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A review by readthesparrow
Cemetery Kids Don't Die #1 by Daniel Irizarri, Zac Thompson, Brittany Peer
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The pitch for Cemetary Kids Don't Die reminded me a bit of the anime Goodnight World, which is why I initially picked it up. Both are about kids that escape their fraught family lives into a VR MMO that hides a dark secret, and I hoped that Cemetary Kids Don't Die would bring what I was missing from Goodnight World (namely, likeable characters and a good plot [because, look, while Goodnight World is fun garbage, I wouldn't call its plot particularly engaging or unique]).
Cemetary Kids Don't Die did, for the most part, deliver on that! Although sometimes shitty to one another in the way that teens are, the main characters were really quite likable, especially the main character Birdie. After a car crash that killed her mother, Birdie is disabled, and uses a wheelchair--my favorite moment comes when one of her friends accuses her of being obsessed with the game Nightmare Cemetary because it allows her the full mobility that she no longer has in her waking life, which Birdie shuts down immediately.
The setting was also really interesting. A la eXistenZ, there is a splash of bio-tech horror with the eerily fleshy Dreamwave, the gaming console that the kids put on at night. The game's visuals are delightfully busy, with gorgeous art and lush colors that really make it pop. I love the kid's avatars--they feel very accurate to what edgy teens would make for themselves--and while the mechanics of Nightmare Cemetary are a bit up in the air (is it an MMO or a multi-player game? How do the levels work?), the fact it doesn't really quite read like a functioning video game doesn't really matter much.
Ultimately, reading this novel really brought me back to books I loved as a teen: Discordia (which absolutely no one else has ever read or remembers) and Malice.
The main issue stopping me from giving this a full five stars is the end. It felt rushed, unfulfilling, and a little rote. I'm not going to knock the creators for it, since the vibe it gave me was that the series was suddenly canceled and they had to wrap the story up quick, but it still left me feeling disappointed.
Cemetary Kids Don't Die did, for the most part, deliver on that! Although sometimes shitty to one another in the way that teens are, the main characters were really quite likable, especially the main character Birdie. After a car crash that killed her mother, Birdie is disabled, and uses a wheelchair--my favorite moment comes when one of her friends accuses her of being obsessed with the game Nightmare Cemetary because it allows her the full mobility that she no longer has in her waking life, which Birdie shuts down immediately.
The setting was also really interesting. A la eXistenZ, there is a splash of bio-tech horror with the eerily fleshy Dreamwave, the gaming console that the kids put on at night. The game's visuals are delightfully busy, with gorgeous art and lush colors that really make it pop. I love the kid's avatars--they feel very accurate to what edgy teens would make for themselves--and while the mechanics of Nightmare Cemetary are a bit up in the air (is it an MMO or a multi-player game? How do the levels work?), the fact it doesn't really quite read like a functioning video game doesn't really matter much.
Ultimately, reading this novel really brought me back to books I loved as a teen: Discordia (which absolutely no one else has ever read or remembers) and Malice.
The main issue stopping me from giving this a full five stars is the end. It felt rushed, unfulfilling, and a little rote. I'm not going to knock the creators for it, since the vibe it gave me was that the series was suddenly canceled and they had to wrap the story up quick, but it still left me feeling disappointed.