Reviews with content warning for Body horror - Lakewood

Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Lakewood by Megan Giddings

56 reviews

zenzi2read's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.25

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twocents's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-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? No

4.0

This novel is a slice of Lena's life during a time period after her grandmother's death and when she enrolls in a research study for money. It raises a lot of questions about why she is being experimented on and how the researchers really are, but Lena doesn't ever learn the answers and so neither do we.

It's creepy and atmospheric and deeply unsettling, and even though it's hard to know what, exactly, happened, you can still imagine it happening to someone.

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nikolas_fox's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

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? No

4.25

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alchamp's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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kather_doc's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

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elskabee's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

I considered giving up after the halfway mark because there's no real tension with this book, just a series of tests the main character goes through. I think it was worth finishing, but you do get most of the point of by that halfway point.

I won't say the vibes were strong with this one contrary to many reviews I've read. Rather it feels like reading a really dry daily journal of someone listing all the things they do each day. There are moments of stronger tension as the character questions why they're participating in the Lakewood program, but they are just moments.

Still, I think it's an interesting and valuable book, hence why I gave it 4 stars. It's hard to categorise because it's firmly set in reality (aside from a few tests that are probably not) so to call it dystopian is to call our current reality dystopian. Maybe that's the point, idk.

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killmoore_'s review against another edition

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challenging dark medium-paced

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

2.5

I wanted to love this. It was an addictive read that fell flat for me. As stated in previous comments, I believe this would have been perfect as a novella, but as a full length novel it was lacking substance and depth, and was incredibly frustrating.

There were a few moments that could have been pure horror, but Lena's need to be detached and emotionally void dampened the effect, which was disappointing.

I'd recommend as a conversation starter for a book club, or someone looking for a truly interesting concept written as a "stuff happens" sandwich. It begins, stuff happens, then it ends.

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