olive_lol's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- 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? Yes
3.5
I feel overwhelmingly neutral about this book.
At first, I loved the way it took place almost entirely on the road, but the charm eventually wore off. Some of the pacing is a bit clunky—really fast at times before becoming really slow, with little middle ground. However, the descriptions were great and really added to the atmosphere (I especially loved the unique descriptions of sound).
A lot of parts, especially the central mystery, are pretty out there and the type of thing a reader probably couldn't guess. After a few reveals like that, it got harder for me to stay fully invested in trying to solve it myself.
The book has few frequently recurring characters besides Keisha. It makes sense in the context of the story but still contributed to my difficulty staying invested. As a result, the novel feels like it has a smaller scope than it really does.
Overall, this was a novel with a unique road trip atmosphere, some great descriptions, and an odd storyline that left me not feeling very strongly about it one way or another.
At first, I loved the way it took place almost entirely on the road, but the charm eventually wore off. Some of the pacing is a bit clunky—really fast at times before becoming really slow, with little middle ground. However, the descriptions were great and really added to the atmosphere (I especially loved the unique descriptions of sound).
A lot of parts, especially the central mystery, are pretty out there and the type of thing a reader probably couldn't guess. After a few reveals like that, it got harder for me to stay fully invested in trying to solve it myself.
The book has few frequently recurring characters besides Keisha
Spoiler
and for the second half, AliceOverall, this was a novel with a unique road trip atmosphere, some great descriptions, and an odd storyline that left me not feeling very strongly about it one way or another.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Death of parent, Abandonment, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Cursing, Grief, Antisemitism, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Vomit and Racism
nhewitt99's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- 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
3.0
A story about hate, horror, and hope. Something about the pace made it difficult to be particularly scared by the scary parts or moved by the moving parts, but overall I enjoyed this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Antisemitism, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Death, Gore, and Violence
albasapri's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cannibalism, Body horror, Murder, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Blood
e_reader's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This took me a while to get into, just because of the horror aspect. I’m not usually a horror reader by any means tbh, but I’ll do what I have to do for a queer book. I would recommend this to someone that liked Hank Green’s duology, and bonus if you liked Welcome to Nightvale. There were one or two things that felt like they were pulled from Nightvale plot points (specifically I’m thinking of a library scene) but they’re completely different story lines.
I’m not a podcast person, so I wasn’t comparing this book against the Alice Isn’t Dead podcast. From reading other reviews, I think that was to my benefit. The plot was a little hard to grasp at times, but I really enjoyed the way it all came together. The ending wrapped everything up very nicely. The casual queerness was also a major plus—there was the occasional mention of homophobia, but the book had queer main characters without their being queer being the main struggle (or even *a* struggle) they face in the book.
Overall, this novel really grew on me! Deducted one star for the horror element, which is more on me than the book.
I’m not a podcast person, so I wasn’t comparing this book against the Alice Isn’t Dead podcast. From reading other reviews, I think that was to my benefit. The plot was a little hard to grasp at times, but I really enjoyed the way it all came together. The ending wrapped everything up very nicely. The casual queerness was also a major plus—there was the occasional mention of homophobia, but the book had queer main characters without their being queer being the main struggle (or even *a* struggle) they face in the book.
Overall, this novel really grew on me! Deducted one star for the horror element, which is more on me than the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Body horror, Cannibalism, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, and Stalking
Moderate: Gun violence
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