A review by readundancies
Security by Gina Wohlsdorf

challenging dark funny mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

I could not have ended my reading year any better than with this book. 

It was the culmination of everything that I learned about myself reading-wise in 2022 because this was The Year I Discovered How Much I Love The Horror Genre and this book just hammers that fact home so well. 

It should be noted that this horror is not for the faint of heart lemme tell you. This is horror-thriller-slasher vibes to the nth degree, in unfailingly intimate detail when it comes to the death and gore that paints the walls of Manderley Resort. 

I adored how the story was told between different camera angles and the different perspectives were split across the page. It was so effective at pushing the plot along and relaying info to the reader in an engaging way and learning about all of the players involved through the dark humour and sarcastic voice of the unnamed narrator only amplified my fun with this story because we also slowly got bits and pieces to clue us in about the narrator themselves. 

I read this physically and I don’t think an audiobook would do this justice the way the physical book did in terms of delivery. Wohlsdorf’s writing was immaculate and she excelled at pushing the narrative along with such biting wit. She had no mercy, was no-holds-barred and knew exactly what she was doing when she was doing it and I’m in awe at how she had such amazing vision and then executed it to perfection. 

At just 50 pages in, I was officially loving this. So fucking much. My anxiety knew no bounds and I was so wildly tense and yet so hyped at the same time. I was gripping the book so hard at some points because some of the side characters were just so goddamned likeable that it was paining me to have to let them go as they slowly got picked off one by one. 

Case in point, two chapters in and I was devastated at the loss of Vivica, hotel cleaner extraordinaire. The characters were just so immediately easy to invest in, even when some were so obviously despicable. 

The romance was a pretty heavy aspect of the story and while I can see it not appealing to everyone (because in the interest of full honesty it is not only slightly taboo but also dramatic as fuck-all) I was totally here for it. It was the perfect backdrop to the savage murders that were to take place and it really heightened the stakes for me because I am a sucker for the unrequited love trope. 

Almost every book in which I find myself reaching for my phone so I can purchase a physical copy of it even before finishing the damn thing ends a being a 5-star experience, and this one was no exception. So much so that I am appalled and frankly quite butthurt that this is rated so low on Goodreads because that is truly a goddamned travesty. 

So if you’re looking for a high-octane, wild premise of a horror-thriller story with crazy plot twists and non-stop mayhem, look no further. Pick this up. 
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