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stephanieluxton's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I've read a good handful of Nevill's books and short stories now and I have come to a theory that he writes two distinct types of stories - ones in which there are horrifiying humanoid entities that will scare the crap out of you, and ones where the antagonists are real people who will dehumanize you and disrespect your boundaries to the point of utter despair and hopelessness. An example of the first option is Last Days and an example of the second option is Yellow Teeth. I love the stories about the spooks and I don't enjoy the stories about the real people who treat the MC poorly and ruin their lives.
No One Gets Out Alive is a bit of both but it leans more heavily to the latter type of story and while it was written well, I found myself not enjoying it. I felt physically ill at the hopelessness of our MC's situation. I was expecting a haunted house story, not an evil landlord story.
This book is about Stephanie, a young woman who's down on her luck. Her parents have both passed away, she has gone through a recent breakup, and she's out on her own trying to gain independence in a city where jobs pay very little and are hard to come by. She doesn't want to return home to her abusive stepmother. She moves into a room in an old house because rent is cheap then quickly realizes she doesn't want to be there - there's unsettling noises in the night, the other tenants are evasive, and her landlord is a conceited asshole on a power trip. Stephanie isn't a bad person and she's trying to navigate through her problems as logically as possible.
The villains are incredibly well written - they're menacing and I love how Nevill really gives them a voice. I love how he writes using their accents. All the descriptions of the house were vivid. You feel like you're there. You can smell the filth and hear the sounds. It's an immersive experience.
This book is similar to The Ritual in that halfway through in what feels like the climax of the story, it takes a turn and the pacing and overall story totally change. While there were certain aspects of the latter part of the story that felt quite spooky, I wish it didn't happen the way it does. The tonal shift brought the pace to a screetching halt and it was such a long book that I wanted it to be over at that point.
Idk if I am allowed to complain about this, but my main beef with this book comes from what it's actually about once all is revealed.
The second half of the book deals a bit more with the paranormal. Here's a basic, general spoiler of what the paranormal aspect is all about:
Now to spoil how the story shifts in the second half:
This books felt like two totally separate stories squished together and I didn't love that. I would have preferred if it focused more on the haunted house aspect and less on the other stuff. I must say that I had a hard time putting the book down some nights because things got so bad for our MC that I literally needed to keep reading until things improved a bit otherwise I wouldn't have been able to sleep.
Did I enjoy the book? No. Is it a horrible book? Also no. I think you just need to be in the right mindset for it. I wasn't prepared for a novel so bleak when I picked it up.
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Trafficking, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Rape and Death of parent
Minor: Domestic abuse
orizenda's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.5
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Vomit, Trafficking, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
uggy90's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Violence, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Grief, and Death of parent
readwithbells's review against another edition
2.0
There’s also a particular line that really rubbed me the wrong way where Stephanie feels herself getting turned on listening to these other girls, like really??
Stephanie starts off as a person with agency but by the end of the story, her own thoughts are on repeat just like the ghosts and it’s exhausting. The entire second part of the book was superfluous and ultimately pretty boring. This is a story I was wary of a man writing, and while I can acknowledge the research that went into this, I would much rather have read a perspective that didn’t turn our main character into a screaming mess reminiscent of pulpy horror for over half the book.
Look it did scare me. And absolutely bummed me out. But this book would have been a lot better had we cut the last two hundred pages. If I had stopped reading right before part 2, I genuinely think I would have been satisfied with a 4ish star for the book.
Update: upon considering for a few days, the resolution and the removal of responsibility from the human monsters makes this book unrecommendable to me. It scared me, but the scares aren’t worth the rest. Reduced from 2.75 to 2 stars.
Graphic: Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Trafficking, and Injury/Injury detail
franticfreya's review against another edition
2.25
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Kidnapping, Grief, and Death of parent
archaicrobin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Stephanie is down on her luck, struggling to get by with little available work and very little help. She finds a cheap room being rented out on an old house close to her temp work and jumps on the opportunity only to quickly realize maybe it was too good to be true when her sleazy landlords start to intimidate her. Along with real life dangers are the dangers she’s been encountering at night, ghostly voices, phantom hands, crying women, and horrific scents. This haunted house story has everything from serial killers to demonic deities and I could not put it down!
The only reason I gave this 4 stars instead of 5 is that I feel it was a little too long and some parts could have been shortened. For example, there are a lot of chapters where Amber is strategizing in her head what to do and how to get out of her financial situation. While I understand the need for this, I don’t think the reader needed to have this experience EVERY chapter. Also, the end felt very dragged out to me and was the hardest part to get through. If these things had been trimmed down I probably would have given it the full 5 stars.
Also, big content warning for this one!! There is rape, sexual assault, forced prostitution, gore, murder, and violence. Reading the summary on the back you would have no idea how deep this book goes into sexual assault and I feel like if that’s something you’re not comfortable with don’t pick this one up because it’s a huge part of the horror in this novel.
I can’t wait to read more by Adam Neville!
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Kidnapping, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail