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pageglue 's review for:
The Bright Lands
by John Fram
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Holy hell this book is so freakin’ phenomenal!!! Ten years after Joel has left his homophobic small town of Bentley, Texas, he receives some concerning messages from his brother. Dylan, the star quarterback for the Bentley Bisons and town hero, says he wants to quit football and get out of town. Joel flies home to check on his brother, but the same night that he arrives is the night Dylan disappears, and the nightmares plaguing everyone in town begin. With the help of Clark, a police officer and Joel’s high school girlfriend, they scour every corner of town, where everyone knows something and no one’s saying nothing, to find out what happened to Dylan. Over the course of the investigation, a phrase keeps appearing: ‘the Bright Lands’. What are the Bright Lands? What do they have to do with Dylan? Dark forces are lurking beneath the surface of this town, and not just figuratively.
Man, this was a bucking bull of a wild ride, ridden by a loose-wristed sheriff wearing leather assless chaps and a hot pink Stetson hat. Fram has written an EXCELLENT mystery, expertly dropping clues that propel you forward and make you suspect EVERYONE. The story is told from many perspectives, and it was so great because everyone was hiding something from everyone else. The plot is so gripping that it made me stay up late to finish it, and not like ‘ooh it’s just 30 more pages’, no, I had 100 pages left and I just knew I wouldn’t be able to go to sleep without knowing how it ends. And THE ENDING!!! The reveal was weird. I definitely didn’t expect it, but it was so bizarre that I think it lost some of its bite just trying to comprehend it.
The writing was fantastic too. On its surface, this is a mystery novel. But Fram never for a moment lets you forget that you’re reading a horror novel - the tone is so consistently sinister throughout the book. I also really appreciated its themes, and the way that it was so unapologetically in-your-face gay. This is easily one of my favourite reads this year!
Man, this was a bucking bull of a wild ride, ridden by a loose-wristed sheriff wearing leather assless chaps and a hot pink Stetson hat. Fram has written an EXCELLENT mystery, expertly dropping clues that propel you forward and make you suspect EVERYONE. The story is told from many perspectives, and it was so great because everyone was hiding something from everyone else. The plot is so gripping that it made me stay up late to finish it, and not like ‘ooh it’s just 30 more pages’, no, I had 100 pages left and I just knew I wouldn’t be able to go to sleep without knowing how it ends. And THE ENDING!!! The reveal was weird. I definitely didn’t expect it, but it was so bizarre that I think it lost some of its bite just trying to comprehend it.
The writing was fantastic too. On its surface, this is a mystery novel. But Fram never for a moment lets you forget that you’re reading a horror novel - the tone is so consistently sinister throughout the book. I also really appreciated its themes, and the way that it was so unapologetically in-your-face gay. This is easily one of my favourite reads this year!