hintermost's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
The book setup itself is an overly-bloated mess, getting quite exhausting to read in the middle chapters. This issue is exasperated further by the usage of the "Slasher 101" sections between chapters. I know this is meant to further allow the reader access to Jade's horror knowledge and her relationship with Mr. Holmes, but it's just grating - especially when most of it is irrelevant to the plot.
As a result of the bloated, poorly planned plot, the actual horror doesn't occur until the tail end of the novel. When it finally happens, it seems like less of a well-planned ending point, and more "cobbled-together-to-meet-a-deadline."
I have no intention of reading the sequels, as this first novel was and annoying, unfocused, bloated mess of a work.
Moderate: Child abuse, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Incest, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Death, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, and Sexual harassment
emma_l_f44's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Murder, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Blood, and Domestic abuse
chloseencounter's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Rape, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, Confinement, Abortion, Blood, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Animal death, Self harm, Violence, Vomit, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Misogyny
bambooboy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Blood, Gore, Cursing, Self harm, Alcoholism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Murder, Physical abuse, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Classism, Sexual assault, Grief, Rape, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual violence, and Death of parent
uv_sensibility's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Violence, Alcoholism, Murder, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Gore, Rape, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Fire/Fire injury
akmay17's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Suicide attempt, Rape, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcoholism, Animal death, Incest, Violence, Alcohol, Gore, Murder, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault
Minor: Vomit
cinderrunner's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
This book is just okay. Its very slow moving and long winded. The action doesn't pick up til about 50 pages from the end. The suspense to get there and the buildup felt very weak. I do think its important to note that (according to a google search) the author is native american. The book features a lot of negative stereotypes that would feel very racist coming from an author who was not indigenous. I find this grown man's way of handling writing a story about underage girls to be uncomfortable. When we get introduced to our "final girl" he uses weirdly sexual language when describing her (who again, is only a HS student). There is also a very weird gay baity vibe with Letha and Jade that I don't appreciate. Jade's tragic backstory felt like it came out of left field and felt entirely unnecessary, especially comint from a grown man writing about an underage girl. The SAME effect, that one could try to use to justify why it was valid to have Jade have been through that, could have been achieved by with different less vile means. I think its an authors responsibility when writing about marginalized groups they don't belong to to check themselves on if this story is really theirs to tell and if using these plot points is just exploitative instead of genuinely adding to the story or shedding light on what that group (in this case women and young girls) go through. 100% Jade did not need to be
Spoiler
sexually abused by her father when she was fucking 11. Taking it from general child abuse to the level of rape in a society where females are so disproportionatelyimpacted by rape culture isnt warranted by anything in this plot.Graphic: Body horror, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Cursing, Sexual content, Grief, Gun violence, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Violence, Blood, Death, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Vomit, Domestic abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, and Self harm
robinsong's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Suicide attempt, Cannibalism, Gore, Alcohol, Child abuse, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Self harm, Sexual assault, Violence, Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Vomit, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Classism, Death, Pedophilia, and Suicidal thoughts
thehistoriette's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Vomit, Suicide attempt, Murder, Suicide, and Body horror
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Physical abuse, Animal death, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Blood, and Rape
boundforinfinity's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
.
The main character, Jade, is a hard character to like. The assumption that you have to be "gothy" to like horror movies such as Saw, the $1 Billion dollar film franchise that's been running for almost two decades, was an annoying catch to the novel. Of course teenagers like horror movies - they need to prove their hard. (This is coming from one of said teenagers that never grew out of their gothy/horror phase).
.
The constant allusions to the famous slashers felt pretentious at times and I really struggled at times to read the book knowing that a good portion of the text could go over my head if I hadn't seen these other works.
.
Onto the good however, I really did enjoy the story and the twist ending. I loved the references to the Native American culture, Stephen Graham Jones own signature no doubt. The layout of an extra credit project alongside the actual story itself was refreshing and a fun way to engage the reader with Jade.
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Child death, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Death, Body horror, Grief, and Suicide attempt