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monkeyspams's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
0.5
Welp. I finished this disaster by skimming nearly all of the last 50% of the book. I couldn't stand the writing any longer (I kept stopping to rage about how stupid it is) and only paid attention to the dialogue. Everything else got a quick skim (sometimes a skip). Cutting out most of the narrative allowed me to actually get through it without missing anything important or raging every time Shine insulted my intelligence. This is a bloated mess.
Why do people, three separate times in short succession, wander into the woods? There's no cleared path in there. The road to civilization leads the OTHER way. It made zero sense. If it wasn't for bookclub, I would have quit at the prologue which included the codependent and misogynistic stylings of the late, great John!
It was immediately predictable that Madeline is a fairy, changeling, whosit-whatsit.
Mina's POV is indistiguishable from the author at many points in this book. She "knows" what everyone else thinks and feels. Shine cuts tension often by prefacing different milestones with such gems as, at page 78, "...and there was a peace amongst them for what would be the last time." I always look forward to the "telling" aspect of a narrative when the author stops pretending they're writing as other people and tells me what's going on point blank. It's the tits, so I appreciate that I can feel Shine's presence and voice shining through (heh heh) Mina most of the time.
Things are repeated multiple times a page and so often throughout the book I worry Shine has some memory issues and assumes the rest of us do as well.
A simple, "Yes," is too pedestrian for Shine. This happens instead: "'Did you light the fire?' she asked, to which Madeline replied that she had, succinctly, and without embellishment, as was to be expected."
The bird is a golden conure, repeated ad nauseum for the first couple chapters and then forever known as "the yellow one" or "the golden one". The bird has no significance in this story. It exists. It chirps a few times to give the reader an extra push to realize well before the narrative reveal that Mads is a murder monster (in case Mina's constant reference to her similarities with the night time creepy crawlies isn't doing it for you). The nameless bird is then forgotten for a significant chunk of story.
There's no relationship building by the way. Madeline is an abusive jerk the entire time, Daniel and Ciara are the abuse victims, and Mina is the author's mouthpiece. It is suddenly stated, without narrative backing, that Mina thinks of everyone as family even though her inner monologue often disparages them and echoes Madeline's abusive rhetoric.
There's a jump cut to a month later while they're trapped in the woods. For what reason? I do not know!
Oh, Ciara is fat. And lazy. Shine didn't want me to forget, so you can't either!
I am angry about Daniel. He was the ONLY useful person.
Finally, I am so glad that the last chapter ends on a cliffhanger. Mina isn't just a Final Girl. She's so special every woodland monster who left home in search of assimilation with regular society wants all up in her grill. Nothing in this book explains or even hints at why this might be the case. I love when an author pulls a bait and switch to sell me more garbage.
I genuinely wonder if Shine wrote a script and then tried a sneaky "rewrite" by padding it full of similies and unnecessary bullshit to publish as a book. It would make the most boring movie as written, so it doesn't surprise me the actual movie is terrible.
Why do people, three separate times in short succession, wander into the woods? There's no cleared path in there. The road to civilization leads the OTHER way. It made zero sense. If it wasn't for bookclub, I would have quit at the prologue which included the codependent and misogynistic stylings of the late, great John!
It was immediately predictable that Madeline is a fairy, changeling, whosit-whatsit.
Mina's POV is indistiguishable from the author at many points in this book. She "knows" what everyone else thinks and feels. Shine cuts tension often by prefacing different milestones with such gems as, at page 78, "...and there was a peace amongst them for what would be the last time." I always look forward to the "telling" aspect of a narrative when the author stops pretending they're writing as other people and tells me what's going on point blank. It's the tits, so I appreciate that I can feel Shine's presence and voice shining through (heh heh) Mina most of the time.
Things are repeated multiple times a page and so often throughout the book I worry Shine has some memory issues and assumes the rest of us do as well.
A simple, "Yes," is too pedestrian for Shine. This happens instead: "'Did you light the fire?' she asked, to which Madeline replied that she had, succinctly, and without embellishment, as was to be expected."
The bird is a golden conure, repeated ad nauseum for the first couple chapters and then forever known as "the yellow one" or "the golden one". The bird has no significance in this story. It exists. It chirps a few times to give the reader an extra push to realize well before the narrative reveal that Mads is a murder monster (in case Mina's constant reference to her similarities with the night time creepy crawlies isn't doing it for you). The nameless bird is then forgotten for a significant chunk of story.
There's no relationship building by the way. Madeline is an abusive jerk the entire time, Daniel and Ciara are the abuse victims, and Mina is the author's mouthpiece. It is suddenly stated, without narrative backing, that Mina thinks of everyone as family even though her inner monologue often disparages them and echoes Madeline's abusive rhetoric.
There's a jump cut to a month later while they're trapped in the woods. For what reason? I do not know!
Oh, Ciara is fat. And lazy. Shine didn't want me to forget, so you can't either!
I am angry about Daniel. He was the ONLY useful person.
Finally, I am so glad that the last chapter ends on a cliffhanger. Mina isn't just a Final Girl. She's so special every woodland monster who left home in search of assimilation with regular society wants all up in her grill. Nothing in this book explains or even hints at why this might be the case. I love when an author pulls a bait and switch to sell me more garbage.
I genuinely wonder if Shine wrote a script and then tried a sneaky "rewrite" by padding it full of similies and unnecessary bullshit to publish as a book. It would make the most boring movie as written, so it doesn't surprise me the actual movie is terrible.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Alcoholism
grunbean's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This is a book where I wish I’d read it before seeing the film, but I still enjoyed it. The original story is better, and I was still able to enjoy the twists.
A solid entry in the horror genre. I found the folklore interesting. I wish it was explored a bit more, actually! Though there is a second book, so this could be intentional.
It is slow in paces. As the locations are limited it feels like you’re boxed in at times. However, I think avoiding this would be hard to do with the story that is being told here.
All in all, a good read that had me eager to turn the pages.
A solid entry in the horror genre. I found the folklore interesting. I wish it was explored a bit more, actually! Though there is a second book, so this could be intentional.
It is slow in paces. As the locations are limited it feels like you’re boxed in at times. However, I think avoiding this would be hard to do with the story that is being told here.
All in all, a good read that had me eager to turn the pages.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Violence, Blood, and Stalking
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, and Alcohol
Minor: Cancer
cosmicpanda's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Child abuse
midnightrose_reads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, and Death
Moderate: Violence, Stalking, and Alcohol
Minor: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, and Vomit
xx_coco's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement and Stalking
Minor: Alcoholism, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Violence, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Alcohol