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alixlowe's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-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
4.0
I read enjoyed this book, but feel it definitely could have been cut down. 24 hours?? I also was a bit surprised by the pro Christian messaging very apparent in the end, as I thought the beginning half really pointed out some of the dangers with much of the Christian messaging in modern churches.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Murder
bugferbrains's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-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
I think one of the best feelings in the world is getting to the end of a book, putting it back on the shelf, and being able to say to yourself, “I finished that one”. It feels like earning a paycheck. Longer books can be difficult for me to get through for this reason, and sometimes I’ll pause what I’m reading to get through something shorter, just to give myself that little zing of accomplishment. However, Imaginary Friend roped me in so much that I sat through all 706 pages without touching anything else.
I’m seeing a lot of more negative reviews, and I totally understand why. This thing is LONG. It’s repetitive, but for me it wasn’t unbearably so. It helped keep things cohesive and there was enough variation in the repeating themes and visual imagery to keep things interesting while not becoming boring. I kept asking myself, “what is the metaphor or story connection behind this thing?”, which helped to keep my attention, and it made every small detail feel incredibly important and deliberate. It’s also got heavy Christian/religious themes, which I understand, too, that that can be jarring and upsetting when there’s not a single thing in its synopsis that points towards that. If you picked it up because you thought it would be a neat ghost story, or something else classically paranormal, it would totally throw you off. I’m lucky in the fact that I happen to be a spiritual person and wasn’t stuck on wanting to read a spooky, paranormal book at the time I started it, so while I was hoping for a ghost story, I was pleasantly surprised to read about faith struggles (which I’m always a sucker for, no matter how the struggle ends) and commentary on Christianity, both its ugly and beautiful side. It hit me really hard because of it.
It happened to fall into my lap at the right time of my life, echoing some of my own thoughts and feelings about Christianity, its followers, and how we should live and treat others, while also sharing some new ideas with me. At its core, it’s a story about love, hope, and the idea that no one is too far gone from being saved (I don’t mean that religiously). That there is potential for good in everyone, no matter how far it’s been squashed down, that can rise with compassion and the right conditions. I know not every follower believes this, but it resonates deeply with me.
I could go on and on about how deeply I fell in love with the characters, how incredible a relationship the main mother and son have, how much I wish I could hug Mary Katherine, how much I really enjoyed the big twist, the way the writing shifts in style for each character….. Ugh, chef’s kiss. I was worried after the last two reads I had that I’d be on a crappy book streak, but this one was like a breath of fresh air. I’m not usually interested in coming of age stories, but if this is how Stephen Chbosky normally writes I might have to give Perks of Being a Wallflower a chance. Wonderful work!
I’m seeing a lot of more negative reviews, and I totally understand why. This thing is LONG. It’s repetitive, but for me it wasn’t unbearably so. It helped keep things cohesive and there was enough variation in the repeating themes and visual imagery to keep things interesting while not becoming boring. I kept asking myself, “what is the metaphor or story connection behind this thing?”, which helped to keep my attention, and it made every small detail feel incredibly important and deliberate. It’s also got heavy Christian/religious themes, which I understand, too, that that can be jarring and upsetting when there’s not a single thing in its synopsis that points towards that. If you picked it up because you thought it would be a neat ghost story, or something else classically paranormal, it would totally throw you off. I’m lucky in the fact that I happen to be a spiritual person and wasn’t stuck on wanting to read a spooky, paranormal book at the time I started it, so while I was hoping for a ghost story, I was pleasantly surprised to read about faith struggles (which I’m always a sucker for, no matter how the struggle ends) and commentary on Christianity, both its ugly and beautiful side. It hit me really hard because of it.
It happened to fall into my lap at the right time of my life, echoing some of my own thoughts and feelings about Christianity, its followers, and how we should live and treat others, while also sharing some new ideas with me. At its core, it’s a story about love, hope, and the idea that no one is too far gone from being saved (I don’t mean that religiously). That there is potential for good in everyone, no matter how far it’s been squashed down, that can rise with compassion and the right conditions. I know not every follower believes this, but it resonates deeply with me.
I could go on and on about how deeply I fell in love with the characters, how incredible a relationship the main mother and son have, how much I wish I could hug Mary Katherine, how much I really enjoyed the big twist, the way the writing shifts in style for each character….. Ugh, chef’s kiss. I was worried after the last two reads I had that I’d be on a crappy book streak, but this one was like a breath of fresh air. I’m not usually interested in coming of age stories, but if this is how Stephen Chbosky normally writes I might have to give Perks of Being a Wallflower a chance. Wonderful work!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Car accident, and Murder
Moderate: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Suicide, Dementia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Infertility, Torture, Islamophobia, and Pregnancy
snazzy_suze's review
adventurous
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- 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
The first 200 pages or so were an excellent setup - a group of kids have to save a small town from unknowable evil. The tension was delicious and perfectly delivered and I was stoked to have 500 more pages to enjoy.
Unfortunately for me, the book strayed pretty far from this setup. This is a fantasy horror novel that takes place within Christian mythology. I have enjoyed stories that take place within Christian mythology, but this one just didn't work for me. The narrative felt preachy and it went around in circles with lore all to give a pretty simple message in the end.
The tension stayed so high for the whole book that it had no effect on me for the majority of the novel. The repetition of certain words and images (e.g. "war", "Christmas", "Flu") was so frequent that it felt like the author didn't trust his readers to notice more subtle patterns within the text.
I really loved some of the artistic formatting within the book, like the tiny text when The Nice Man was speaking through the plastic bag and the capitalization within certain words that made them viscerally audible (e.g, sCratch). There were some unsettling moments that were fun to read, and I really did feel thrilled during the first 200 pages. I would not recommend this book to a friend, but I'm not mad that I read it.
Unfortunately for me, the book strayed pretty far from this setup. This is a fantasy horror novel that takes place within Christian mythology. I have enjoyed stories that take place within Christian mythology, but this one just didn't work for me. The narrative felt preachy and it went around in circles with lore all to give a pretty simple message in the end.
The tension stayed so high for the whole book that it had no effect on me for the majority of the novel. The repetition of certain words and images (e.g. "war", "Christmas", "Flu") was so frequent that it felt like the author didn't trust his readers to notice more subtle patterns within the text.
I really loved some of the artistic formatting within the book, like the tiny text when The Nice Man was speaking through the plastic bag and the capitalization within certain words that made them viscerally audible (e.g, sCratch). There were some unsettling moments that were fun to read, and I really did feel thrilled during the first 200 pages. I would not recommend this book to a friend, but I'm not mad that I read it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence and Violence
Moderate: Mental illness, Suicide, and Pregnancy
Minor: Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, and Torture
raichoreads's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.25
I honestly didn’t know I could hate a book this much. The first few hours of this book are pretty engaging. And then things start to get really tense with the madness in the town rising and Christopher’s growing power - and then it just doesn’t end. This book goes on for waaaaaay too long and it just made me resentful of every aspect of it. I started to get annoyed with all of the pointless self referential diction. I got annoyed anytime there was an unnecessary sentence. I started listening at 2x speed and it still wasn’t over fast enough. Get an editor.
Rapid fire content complaints: The strange religious turn this book makes is bizarre and out of place. The female characters in this book spend much too much of their time being victimized by men or feeling pre-occupied by their relationships (whereas the men in this story do not). There are way too many side characters who are never mentioned again who speak in “broken English” and who the white voice actor puts on accents for. There’s just a lot of annoying white man story writing choices here. Also the “psychosis is a death sentence” mentality so supremely frustrating and demonstrates a clear lack of understanding of mental illness and what living with psychosis is like (doesn’t make people inherently violent or suicidal - shocker)
The .25 stars here are for Mary-Catherine’s arc. And while most of the female characters do feel very written by a man, the way Kate is written feels like a little boy’s love letter to his working class mom. There’s a few good emotional nuggets in here.
It takes Christopher WAY too long to realize he’s in hell and I’m so annoyed that the hissing lady is Eve. And okay so Eve tells God she’s sorry for what she did and he says “I know. I’m sorry too.” And honestly that pissed me off because it still insinuates that Eve did anything wrong (when it felt like Mary-Catherine’s tirade suggested she didn’t??) Also the book ends with a suggestion to the second coming of Christ???? Wild choice bro.
Rapid fire content complaints: The strange religious turn this book makes is bizarre and out of place. The female characters in this book spend much too much of their time being victimized by men or feeling pre-occupied by their relationships (whereas the men in this story do not). There are way too many side characters who are never mentioned again who speak in “broken English” and who the white voice actor puts on accents for. There’s just a lot of annoying white man story writing choices here. Also the “psychosis is a death sentence” mentality so supremely frustrating and demonstrates a clear lack of understanding of mental illness and what living with psychosis is like (doesn’t make people inherently violent or suicidal - shocker)
The .25 stars here are for Mary-Catherine’s arc. And while most of the female characters do feel very written by a man, the way Kate is written feels like a little boy’s love letter to his working class mom. There’s a few good emotional nuggets in here.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Racism and Vomit
Racism is tagged cuz of the racist side characters.emma_lynne's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Rape, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Pregnancy
Minor: Eating disorder, Physical abuse, Abortion, and War
agarrett88's review
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Car accident, and War
pacccii's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
It's a magnificent and attention grabbing book! I was hooked immediately and throughout the read (even if it took me a couple of years to finish). Never a dull moment, and very nice plot twists at points.
However, towards the end it got a bit preachy, which made me give it such a low rating. I am not looking to read about "God" or find salvation when I read fiction, but that's my opinion.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Suicide, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
bookbeetlebabe's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? No
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Misogyny, and Violence
Moderate: Gun violence and Sexual assault
Minor: Rape
lraronson's review
adventurous
challenging
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
jordynjohnson's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-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
4.75
I really, really enjoyed this book. The world was so immersive, dark and thought provoking and I found myself feeling so upset for Christopher and his mother. I was so shocked with the twist that the Nice Man was actually the bad guy and the Hissing Lady was the one trying to help everyone. The themes were really confronting but it was definitely a worthwhile read. I listened to the audiobook and the narrator did a fantastic job, her performance was really moving.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Self harm, and Violence
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Sexual assault, and Suicide