Reviews with content warning for Abortion - The Chalk Man

There was a lot going on with both time lines in this book and there was never a time where everything didn’t overlap. It all came together at some point and CJ Tudor didn’t write anything for no reason.

The only reason I have to take a star away is because there was actually a graphic sexual assault scene on page 67 that I did not think was necessary and I feel like a lot of horror books do things like this for shock value & I am not a fan really.

Everything else about the book was great. Lots of twists and turns throughout the whole book.

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lvdani's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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theknitterwithabook's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

To assume is to make an ass out of "u" and "me".

The novel travels back and forth between 2016 and 1986. It's time for those five friends to uncover the truth.

This was my first novel from C.J. Tudor and I am hooked! This is a thriller you hurry to finish because you have so many questions. I loved that the characters were flawed and they kept "assuming" who did what and who was the killer and then it's thrown in their face they are wrong.

It keeps you second guessing everything! I love theorizing about the ending throughout my reads and I am please to say that I was wrong all along. The author made me believe and avenue right until the end. AND THE ENDING! OMG! I would never have thought that!

It just came short of 5 stars as I feel that some loose ends needed fixing and we were left without answers. But overall, this was a great story! I gasped at some memories of the main character, I flipped through the pages faster than ever and couldn't put the book down.

Spoiler

If you've read the book, please tell me I'm not the only one who thought Eddie was sleep walking and might have killed Elisa during one of those episode. Even after Chloe left, when he wanders in the woods and awake in his bed with his pajamas full of dirt, I was convinced he had sleep walked and killed Chloe. Anyway! I'm glad it wasn't the case. But the head he kept in the end! Gross!! It's made clear that he steals rubbish from everyone, but a head!!! That was too far for me! hahaha!

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glut's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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ripxw's review against another edition

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dark emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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anonkat_6's review against another edition

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medium-paced

3.75

I had high hopes for this and in the end it kinda let me down if I'm honest.
It wasn't bad per say, just slow at some points and I always expected more but never got it. Overall though I do understand why people like it and it is worth a read.

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beckyyreadss's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Thank you, Michael Joseph Penguin Publishing, for sending this book in a welcome pack in exchange for an honest review.

In 1986, Eddie and his friends are just kids on the verge of becoming teens. They spend their days biking around their sleepy English village and looking for any excitement they can get. The chalk men are their secret code: little chalk stick figures they leave for one another as messages only they can understand. But then a mysterious chalk man leads them right to a dismembered body of a child, and nothing is ever the same. 30 years later, Eddie is fully grown and thinks he’s put his past behind him, but then he gets a letter in the mail containing a single chalk stick figure. When it runs out that his friends got the same message, they think it could be a prank – until one of them dies. That's when Eddie realizes that saving himself means finally figuring out what really happened all those years ago.

I really enjoyed this book – it was messy and weird, but I feel like it was the writing style. It was bizarre but it worked by the end. At the beginning, my head was completely battered. I was so confused and it sort of had to go round the bend and back again but at the end I understood the plot. Eddie is a messed-up kid and really should have gone to therapy when he was younger because the actions he took as a child and an adult were weird and messed-up. Like all those children involved are messed up and desperately need therapy. It sorts of shows that everyone is always hiding something.

If you really want to read a messed-up book that will screw with your mind, this book is for you.

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