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shadowspinner's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Violence, and Murder
Minor: Physical abuse
purstiltski's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Moderate: Body horror
Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, and Murder
ashthemenace's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Bullying and Gore
Minor: Alcoholism, Child abuse, and Suicide attempt
emory's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
And were I a teenager in the intended audience of this book I might have loved it. There were genuinely intense moments that carried the narrative through, and I'd be lying if I said it didn't hold my attention and intrigue, no matter what opinions I was forming as I read. I breezed through this book in a few days. It was a compelling narrative with several different original concepts (will touch on that later though..) and a well fleshed out main character.
Additionally, the inclusion of characters of color in a small town horror was refreshing (although the characterization of a black female character as crass and wild was certainly questionable), as was the inclusion of disabled characters--not only that, but
As enthralling as short stretches of this book were, my biggest issue is that the book overall seems to have no concept of suspense. I again might sound downright mean, but I've read nosleep threads with a better grasp on the pacing of a horror/thriller, and the way the narrative speeds up halfway through betrays that the author seems to have been getting just as bored as I was. It reads less like a horror and more like the least favorite installment in a middle grade fantasy series. The prose contains no subtlety; every scare is explained for pages upon pages. This is scary, look how scary this is? Did you catch the scare?
Creatures and events that would frighten more when left to the imagination are beaten out for a minimum of a full paragraph every time; the mood of each scene is painfully skipped over, casting the whole book in a feeling of "meh".
Even the deaths feel lackluster, as no character in this book talks like a human. Everybody talks like either a therapist or a 40 year old man's idea of what middle schoolers talk about at lunch. ("Welcome to the Trauma Kids club" had me physically cringing). All conflict is resolved in a matter of a page or two, because the characters tell all about their inner turmoil and excise all realistic conversation. And obviously, there are so many characters for kill count fodder, but really it just gets hard to keep them straight when only 3 or 4 are ever really saying anything.
One of the books largest strengths, the twist that
Marshall then tries this twist technique 3 more times throughout the book, the final big twist feeling hurried and unearned, and what makes it even more excruciating is that each time it is explained just as explicitly and heavy handedly. A big red stamp saying "UNRELIABLE NARRATOR" would've been more tolerable and less direct. All suspense or mystery is stomped out by the apparent need to make sure every single reader got exactly the right takeway without having to think about it themselves for even a second.
My final complaint is that the plot is just batshit. Marshall starts out with a strong concept of a ghost road and a legend of a lost girl, with interesting encounters at the beginning. Even the first, albeit slightly predictable, scare gets credit from me because of the unnerving description and Haunting of Hill House homage ("whose hand was I holding?!"). But as the group progresses through the gates, it gets more and more convoluted and twee. This is why I said it feels more like a contrived fantasy series than a horror novel. The legend expands into something poorly constructed and utterly off color from the rest of the book up to that point. Random points make no sense, and we receive bits of lore in all the wrong places. A central conflict at multiple points is that
It feels like a motley of every possible idea the author had, and the disjointment has a negative impact on the tone and the flow of the story. It's not an absence of creativity or writing prowess, but a disappointing follow through and entirely too many concepts to be thoroughly explored as connected.
The strong sections pulled me through, but the overall book felt like missed potential and flat scares held together by irritatingly unbelievable dialogue and a disappointing use of the original format.
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism and Physical abuse
Minor: Confinement, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Alcohol
collinsd's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, and Death
Moderate: Violence, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, and Self harm
georgiakirkegard's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, and Gore
Minor: Suicide attempt
mooandshoe's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Body horror and Gore
Moderate: Child death, Death, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Vomit
rogueblackwood's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This book is a trip!! There's even a specific trope that I usually hate but it works here well.
I do agree with the Blair Witch reference for the style of storytelling but once you're in the woods it really feels very Silent Hill-esque in many ways! I can't wait to read the next book. I've seen that this is a series in a way that the investigators are the same in this and the Our Last Echoes.
And anyone thinking that YA Horror pulls punches in regards to horror or tragedy should read this!
Graphic: Death and Murder
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Body horror
beforeviolets's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I loved the format and the delivery of this book. It was scary and terrifying and mystifying in all the right ways. I'm such a huge fan of the mixed media style. It not only aided the story itself by providing different perspectives and snippets in such an order that allowed things to be revealed or hidden or vague depending on the author's intentions at any given time, but also kept my attention span constantly engaged and constantly entertained with something new. I was constantly faced with unreliable narrators/POV's and situational irony and it added a whole extra layer of entertainment to the already thrilling narrative.
My only real issue was that the end was a little more open-ended than I personally would've preferred, but this book was so much about the journey anyways that it almost didn't matter.
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Vomit
Minor: Domestic abuse
effys's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Mental illness