A review by madarauchiha
Where They Wait by Scott Carson

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

✨🌠 my about / byf / CW info carrd: uchiha-madara 🌠✨

I really love the mythology Carson has created. It's not a rip off of cosmic or eldritch horror and it's not the standard creepy haunted lighthouse. Not so far as I have personally read. There is enough left to the imagination to entice and encourage continued reading. 

I liked the blend of folk lore, science, and thought it pulled off the 'haunted app in my phone oh no!' very well. It's not exactly a haunted app though. I mean it is, but it's more than that. I'm looking forward to how electronics will be included more in horror genre. I know Ringu did it well, but there's got to be more out there.

I did not like the sexism. Ok so there's two women characters. One is a childhood friend, now adult just like the man MC. The other is the MC's elderly mother, who resides in a nursing  home due to a stroke. And that's all the women who get arcs, much less a consistent mention. Also yes, the one woman character is the love interest. You can guess what happens to her real easy if you know your tropes. The thing that irritated me about her character arc was that
she too was a child, a barely legal adult child, manipulated by an adult woman and told she could save her childhood friend [MC] if she assisted in medical abuse and gaslighting. And she did regret it, she went out of her way to come clean about it rather than have the MC come across it somehow. She showed remorse, she wanted to do the right thing by the MC and by her sister. And what happens to her character? She gets killed in about two paragraphs. I had to go back and reread it, it happened so quickly. I'd consider her body was disrespected in death as well, as he just left her there to burn.
Considering she was fairly high up in the company, and that undoubtably there were back ups of the app code, she should have
been allowed to live in order to dissolve the company and ensure this app never comes to fruition elsewhere.
To me, that's a huge loose end.


minor bill gates, car crash, death, drugs lsd, eminem, grief, indigenous racism w.nd.g. word used, insects, kidnapping, parental death, suicide

medium alcohol, cannibalism, domestic abuse, havana Syndrome but fictionalized and taken seriously, injuries, religion, sexual content, toxic relationships, war crimes

major arson, blood, car accidents, child abuse, child death, colonization, death, demolition, emotional abuse, fire, gaslighting, genocide, gore, gun violence, medical abuse, medical content, murder, physical abuse, stalking, suicide, torture, violence, 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings