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A review by punkcalf
The Loop by Jeremy Robert Johnson
2.0
Where to begin with this book, there is so much to say and yet nothing will feel just right.
Would i recommend this book? No.
Did I hate reading it? Also no-ish.
First of all; I really enjoyed the first half of the novel. The characters were fun and the plot was set up really well but then it goes off the rails and wants to be everything and because of that falls short on all fronts.
The characters become dull and repeat themselves, characters drop like flies but they often do in these kinds of books but other than the main character they get so little time for the audience to get a feel for them that you don't care if they do finally die.
There are too many characters too, which is a problem that I ran in with. There is a character named Jason and one named Jake and I kept confusing them with one another. Characters show up at page 10 and then again at page 250 and the reader is supposed to remember who they were or are. This novel would have been better if they dropped half the cast or just made them unnamed or call them "The boy from school" or something like that.
Then there is the mess of the plot. It starts out easy enough. The kids start acting up during a party and it goes south from there. It had some zombie-vibes but these kids aren't exactly zombies. Which is fine! I love the zombie genre and I'm always ready to have a twist on it. I really liked for example. But then it wants to be everything at once and there it becomes a mess.
It isn't just a zombie-esque novel, it also and because of it being so so much, it ends up doing nothing well.
I am someone who can handle a lot of swearing but this book took it and dialled it up to 11. It works for dialogue but for narration it falls flat and took me out of the experience.
I also didn't quite vibe with the writing style. There are pages upon pages with a character talking without stopping. The formatting is a mess and it feels like reading a college essay. At a different point two characters were talking and after re-reading the page for the sixth time I gave up and just accepted the fact that I had no idea who was speaking right now.
While I don't mind gore, especially not in horror novels, which this book is. I did take offense to the adding that, to me, felt like adding some extra shock value for the benefit of having shock value.
This book had me hooked from the beginning but I found myself so confused and bored at the end that the ending gave me zero satisfaction. I never watched Stranger Things [which the blurb claims this book is, mixed with World War Z] but it lacks the feeling that show has and it certainly misses the heart.
Would i recommend this book? No.
Did I hate reading it? Also no-ish.
First of all; I really enjoyed the first half of the novel. The characters were fun and the plot was set up really well but then it goes off the rails and wants to be everything and because of that falls short on all fronts.
The characters become dull and repeat themselves, characters drop like flies but they often do in these kinds of books but other than the main character they get so little time for the audience to get a feel for them that you don't care if they do finally die.
There are too many characters too, which is a problem that I ran in with. There is a character named Jason and one named Jake and I kept confusing them with one another. Characters show up at page 10 and then again at page 250 and the reader is supposed to remember who they were or are. This novel would have been better if they dropped half the cast or just made them unnamed or call them "The boy from school" or something like that.
Then there is the mess of the plot. It starts out easy enough. The kids start acting up during a party and it goes south from there. It had some zombie-vibes but these kids aren't exactly zombies. Which is fine! I love the zombie genre and I'm always ready to have a twist on it. I really liked for example
Spoiler
how they seemed to be able to fight the infection. That was clever and really well doneIt isn't just a zombie-esque novel, it also
Spoiler
mentions aliens, it's also about a bio weapon, human suffering, a disaster movie, a tragedyI am someone who can handle a lot of swearing but this book took it and dialled it up to 11. It works for dialogue but for narration it falls flat and took me out of the experience.
I also didn't quite vibe with the writing style. There are pages upon pages with a character talking without stopping. The formatting is a mess and it feels like reading a college essay. At a different point two characters were talking and after re-reading the page for the sixth time I gave up and just accepted the fact that I had no idea who was speaking right now.
While I don't mind gore, especially not in horror novels, which this book is. I did take offense to the
Spoiler
mention of rape. It served no purpose other than the women in the group being 'glad' they couldn't be sexually abused. It was so weird and out of place and the novel would have made 0 difference if the author omitted that bit.This book had me hooked from the beginning but I found myself so confused and bored at the end that the ending gave me zero satisfaction. I never watched Stranger Things [which the blurb claims this book is, mixed with World War Z] but it lacks the feeling that show has and it certainly misses the heart.