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vikreadstons 's review for:
Breathe In, Bleed Out
by Brian McAuley
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Slasher horror with a side of camp.
Hannah, a doctor who has spent the last year dealing with hallucinations after her fiancé’s death, decides to join her friends in Joshua Tree for a healing retreat after she is benched for accidentally overdosing a patient. While she faces her demons and her own mind, she also has to fight for her life when her friends start disappearing.
This truly was a fun book that leans into all the horror tropes while keeping things fresh. The retreat and guru is a mismatched blur of other cultural traditions that have been whitewashed for general consumption. We see discussion in the book about how problematic this kind of practice is. We see the spectrum of personalities and issues of each character as we go. They all face some sort of challenge that humanizes them. I also love that the author makes references to other franchises in a fun way. The ☠️ scenes were gruesome and creative and paced really well. There was just enough misdirection and twistyness that I was kept on my toes.
There are also deep discussions of mental health, trauma, and trusting oneself. I really felt for Hannah and she was easy to root for.
Overall this was a great, fun read that I would love to see on the big screen some day!
Many thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!
Hannah, a doctor who has spent the last year dealing with hallucinations after her fiancé’s death, decides to join her friends in Joshua Tree for a healing retreat after she is benched for accidentally overdosing a patient. While she faces her demons and her own mind, she also has to fight for her life when her friends start disappearing.
This truly was a fun book that leans into all the horror tropes while keeping things fresh. The retreat and guru is a mismatched blur of other cultural traditions that have been whitewashed for general consumption. We see discussion in the book about how problematic this kind of practice is. We see the spectrum of personalities and issues of each character as we go. They all face some sort of challenge that humanizes them. I also love that the author makes references to other franchises in a fun way. The ☠️ scenes were gruesome and creative and paced really well. There was just enough misdirection and twistyness that I was kept on my toes.
There are also deep discussions of mental health, trauma, and trusting oneself. I really felt for Hannah and she was easy to root for.
Overall this was a great, fun read that I would love to see on the big screen some day!
Many thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!