun violence
caseythereader's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, Cursing, Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Vomit, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Infidelity and Sexual content
ajdenson's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
My worst fears, all wrapped up in a single novel. Great writing, solid character development, the plot was pretty good. It's nice that the book ends on a happy note, as there's a lot of traumatic stuff that happens throughout the story and I stopped being hopeful.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail
lily1304's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Excellent use of Checkov's gun but I wanted a more satisfying ending. "Thriller" isn't right - but it is dark and scary and after hearing Braverman on You're Wrong About a few times I think this story really suits her.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Abandonment, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail
hnagarne's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
4.0
i have a lot of questions but had a good time??? contrary to other reviews i think i like the ending and it didn't feel super rushed to me. i wish it had been a little more satisfying, sure, but i liked it.
yeah, we don't find out what happened to the camera crew, but i think i'm okay with that? maybe i am simply an outlier.
i think my favorite bit in the book is when everyone agrees mara should go back to release the caught fish. it's so simple and maybe it's a little heavy-handed, but here it is -
“We’re not running out of time?”
“There’s always time to rescue fish.”
“Shut up.”
“I’m serious,” he said. “No reason to leave them there, if we can help it.”
“They would die anyway.” Mara didn’t mean it. She wanted to see what he said.
“Maybe, but not today.”
for a group of people who got abandoned in the woods... the fact they'll risk their survival to go back and save some fish is just a nice thought. that despite how cruel the production team was -- and how much they've endured since -- they still had a bit of kindness in them.
anyway i loved seeing flem in the dedications & the whole team in the acknowledgments. what good dogs.
i think my favorite bit in the book is when everyone agrees mara should go back to release the caught fish. it's so simple and maybe it's a little heavy-handed, but here it is -
“We’re not running out of time?”
“There’s always time to rescue fish.”
“Shut up.”
“I’m serious,” he said. “No reason to leave them there, if we can help it.”
“They would die anyway.” Mara didn’t mean it. She wanted to see what he said.
“Maybe, but not today.”
for a group of people who got abandoned in the woods... the fact they'll risk their survival to go back and save some fish is just a nice thought. that despite how cruel the production team was -- and how much they've endured since -- they still had a bit of kindness in them.
anyway i loved seeing flem in the dedications & the whole team in the acknowledgments. what good dogs.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Animal death, Body horror, and Death
allfawkesgiven's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book wasn’t quite what I was expecting, and I’m mostly glad. I initially read it via audiobook and there two things that drew me to it—the performer was Kristen Sieh (I liked what she did with Romantic Comedy) and the fact it seemed to be a fictionalized Survivor gone wrong. My attitude going in was something along the lines of steeling myself for campy writing and hoping that the story captures all of the absurdness of the mess that is Survivor/production. (I hate-watched some when I was ill and god is it absurd and terrible!) I also thought maybe it would go very Lord Of The Flies with full gruesome abandon. I would say it ended up being quite a bit more quiet, somber, and even reflective on humanity than I anticipated.
Most of the character development was around Mara, who felt like a very solitary sort of person. There was a lot of restraint in her, or some kind of distance I felt between her outward and her inner self. At time I felt almost ambivalent about her, and then there were others where what she was experiencing and realizing stirred some deeper feelings in me.
After reading it, I was not surprised to learn, after a quick skim of the author’s other titles, that the author has outdoor “survival” experience. The detailing of daily life felt personally lived. I liked that it got dark without the main characters going full Lord of the Flies with cannibalism and such. The story was scary but not because it was relying on the same overplayed individualism that seem to drive many stories where people have to do dark stuff to survive. One thing that kept me reading was hoping we’d learn what happened to strand the castaways there. I found it dissatisfying that we don’t learn what happened to Lenny and the crew!!! Why did they disappear?I guess we’re supposed to assume that Ashley’s theory was correct? Give us, like, one sentence when we heard there were lawsuits at the very end! It ended and I felt unresolved. I wanted that little thrill of knowing. It seems like a lot of people felt the same, from perusing the reviews.
Most of the character development was around Mara, who felt like a very solitary sort of person. There was a lot of restraint in her, or some kind of distance I felt between her outward and her inner self. At time I felt almost ambivalent about her, and then there were others where what she was experiencing and realizing stirred some deeper feelings in me.
After reading it, I was not surprised to learn, after a quick skim of the author’s other titles, that the author has outdoor “survival” experience. The detailing of daily life felt personally lived. I liked that
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Death and Gun violence
Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment
oatmilkdyke's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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
3.0
Hmm I read this book really fast and the plot kept me very engaged. The end of chapter felt very much like I needed to see what was coming next. HOWEVER, it ended quickly and left me with a bunch of questions.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, and Animal death
Minor: Vomit and Gore
encyclopaediabrown's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Blood, Sexism, Animal death, and Death
Minor: Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Gun violence, and Miscarriage