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helterskelliter 's review for:
Dark Room Etiquette
by Robin Roe
“‘How do we know if the bad things will make us better or make us worse?’ …. ‘I think we get to choose.’” (295)
Sayers Wayte has the perfect life.
He’s rich, popular, and handsome.
His parents aren’t around too much and his grades aren’t great and some kids at school don’t think he’s all that nice but does any of that stuff really matter?
It didn’t.
Then, Sayers is taken.
And, everything changes.
A man kidnaps him, tells Sayers that he’s not the boy he thinks he is. The man tells Sayers that the life he had was actually a lie.
And, after a while alone in a windowless room, Sayers begins to believe.
Maybe his life was a lie. Maybe he was a lie.
Maybe it’s easier to survive if he believes the lie.
Will Sayers be able to overcome this ordeal and make it out unscathed or will he find himself not only trapped but lost in the lies he must make himself believe to survive?
This is such an oddly engaging story.
The start of this book is so fast-paced and ensnaring. It captures you and you get lost in the thrill and danger. This book wastes no time sliding into being a dark and disturbing mystery.
And, this book is genuinely disturbing.
I’d say it’s one of the few YA books classified as “horror” that could hold its own in the genre at large.
I very distinctly felt unsettled reading this book.
There’s a sharp moment about a third of the way in when you realize about Sayers’ situation , “oh, this is going to be bad.” The antagonist in this book is quite a well-crafted one. The antagonist feels far more like a potential real, disturbed person than a full-fledged, literary villain — which makes them all the more truly horrifying.
All that said, the third act of this book leaves me a bit uncertain.
Like, I’m not sure how I feel about it. The last part of this book is, somewhat, so wholly unexpected of a dark thriller like this book. Most of these types of stories never pick up after the climactic escape — that this one does was so peculiar to me and just set me so off-kilter.
And, the third act is not bad.
It’s definitely interesting to read about how someone who survives such a traumatic ordeal carries on after. Again, it’s uncommon for a dark thriller and a trauma exploration to be ONE book. (Right????) To be honest, I found some sections of the third act to be boring. Like, I’m supposed to enjoy a normal story about Sayers’ life after everything???
It felt weird — but maybe that’s the point? Life is hard and odd but it goes on regardless, relentless.
If it weren’t for the afterword, I’ll tell you I’m not sure I’d have understood fully the intentions of this book. (It’s an interesting approach, I’ll give the author that.)
Anyway, all this is to say that I don’t think I’ve read a book quite like this one before. I think it has a lot of appeal for readers who enjoy thrillers or horror or, even, true-crime-esque books. This is an unsettling story no matter my own thoughts on plot and intention.
I’d recommend giving it a read if you want a uniquely profound story~
Sayers Wayte has the perfect life.
He’s rich, popular, and handsome.
His parents aren’t around too much and his grades aren’t great and some kids at school don’t think he’s all that nice but does any of that stuff really matter?
It didn’t.
Then, Sayers is taken.
And, everything changes.
A man kidnaps him, tells Sayers that he’s not the boy he thinks he is. The man tells Sayers that the life he had was actually a lie.
And, after a while alone in a windowless room, Sayers begins to believe.
Maybe his life was a lie. Maybe he was a lie.
Maybe it’s easier to survive if he believes the lie.
Will Sayers be able to overcome this ordeal and make it out unscathed or will he find himself not only trapped but lost in the lies he must make himself believe to survive?
This is such an oddly engaging story.
The start of this book is so fast-paced and ensnaring. It captures you and you get lost in the thrill and danger. This book wastes no time sliding into being a dark and disturbing mystery.
And, this book is genuinely disturbing.
I’d say it’s one of the few YA books classified as “horror” that could hold its own in the genre at large.
I very distinctly felt unsettled reading this book.
There’s a sharp moment about a third of the way in when you realize about Sayers’ situation , “oh, this is going to be bad.” The antagonist in this book is quite a well-crafted one. The antagonist feels far more like a potential real, disturbed person than a full-fledged, literary villain — which makes them all the more truly horrifying.
All that said, the third act of this book leaves me a bit uncertain.
Like, I’m not sure how I feel about it. The last part of this book is, somewhat, so wholly unexpected of a dark thriller like this book. Most of these types of stories never pick up after the climactic escape — that this one does was so peculiar to me and just set me so off-kilter.
And, the third act is not bad.
It’s definitely interesting to read about how someone who survives such a traumatic ordeal carries on after. Again, it’s uncommon for a dark thriller and a trauma exploration to be ONE book. (Right????) To be honest, I found some sections of the third act to be boring. Like, I’m supposed to enjoy a normal story about Sayers’ life after everything???
It felt weird — but maybe that’s the point? Life is hard and odd but it goes on regardless, relentless.
If it weren’t for the afterword, I’ll tell you I’m not sure I’d have understood fully the intentions of this book. (It’s an interesting approach, I’ll give the author that.)
Anyway, all this is to say that I don’t think I’ve read a book quite like this one before. I think it has a lot of appeal for readers who enjoy thrillers or horror or, even, true-crime-esque books. This is an unsettling story no matter my own thoughts on plot and intention.
I’d recommend giving it a read if you want a uniquely profound story~