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gogglor's review against another edition
4.0
This was a fun and dark adventure. It was twisty enough to keep me engaged, and I liked the characters.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Body horror
professor_dinosaur's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-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
2.5
I enjoyed myself, which I think is the single most important element of a book like this. It has a heart, and I think fans of Scooby-Doo who can stomach a lot of cheese will enjoy themselves too.
The biggest nick to my enjoyment was the stiffness of the characters. Though distinct and fun, they struggle to feel round in the way the narrative seems to ask of them, more “caricature” than “character.” I think the source material does a lot of leg work for this book. Without having the background knowledge of the Scooby-Doo cast, much of the characterization is fairly flat (ex. the term “jock” had considerable economy). Many of the interpersonal conflict feels stilted as a result, subservient to the action-plot. The prose can be very clever at times, and then too clever, almost like a charming but metaphor-bloated college essay. Action scenes got increasingly hard to follow, not impossible to understand but maybe too nitty-gritty-detail-heavy.
I know it’s a toss-up, but I found the switch between prose and the “play” style nice. I can see its utility - what would the author really do in between these snappy scenes anyways, write dialogue tags? When it came to the more self-aware parts of this fourth-wall-flirtation, I was skeptical. Especially references to “the camera” and whatnot. Really just felt out of place - there’s no cameras in Scooby-Doo.
Maybe I wasn’t the target demographic, but I felt the Big Bad was trite. The book can’t help this, if you are going to write “Children’s Property Meets Lovecraft,” you need Lovecraft there. It’s difficult to make that fresh, I respect that. The accomplice to the Big Bad, now she was fun (albeit again corny, but who really minds a corny villain?). She did a lot for the story, but she’s not in the story much. Oh, and “le epic twist” regarding her is not very rewarding. In fact, most of the “le epic twists” aren’t. A reader has scant opportunity to suspect that we were even meant to be looking for a deception. Y’know, like clues… like in Scooby-Doo. I found myself saying things more like “okay, sure, that’s plausible” than the much better “ah, I should’ve known!” Is this meant to be in the fashion of actual Scooby-Doo villains? Maybe. That’s where I give those elements a little leniency.
The whole “Scooby-Doo for adults” pitch was dicey with me the second Andy kicked those guys in the nuts. I never felt like the book treated its more serious “adult” themes with disrespect, but there were times (ex. Arkham Asylum, just about anything involving Peter) where the cartoon-ifying of adult (and traumatic) experiences gave me tonal vertigo. Maybe I can compare it to an Adult Swim program. This is where the prose did the book a disservice. It’s a difficult tightrope to walk, when you put “edgy” (read: adult) material into an otherwise playful book it can be hard not to fall back on “edgy” (read: angsty) prose. I think this issue is a symptom of the quirky prose and overwhelming identity of the book (Scooby-Doo x Lovecraft, you won’t forget this for a single page), and not one that spoiled the book for me. For the record, the scene where Andy kicked those guys in the nuts felt sort of like a Reddit comment, if that makes sense. I feel like Andy uses Reddit. That’s all.
The biggest nick to my enjoyment was the stiffness of the characters. Though distinct and fun, they struggle to feel round in the way the narrative seems to ask of them, more “caricature” than “character.” I think the source material does a lot of leg work for this book. Without having the background knowledge of the Scooby-Doo cast, much of the characterization is fairly flat (ex. the term “jock” had considerable economy). Many of the interpersonal conflict feels stilted as a result, subservient to the action-plot. The prose can be very clever at times, and then too clever, almost like a charming but metaphor-bloated college essay. Action scenes got increasingly hard to follow, not impossible to understand but maybe too nitty-gritty-detail-heavy.
I know it’s a toss-up, but I found the switch between prose and the “play” style nice. I can see its utility - what would the author really do in between these snappy scenes anyways, write dialogue tags? When it came to the more self-aware parts of this fourth-wall-flirtation, I was skeptical. Especially references to “the camera” and whatnot. Really just felt out of place - there’s no cameras in Scooby-Doo.
The whole “Scooby-Doo for adults” pitch was dicey with me the second Andy kicked those guys in the nuts. I never felt like the book treated its more serious “adult” themes with disrespect, but there were times (ex. Arkham Asylum, just about anything involving Peter) where the cartoon-ifying of adult (and traumatic) experiences gave me tonal vertigo. Maybe I can compare it to an Adult Swim program. This is where the prose did the book a disservice. It’s a difficult tightrope to walk, when you put “edgy” (read: adult) material into an otherwise playful book it can be hard not to fall back on “edgy” (read: angsty) prose. I think this issue is a symptom of the quirky prose and overwhelming identity of the book (Scooby-Doo x Lovecraft, you won’t forget this for a single page), and not one that spoiled the book for me. For the record, the scene where Andy kicked those guys in the nuts felt sort of like a Reddit comment, if that makes sense.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Gun violence, Racism, Suicide, Kidnapping, and Murder
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Transphobia, and Classism
_readerfromtheblacklagoon_'s review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
dfrancis's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
3.0
I enjoyed the book. I sped through it and read it in two days, It was a bit confusing at times, but still fun. I feel like the characters were kind of one-dimensional. I saw someone else’s review that said they could tell when reading that the lesbian romance was written by a man and that rings true to me. The romantic storyline felt childish and incomplete. There seems to be some transphobia here, mainly (that I noticed), in the beginning there is repeated mention of a “hermaphrodite” that is totally random. It is kind of alluded to that Andy is trans but at other times it seems clear that she is simply a lesbian, her characterization around those issues felt not completely fleshed out. Not the best, but a fun little ride.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, and Mental illness
Moderate: Transphobia and Alcohol
hauntedboi's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Confinement, Cursing, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Car accident, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Panic attacks/disorders
wrestleacademic's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-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? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Blood
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Torture
Animal death happens off page/mentionedmarykendrick666_'s review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Mental illness, Transphobia, and Violence
Moderate: Ableism, Body horror, Cursing, Homophobia, Suicide, Blood, and Toxic friendship
mikc's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.5
The way it was written felt very odd and disjointed. Sometimes it was written like a play, sometimes like a tv show, and sometimes like a normal book. In addition, it changes points of view. Normally, I’m fine with this but sometimes the change happened in the middle of the chapter making difficult at times to track what exactly is going on.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror and Blood
bookbrig's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.25
It took me awhile to get through this, and it wasn't quite what I expected, but by the end I was fully drawn in and would actually consider revisiting it. It's full of meta, with all sorts of moments that pay homage to other media, which can get distracting. But it's also an adventure story (sort of) with a very personable dog, friends confused by the past and the present, and lots of bizarre danger. It might be a good fit if you're a Stranger Things fan, I think.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror
gbrl's review
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Violence, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Transphobia and Lesbophobia