marsverb 's review for:

Dead Eleven by Jimmy Juliano

3.75

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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I didn't find any of the characters all that compelling, and consequently I wasn't really rooting for anyone - the islanders are clearly cultish and despicable, but Lily in her skepticism is really dislikable too, so I guess my sympathies mostly lie with the outsiders, Willow and Harper. Even they weren't that deep as far as characters go, but I was plenty intrigued by the plot so that's not the biggest issue.

This is another small nitpick, but I found the framing device of the whole thing being a manuscript by Harper pushed my suspension of disbelief a little bit. Don't get me wrong, the inclusion of "found documents" and "primary sources" was one of the coolest things about the book. It's a great way to tell a story. I can even believe that Harper would be able to approximate most of the perspectives in the narrative portions - except for Willow's. He has not been able to talk to Willow, he has no idea what it is she saw, but she is the main perspective through which we witness the supernatural. So are her portions supposed to be unreliable? That didn't feel like the intention.