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runint0thenight's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
tuckeralmengor's review against another edition
"Don't leave the street. They can't get you if you don't leave the street.
I just... UGH... I don't know what to rate this because there were parts I hated and parts I loved so just like I did with Book of M, I am going to leave this unrated because this wasn't a one star book or a five star book and the other rating in between don't fit either because I felt very strongly about this book.
So, what's this book about?
Single mother Kate Reese is on the run. Determined to improve life for her and her son, Christopher, she flees an abusive relationship in the middle of the night with her child. Together, they find themselves drawn to the tight-knit community of Mill Grove, Pennsylvania. It's as far off the beaten track as they can get. Just one highway in, one highway out.
At first, it seems like the perfect place to finally settle down. Then Christopher vanishes. for six long days, no one can find him. Until Christopher emerges from the woods at the edge of town, unharmed but not unchanged. He returns with a voice in his head only he can hear, with a mission only he can complete: Build a treehouse in the woods by Christmas, or his mother and everyone in the town will never be the same again...
As I said earlier, there were things I loved and things I hated but for the sake of fun, let's start with a thing I hated. This book was way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy too long. For the first few hours (I listened to the audio), I was really enjoying this but then it got to a point where the same thing just kept happening over and over and over. The author definitely could have portrayed the story in a much better way in half the time.
Now, time for a positive thing. I absolutely loved Mary Katherine and her (kind of) character arc. I loved most of her scenes even though they were heartbreaking. There was one specific scene towards the end that was so raw and powerful.
That said, this book took such a strangely-religious turn which kind of worked but it felt so out of left field and very strange. Like, up until the around the 60% mark this was a horror-fantasy thriller but then it took a sharp left turn into religious allegory which was so strange and very unfitting. If the author wanted to write a religious allegory, he should have made that at least slightly clear from the beginning.
Also, I liked little plot twists and the way they got bigger. I was hooked for a while and each twist made me gasp aloud. That's the thing I love (loved?) about this book. It was truly, deeply horrifying and ensnaring from page one. It felt like a terrifying combo of Coraline and IT.
That said, after quite a few twists, it just felt ridiculous. I found myself think Of course, that happens.. why not? The author just went way too heavy on the plot twists. Also, the climax came so early and stayed for too long, if that makes sense. There was a point about 35% into the book and I was like... yes, this is the tense and suspenseful almost ending I love in books.
But it didn't stop. It just kept going. I legit felt like I was in a fever dream because it wouldn't. freaking. end. Things just kept happening. Villains were revealed. Characters were injured. It would stop! By the time it ended I literally muttered "FINALLY!" aloud.
Tl;Dr - THis book was creepy and had so many good scenes but it switches tracks midway which didn't work and it just went on for too long.
Bottom Line:
No rating
Age Rating - [ R ]
Content Screening (Mild Spoilers)
Positive Messages (3/5) - [Sacrafice for the greater good, Trust, Friendship]
Violence (5/5) - [Horror throughout, Body horror, Injury, Guns, Death]
Sex (2/5) - [Rape, Sexual abuse]
Language (3/5) - [F**k, Sh*t, D*mn, C*nt, Wh*re, Sl*t]
Drinking/Drugs (3/5) - [Alcohol consumption, Abuse of painkillers, Drug abuse]
Content and Trigger Warnings - Horror, Death, Suicide, Mental Illness, Body shaming, Racism, Classism, PTSD, Anxiety, Depression, Murder, Body Horror, Sexual abuse and harassment, Loss of a loved one, Sexism, Child abuse, Rape of a minor, Dyslexia magically cured
Publication Date: October 9th, 2019
Publisher: Grand Central Pub (an imprint of Hachette Book Group)
Genre: Horror/Fantasy
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what in hecking heckity heck did I just read?
Review and rating to come
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I’m already a good chunk into this and holy shirtballs... it is terrifying
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sarahrobins11's review against another edition
Just too lot and started getting repetitive
banjopatti's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
explodingalice's review against another edition
3.0
This book started off SO STRONG. Genuinely creepy and compelling, even despite some Stephen King derivative characterization and plot points. I couldn’t stop flipping the pages. I saw the twist coming, but that was ok because it was well done. But towards the middle-to-end it became repetitive, then schmaltzy, then preachy, and came complete with a DUN-DUN-DUN shock ending. Ultimately a letdown.
simcha13's review
3.0
This book was a good premise, but ultimately was too long. I love a long book where I can really be immersed in the story, but this one just felt like it dragged. By the time we get to the twist, I was ready for it to be over and just sighed that there was still more to go.
kayyy4106's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
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? Yes
3.5
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.sarahoo's review against another edition
3.0
Can definitely feel it as a love letter to Stephen King. Child on a coming of age quest with a band of brothers, fighting against forces of evil. Pretty engaging, but 2/3 the way through the book begins to drag with excess action, which I guess stands in for character development--i don't know. The book needs a stronger editor. 2/3 of the final third could go, and it would be a much better book. Worth reading, but I definitely began speed skimming to get to the end.