Reviews with content warning for Murder - Reprieve

Full Contact Haunted House, Courtroom mystery drama, throwback movie and book references, morally grey characters, social commentary, masterful writing... I didn't know what to expect going into this, but this book is going to stay with me for a while.

I wouldn't call this book a "horror" necessarily, and so I can understand why some people might not like it. Perhaps they went in expecting a fast pace thriller horror book. This book is slow and thoughtful, a tense psychological character study. Yes, there are some horror-filled scenes in the haunted house, but the majority of the book is detailing each character's life leading up to the event, their internal struggles and motivations, and ultimately how they all intertwined.

There are multiple timelines - before Quigley house, the court case after Quigley house, and the present day. There are also multiple POVs. That being the case, there are a lot of moving parts. You'll have to pay attention, at least I did! I usually don't like multiple timelines and POVs, but Mattson did an amazing job with it, I was hooked on each part of the story, and each character felt fully realized and developed, even the most heinous ones.

The reason I am rating 4 instead of 5 is that the more I think of it, the more I wish I got a bit more from the ending of the story. There are a lot of things I wished we were able to see that we never got to. Also, although I loved the social commentary aspects of the story, there were some scenes where it felt like it was a bit hand fisted, which made the dialogue feel forced and fake.

I'm a fan of Mattson, really looking forward to seeing what he publishes next.

Content Warnings

bebidocrimes's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
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

The summary for this book, while not exactly misleading, is a lot flashier than what is presented in text. A murder happens in a full contact haunted escape room, but the real meat of the story is the characters' backgrounds, and what led each of them into this situation. It takes a look at the toxicity of sexism, racial fetishism, and entitlement. I really enjoyed the concept of the Quigley House as a whole, even if I'm too chicken to set foot in a place like that, and I'm imagining how vindicated the characters who condemned the attraction from the beginning must feel. Overall, a good read even if it wasn't quite what I was expecting.

Content Warnings

ouijabroad's review against another edition

Go to review page

fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

This book had me hooked in the beginning, but ultimately it didn’t accomplish anything. I think tackling racism in horror (as there IS a lot in horror genre) could have been meaningful, but in this case it just didn’t accomplish anything.

As others have said,

I still don’t understand John’s obsession with Bryan or his motive for killing him. I don’t understand how it benefited him in any way…if anything it hurt him since the Quigley House couldn’t stay open after the murder.

Also, LOTS of fatphobia. Anyone described as beautiful or good looking is always thin, but anyone who is in a larger body we need to be reminded all the time that they are large and jiggle etc etc especially when it came to Rae. An unlikeable fat character who talks about food???? How original.

This author talks about racism, stereotyping and xenophobia, but I think he needs to examine his own biases.

Content Warnings

ladyinverse's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

1.0

(audiobook)
i gave this book a try because it was labeled with the LGBTQIA tag, so i went for it for my June reads for pride month.

the only rep there was, was a young male who was stereotyping young black men to not be studious and this young male also was obsessed with his crush on his English teacher and stalked this male teacher across the globe to try and be with him. not a great rep for the book.

the horror aspect of the book was at least interesting of a concept: full contact horror house but a side secret plan makes everything go very very wrong on a tour where a character is murdered as a result.

none of the characters, aside the main girl Kendra, was even remotely likeable.

the book was.. not great overall. the writing was loquacious in the most boring way. anytime a character spoke, instead of using "he yelled" or "she spoke softly" or literally anything else, every time a character interaction happened the usage and verbage was "s/he said."

i would have died from alcohol poisoning if i was doing shots every time I heard the word said/says.

Content Warnings

soph_solberg's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense

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? It's complicated

4.5

Content Warnings

riflelizards's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Content Warnings

hmn54437's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Wow.

That’s the only word bouncing around in my brain as I finish this book. James Han Mattson has flawlessly stitched together a gut wrenchingly important story of the harsh realities of racism, fetishization, and dehumanization of POC in America.

Each perspective we read from offers a different insight into each of these topics climbing higher and higher revealing more and more until we reach the peak in Cell Five.

We go through this book peeling back layer upon layer of social horrors until we reach the core at the biggest reveal of the story: finding out that John fabricated this whole plan for Bryan’s death as an attempt to a) gain more business and b) a charity case to feed his savior complex seen in how he uses the court case as an opportunity to flaunt his donation to the NAACP on behalf of Bryan.

Between this reveal and Leonard and Jaidee’s racism and fetishization, we’re left with an absolute gut punch of a novel. Paired with Mattson’s gorgeous prose and dialogue and the phenomenal combination layout of court scenes, character explorations, and moments inside the Quigley House this book was everything I wanted and more.

Content Warnings

mmccombs's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

This was a very surprising read in that it was much more character-driven than I expected. Like, it is still a horror novel, but it is also much more than that. While some of the plot/character connections were a bit too convenient or tenuous, I thought it was just incredibly clever and thematically impactful. You get the gross gory thing that is horror filled fun, but it goes much deeper, turning the genre on its head and asking bigger questions about proximity to whiteness, power, and who should even be represented in horror at all. And the ending felt a bit unresolved, but I actually really enjoyed the openness of it. I could understand why some people are let down, expecting more of a straightforward horror novel, but the depth and heart of this story makes it all the more compelling.

Content Warnings

More...