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minimicropup's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-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? It's complicated
4.0
Adventurous, curious, reflective.
We follow several families with POVs from kids, teens, and adults around the neighbourhood over the course of Halloween night in 1984.
πΊπΈ Set in Coventry, Massachussetts, USA
π Halloween night setting - big parties, small hang outs, trick-or-treating!
π§ Narration was good - sometimes the voices of smaller kids was a bit silly sounding but didn't knock me out of the story.
πΊπGrowls, Howls, and Tail Wags:
π€« I had audio only and would say this is def a pay-attention story on audio. The third person omniscient narration is deep in different character's minds and we switch POVs as needed. I loved it, it was done well and worked for the story without being repetitive or confusing, but if I got distracted for a second or two I'd be slightly lost for a bit if we had switched characters or setting.
π«£ Lots of suburban scandals and drama, but it isn't OTT or soap opera, campy style. Pretty realistic family and relationship dynamics.
π There are a lot of characters and families, and when audio only, that can be hard to follow. For me it was excellent because we get a show-not-tell style introduction to each of them and we spend more time with them at the beginning of the book before the action starts up so we can rapidly switch between them later without being lost. It probably also helps that I cared about (or was at least curious about) what happened to all of them.
π«£ Lots of suburban scandals and drama, but it isn't OTT or soap opera, campy style. Pretty realistic family and relationship dynamics.
π There are a lot of characters and families, and when audio only, that can be hard to follow. For me it was excellent because we get a show-not-tell style introduction to each of them and we spend more time with them at the beginning of the book before the action starts up so we can rapidly switch between them later without being lost. It probably also helps that I cared about (or was at least curious about) what happened to all of them.
π€ There are quite a few action-fight-survival type scenes. I find I lose interest in that type of scene mainly because it's hard for me to imagine a fight scene happening quickly when I'm reading it so everything is sort of slow-mo in my imagination. I still enjoyed the overall plot, and if you like action-fight-escapes vs monsters then this could be a huge perk! The story starts off gradually layering the creepy, dark vibes and then proceeds to the faster paced wildness.
π€ Speaking of which, those fight and escape scenes are "if these monsters existed, this is how it would go down" realistic. So...don't get too attached....there are some surprisingly sad scenes.
Mood Reading Match Up:
- Cozy, '80s, fall Halloween trick-or-treat, home-made haunted woods, and block party horrors
- Creepy kids, stay-out-of-the-woods creature feature with action survival suspense
- Suburban behind-closed-doors drama
- Heartwarming and heartbreaking BFF coming-of-age stories
Content Heads-Up: Physical abuse (relationship). Alcohol (enabling, addiction). Infidelity (discovery, separation/divorce). LGBTQ coming-of-age rep (good to excellent; vocally supportive family and friends). Homophobic characters (outing, shaming, verbal and emotional abuse). Kidnapping (insinuated). Child abuse (insinuated).
Format: Scribd Audio
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Outing, and Alcohol
bloomandgloom's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
I had such high hopes for this book. It gave me the closest vibe of the Trick r' Treat movie and I appreciate it. The different stories and paths weaving together was a great way to tell a Halloween story. That's really the best part of this book. There isn't any horror to this story, at all. It's set in the 1980s in mid east Massachusetts. I appreciated the landmark references since I know the area and understand the forest behind the house vibes it was going for.
I didn't care about any of the characters in this story, no one had enough development to make me root for them. The Cunning Man was not scary or interesting since we know nothing about him. The book would have seemed much better if there had been a local legend or a story people told young children to scare them but no one believes it. It could have done with some references of missing children on Halloween in different locations across the country or world. Overall, it just needed a little more mystery and lore to make it more believable. A family member also could have known someone that went missing to tie it together.
I am not an author so I'm not going to pretend like it would have been easy or quick to add all of that in.
Sadly, this was disappointing and not something I'd recommend as a Halloween read. I wouldn't even recommend it to someone younger because they might find it scary since there are a lot of adult topics discussed.
I didn't care about any of the characters in this story, no one had enough development to make me root for them. The Cunning Man was not scary or interesting since we know nothing about him. The book would have seemed much better if there had been a local legend or a story people told young children to scare them but no one believes it. It could have done with some references of missing children on Halloween in different locations across the country or world. Overall, it just needed a little more mystery and lore to make it more believable. A family member also could have known someone that went missing to tie it together.
I am not an author so I'm not going to pretend like it would have been easy or quick to add all of that in.
Sadly, this was disappointing and not something I'd recommend as a Halloween read. I wouldn't even recommend it to someone younger because they might find it scary since there are a lot of adult topics discussed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Outing, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
zakura317's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
medium-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? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Grief, Outing, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Racism
voilajean's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, and Outing
Moderate: Racism, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, and Grief
Minor: Pedophilia
amandaakerman's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Outing, and Injury/Injury detail