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kymmurrz's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
readinginluxury's review against another edition
2.0
The irony is not lost on me....
Please don't come for me.
Thanking you kindly.
Please don't come for me.
Thanking you kindly.
shmadsie's review against another edition
5.0
4.5. There were quite a few times that I thought this book was going to fall off a cliff into something terribly cliche and it did not do that, at any point, to my endless delight! Honestly, Taylor Adams just keeps getting better for me. There was only one part where something was presented as gasp-worthy, like I should've forgotten it and now it was an unexpected callback, but, like.... no chance in hell was I forgetting that? So.... it ended up just falling kind of flat. But every other time I thought I knew where it was going to zig, it zagged! Also, just overall, there should be more fictional characters that will death battle for their dogs. We've got John Wick and Emma Carpenter but I need at least fifty more examples before I'll call that genre tapped.
elissalynn's review against another edition
4.0
This was so creepy. Like so unsettling. And it surprised me!! That never happens to me anymore! And I loved the ending.
taylor_broek's review against another edition
4.0
First and foremost I would like to thank doesthedogdie.com and Mellissa of Goodreads for confirming that the golden retriever Laika is poisoned but doesn’t die because i was about to DNF. I liked the premise of this story and thought it was just the right amount of darkness overall. It was way more scary to me at the start with the barrel chested man in the demon goat mask on the ring camera than it was when there was actual murder happening. I think the swapping between Emmas view point and the contradicting view point of the author really lightened it up. It felt almost like a low stakes thriller and a satire, I liked not feeling afraid at night while I was reading it.
Although…. I did very early on in reading the book look at all of the books I gave 1 star to see if I had written a review for them and what I said to make sure it was nice enough? I felt like if I was Emma I would have deleted my review after the author clapped back so ominously like that I mean your information is out there unless you have deliberately tried very hard to cover it up. I did understand H.G. Kanes point of view about her review a little bit though because i think about how i am just a consumer and not a creator whose lively hood depends on the ratings of their books when I write a review.
I did predict the ending to some degree given that it is a locked room mystery so it had to be one of the very few characters mentioned but i did not see some of the smaller twists and turns coming. I thought the narrative that emma thought she was way smarter than the other girls that get murdered so easily in books or movies vs what emma could actually do in a their situation was very interesting. Because you would think, if i was living alone in a strangers house in an unfamiliar city where you don’t know the neighbors or the crime or anything you would be more prepared with a gun or some other weapons or back up plan. And Emma says as much when she finishes murder cabin or what ever that book was called but she doesn’t. She did make some good and very calm and collected self defense plans which i enjoyed reading about but made some other choices that i thought made no sense. But as the author said coincidences happen in the real world but if it happens in a book its considered “bad writing”. I thought the acknowledgements page of the authors book was so good and it really tripped me up for a second there.
I do wish Laika had a bigger roles since there was some anthropomorphic lines from the dog and would have liked to know more about what she thought of the whole thing. Having a golden retriever my self make the book feel a little more cheesy and unbelievable tbh but i suppose Laika could be a really good girl except for that one bite. I wonder if my GR would every bite someone to protect me… no I don’t wonder because i know the answer is no… Overall there was a weird balance of gore but not too scary. I thought the ending was sweet and really was not expecting it for a while there.
Although…. I did very early on in reading the book look at all of the books I gave 1 star to see if I had written a review for them and what I said to make sure it was nice enough? I felt like if I was Emma I would have deleted my review after the author clapped back so ominously like that I mean your information is out there unless you have deliberately tried very hard to cover it up. I did understand H.G. Kanes point of view about her review a little bit though because i think about how i am just a consumer and not a creator whose lively hood depends on the ratings of their books when I write a review.
I did predict the ending to some degree given that it is a locked room mystery so it had to be one of the very few characters mentioned but i did not see some of the smaller twists and turns coming. I thought the narrative that emma thought she was way smarter than the other girls that get murdered so easily in books or movies vs what emma could actually do in a their situation was very interesting. Because you would think, if i was living alone in a strangers house in an unfamiliar city where you don’t know the neighbors or the crime or anything you would be more prepared with a gun or some other weapons or back up plan. And Emma says as much when she finishes murder cabin or what ever that book was called but she doesn’t. She did make some good and very calm and collected self defense plans which i enjoyed reading about but made some other choices that i thought made no sense. But as the author said coincidences happen in the real world but if it happens in a book its considered “bad writing”. I thought the acknowledgements page of the authors book was so good and it really tripped me up for a second there.
I do wish Laika had a bigger roles since there was some anthropomorphic lines from the dog and would have liked to know more about what she thought of the whole thing. Having a golden retriever my self make the book feel a little more cheesy and unbelievable tbh but i suppose Laika could be a really good girl except for that one bite. I wonder if my GR would every bite someone to protect me… no I don’t wonder because i know the answer is no… Overall there was a weird balance of gore but not too scary. I thought the ending was sweet and really was not expecting it for a while there.
branwynnemay's review against another edition
4.0
Woah!!
That was exhausting. I’d start thinking “I don’t think I like this book” for one reason or another, and then I’d whiplash back to being intrigued and pulled in again. I called a few things early on, there were a couple points really pushing my suspension of disbelief, but in the end I’d say the twists were well done. This was definitely a roller coaster ride. The prose wasn’t my favorite but overall this was an impressively twisty thriller and the very ending was excellent.
That was exhausting. I’d start thinking “I don’t think I like this book” for one reason or another, and then I’d whiplash back to being intrigued and pulled in again. I called a few things early on, there were a couple points really pushing my suspension of disbelief, but in the end I’d say the twists were well done. This was definitely a roller coaster ride. The prose wasn’t my favorite but overall this was an impressively twisty thriller and the very ending was excellent.
liron11's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
djohan's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
alisarae's review against another edition
Okay so I haven't read a book by a man in a Mississippi minute, and wheew is the pacing different! The killer is mise-en-scène so early on that I was wondering how the author was going to stretch out the story for as long as he did. I am used to thrillers that drag out the anticipation and leave the direct confrontation for the last 30%, vs in this book the confrontation starts in the first 30%. The action scenes were dynamic and well written, there was just a lot of it. The plot twists are kind of ridiculous, but well, my advice is to embrace your inner Michael Scott ("he is his own brother!") and go with it.