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blewballoon's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Excellent! Spooky teen corn maze book! The power of friendship! Wow, I really enjoyed this. The audiobook narrator does seem to over-enunciate the dialogue and their range of voices was limited, but I was still quite immersed in the story. It was tense, mysterious, spooky, and funny in a balanced way. I appreciated the way it approached subjects like toxic relationships, neurodiversity, and fat phobia. The best part of the book for me was the pure friendship between Sadie and Logan.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, and Murder
Minor: Biphobia, Fatphobia, and Misogyny
harpyhellion's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Abandonment
Moderate: Murder
ghouligann's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- 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
4.0
RATING:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4.0 / 5.0
REVIEW:
The book, besides being full of creepy corn monsters, deals with a lot of heavy subjects. The toxicity of various relationships that most people, unfortunately, have to go through. The pain of not being able to fully move on from those past traumas. As well as the societal struggles of being overweight, which is something most books don’t shine any light on.
I went into this expecting just a simple horror story and got hit by serious emotions. Sadie and Logan’s friendship was so sweet. This is the first book I’ve ever read by Sarah Hollowell and I would love to read more of her work.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Body horror, Body shaming, and Fatphobia
shaunashares's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Fatphobia
rorikae's review
challenging
dark
emotional
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
5.0
'What Stalks Among Us' by Sarah Hollowell is an exceptional, creepy story about two teenagers trapped in a corn maze.
Sadie and Logan skip out on their class trip to the amusement park and decide to drive through the countryside instead. When they find a corn maze, they decide to check it out. But the corn maze appears far bigger than it looked from the outside and then corpses begin showing up, corpses that look a lot like them. What is truly going on in this corn maze and will they ever be able to get out?
Hollowell has crafted a near perfect book that delves into a myriad of topics through a horror-filled corn maze. Sadie and Logan are easy to sympathize with as we slowly come to know them through their interactions with and reactions to what they find in the maze. Hollowell creates an underlying simmer of tension and mystery that carries the story through each twist and turn. As we learn more about the maze and our protagonists, the tension continues to increase. Without spoiling anything, Hollowell discusses some difficult subjects through the maze in a thoughtful and fascinating way. The audiobook narration was great and I highly recommend that experience. If you are looking for a creepy YA novel that delves into friendship, abuse, and creating your own future, then please pick up 'What Stalks Among Us.'
Sadie and Logan skip out on their class trip to the amusement park and decide to drive through the countryside instead. When they find a corn maze, they decide to check it out. But the corn maze appears far bigger than it looked from the outside and then corpses begin showing up, corpses that look a lot like them. What is truly going on in this corn maze and will they ever be able to get out?
Hollowell has crafted a near perfect book that delves into a myriad of topics through a horror-filled corn maze. Sadie and Logan are easy to sympathize with as we slowly come to know them through their interactions with and reactions to what they find in the maze. Hollowell creates an underlying simmer of tension and mystery that carries the story through each twist and turn. As we learn more about the maze and our protagonists, the tension continues to increase. Without spoiling anything, Hollowell discusses some difficult subjects through the maze in a thoughtful and fascinating way. The audiobook narration was great and I highly recommend that experience. If you are looking for a creepy YA novel that delves into friendship, abuse, and creating your own future, then please pick up 'What Stalks Among Us.'
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Misogyny
Minor: Miscarriage
sshabein's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-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
5.0
Absolutely LOVED this. I'm not a regular reader of YA — not for any snobby reasons; it's just not where my attention usually takes me — but I'd read and enjoyed Sarah Hollowell's previous book (A Dark And Starless Forest), so I knew I was in for a good time. Well... a tense time!
And WOW does Hollowell keep up the tension! Two high school seniors encounter a mysterious corn maze in springtime Indiana and soon find themselves trapped, unsure of the new rules for their environment, and also... is that a dead body that looks just like one of them? What a beginning!
The story also deals with the lingering effects of emotional abuse and other toxic relationships in a way that intertwines with their current circumstances, but never feels predictable or cliché. I genuinely did not know how the story would shake out until the main characters did. I also very much appreciated that the main characters are just friends. No shoehorned romance here! There's too much to deal with!
If you enjoy psychological horror with characters who feel very true to life, do pick this up.
And WOW does Hollowell keep up the tension! Two high school seniors encounter a mysterious corn maze in springtime Indiana and soon find themselves trapped, unsure of the new rules for their environment, and also... is that a dead body that looks just like one of them? What a beginning!
The story also deals with the lingering effects of emotional abuse and other toxic relationships in a way that intertwines with their current circumstances, but never feels predictable or cliché. I genuinely did not know how the story would shake out until the main characters did. I also very much appreciated that the main characters are just friends. No shoehorned romance here! There's too much to deal with!
If you enjoy psychological horror with characters who feel very true to life, do pick this up.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Blood
Moderate: Gun violence
pearlc's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This was so good. Sadie and Logan skip their senior trip and go driving in the rural back roads of Indiana instead. Where they find a mysterious, and out of season, corn maze. Upon entering they find evidence that this is not the first time they've gone into the maze and now they have to figure out a way out before they're trapped there forever.
This was such a compelling read. Once things got moving in the maze I could not put it down. I wanted to know what would happen next, what would Sadie and Logan try this time, could they figure out the secrets to the maze. The nature of the maze itself made for a very time twisty story. Where things didn't just loop occasionally, but sometimes Sadie and Logan would run across evidence of things that hadn't happened to them yet. The only way out is through and the only way through is the mortifying ordeal of being known and confronting your trauma. This is a story about friendship, forgiving yourself, and learning to move on, but also horrible corn monsters and a maze that tries to eat you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, and Self harm
Minor: Biphobia
Everything is presented as a negative. POV Protagonist has bad self image due to her weight, but this isn't dwelt on overly. It is mentioned multiple times though.sierrabowers's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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
4.0
This was a very cool but also very confusing read. It was like Maze Runner met Children of the Corn. If you like fantasy, thrillers, and time traveling, this could be the book for you! It also includes LGBTQ+ characters but that isn’t their entire personality which I think is nice.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail
ezwolf's review
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
This is 10/10 fat girl rep, I have hardly ever felt as seen as a fat person as I have when reading this book. And I will now immediately go read this author's other books.
It was surprisingly funny! One moment it's creepy as all get out and then I'm laughing at a Supernatural joke. Which is another thing that was surprising, usually I find pop culture references annoying and unnecessary, but that wasn't the case with this book.
The only reason this doesn't get five stars from me is because it kind of dragged a bit at the end, but everything else was fantastic!
Also the title's play on words is hilarious!
It was surprisingly funny! One moment it's creepy as all get out and then I'm laughing at a Supernatural joke. Which is another thing that was surprising, usually I find pop culture references annoying and unnecessary, but that wasn't the case with this book.
The only reason this doesn't get five stars from me is because it kind of dragged a bit at the end, but everything else was fantastic!
Also the title's play on words is hilarious!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Biphobia, Cursing, Misogyny, Self harm, and Dysphoria
Minor: Animal death, Body shaming, Infidelity, and Car accident
squishy_bee's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Emotional abuse