Reviews with content warning for Gore - The Loop

2.5 stars I think. I just felt so emotionally distant from this the whole time.

This should be a plot line I would love. It deals with the excesses of a tech corporation that reminded me of Bad Blood in an interesting way. However, I just could not get into the plot of this and I just didn't really feel for the characters. There is a mixed media element to this (sort of; there's only three instances of it) and I really wanted more of that. When they do show up, they feel like a sort of out-of-voice way of info-dumping what was happening. I don't think this is a terrible way of making sure readers are up to speed but I just wanted more of them so it would feel more integrated into the plot rather than just showing up with important plot info and then disappearing.

I thought that Lucy as a character was interesting but ultimately I never felt connected to her plight. The action of this book kicks off very quickly. When I'm reading horror, I want a bit of time to get to know the characters and feel tension start to build before the bad guy is revealed. Not every horror has to be like that but it's what I prefer and I didn't get any of that here. Because of that, I didn't feel anything when the characters were in danger, which really diminished the horror for me. This book falls more on the body horror side of things but even that wasn't that frightening to me and I usually hate reading about gore. I just wanted a greater scare factor from this.

Ultimately, I think this is fine. The writing is fine and the plot is fine. I just didn't connect with it, which left me a bit bored while reading.

Content Warnings

keen's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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? Yes

5.0

I probably shouldn't write a review so soon after reading this book. I'm high from emotions, but honestly, that's the motivation I need to write.

There's so much to compliment about this book. Lucy was a deeply relatable character to me during the whole journey. The feeling of being excluded because of your race, the way childhood trauma messes you up in ways no one can understand, your childhood being taken away by horrible event after horrible event, heartbreak, I could go on.

This is a rough book. It's not lighthearted at all. The jokes that keep everything from being depressingly bleak comes in the form of self-deprecating humor and dark comedy. There is body horror, mostly of humans, and psychological horror. Every page had me hoping things would get better, and time and time again I was reminded of the terrible situation the characters were put in. Don't go into this story unless you're ready for a tense, heartbreaking adventure.

And this tense, heartbreaking adventure was a fun ride to go on. I practically had my face pressed against my screen. By the end, I was nearly teary-eyed.

Content Warnings