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A review by annasbookishbrew
The Loop by Jeremy Robert Johnson
4.0
4.5 Stars
In a small town somewhere in the US:
Inside a classroom, a boy goes crazy, attacking a classmate and then a teacher.
That day, two people die.
Lucy, tormented by the traumatic experiences she had witnessed during class, noticed something that no one else saw. This makes her doubt that everything was a "normal" violent act. A few days later, at a party, the events escalate and with them Lucy's whole world changes in an instant.
------ SPOILERS------------
This book was a wild ride! I firstly didn't expect the level of violence in the book. When I received it I thought it would be YA and as far as I know many people believe that. It definitely isn't! The violent scenes are extremely explicit and nothing for a weak stomach. But - I appreciate that the book went there. It didn't hide any gruesome details and made the story so much more real.
What I thought about the story in general:
The story reminded me a little of - The Troop - , not because what actually happened but because of the writing style. (mind you: I read the troop in german and the loop in english). We follow the story from Lucys perspective and I really liked her as a character. She had to deal with abuse & being left alone in her family home and later being bullied at school. Her trauma is very visible and we learn about her PTSD along the way as it get's triggered quite often. We also experience a conflict of emotions with her. She has a lot of anger inside her, but at the same time she is a very rational thinking individual that wants to hurt nobody. And this is what made her really interesting when certain situations unfolded because I wasn't sure wether Lucy would do something stupid or not.
The concept was very interesting. I love SciFi Horror Storylines and IMTECH at the center was a company I was intrigued in from the start. Not gonna lie, the story went over my head a few times so I was happy that Steve joined the bunch at some point that explained everything scientific for dummies (a.k.a me).
The use of a conspiracy podcast was super smart and I loved this aspect because it made the story more real. The podcast host was also written so realistically. I felt like hearing the podcast for real and loved that feeling.
The friendship with the boys, especially bucket. LOVED IT! I want to read more books with a male female friendship like this one. Bucket was such a sensible, smart person and his banter with Lucy was great.
And then THE END: Like wow!
It was beautifully written and so freaking crazy / sad. I didn't trust Brewer from the beginning but I learned to really like him and he was a very powerful ally at the end I was so glad Lucy had.
Why not 5 stars
As mentioned, some scenes went way over my head. I really didn't understand all aspects of IMTECHs product, why they couldn't intervene earlier and where did they get it from. Maybe the reader shouldn't know everything but I wanted more I guess.
Also some scenes I found to be quite boring. In the middle of the book when Lucy was driving in a car for like 30 pages. It just didn't grip me and I also couldn't see how a lot of it was benefitial for the story.
In a small town somewhere in the US:
Inside a classroom, a boy goes crazy, attacking a classmate and then a teacher.
That day, two people die.
Lucy, tormented by the traumatic experiences she had witnessed during class, noticed something that no one else saw. This makes her doubt that everything was a "normal" violent act. A few days later, at a party, the events escalate and with them Lucy's whole world changes in an instant.
------ SPOILERS------------
This book was a wild ride! I firstly didn't expect the level of violence in the book. When I received it I thought it would be YA and as far as I know many people believe that. It definitely isn't! The violent scenes are extremely explicit and nothing for a weak stomach. But - I appreciate that the book went there. It didn't hide any gruesome details and made the story so much more real.
What I thought about the story in general:
The story reminded me a little of - The Troop - , not because what actually happened but because of the writing style. (mind you: I read the troop in german and the loop in english). We follow the story from Lucys perspective and I really liked her as a character. She had to deal with abuse & being left alone in her family home and later being bullied at school. Her trauma is very visible and we learn about her PTSD along the way as it get's triggered quite often. We also experience a conflict of emotions with her. She has a lot of anger inside her, but at the same time she is a very rational thinking individual that wants to hurt nobody. And this is what made her really interesting when certain situations unfolded because I wasn't sure wether Lucy would do something stupid or not.
The concept was very interesting. I love SciFi Horror Storylines and IMTECH at the center was a company I was intrigued in from the start. Not gonna lie, the story went over my head a few times so I was happy that Steve joined the bunch at some point that explained everything scientific for dummies (a.k.a me).
The use of a conspiracy podcast was super smart and I loved this aspect because it made the story more real. The podcast host was also written so realistically. I felt like hearing the podcast for real and loved that feeling.
The friendship with the boys, especially bucket. LOVED IT! I want to read more books with a male female friendship like this one. Bucket was such a sensible, smart person and his banter with Lucy was great.
And then THE END: Like wow!
It was beautifully written and so freaking crazy / sad. I didn't trust Brewer from the beginning but I learned to really like him and he was a very powerful ally at the end I was so glad Lucy had.
Why not 5 stars
As mentioned, some scenes went way over my head. I really didn't understand all aspects of IMTECHs product, why they couldn't intervene earlier and where did they get it from. Maybe the reader shouldn't know everything but I wanted more I guess.
Also some scenes I found to be quite boring. In the middle of the book when Lucy was driving in a car for like 30 pages. It just didn't grip me and I also couldn't see how a lot of it was benefitial for the story.