Scan barcode
tannisz's review against another edition
- 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? No
3.5
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Self harm, Torture, Blood, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
smolhandsdan'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? N/A
4.5
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Grief, and Gaslighting
felyn'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
There's no on-page villain per se. There's a scientist who's not on page. One of the characters is a young serial-killer-in-training but he's not the antagonist. (He's *an* antagonist, sure, but not *the* antagonist.)
But you can't villainize an insentient parasite.
So you're reading this book about a group of 14-year-old boys from PEI, stranded on a small island for what's supposed to be an ordinary Scouting trip, and the only adult with them is quickly neutralised... and it's horrifying in part because of the descriptions of what the infected characters think and do, but also watch as the entire cast loses their grasp on reality. Wondering who's going to die next and how, because it's not just one thing that can kill you, it's exposure, it's starvation or dehydration, it's the parasite, it's the other humans, it's getting injured, it's falling off a cliff... And you as the reader is still there watching all this, wondering who is going to die next and who, if anyone, survives.
You get snippets of what the people on the mainland (er, back on the main island? back on PEI.) are doing and going through, but they are footnotes against the body of the main story.
Plus there's a lot of gross descriptive text in general that I am just not here for, but I'm sure others wouldn't have any issues with. You'd think that having aphantasia, this wouldn't bother me so much BUT NO.
Anyway, I'm going to go binge some sex pollen alien erotica now as a palate cleanser. Then I'll probably go read The Handyman Method, because I'm a masochist.
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Death, Fatphobia, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Medical content, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
jamiee_f's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
However, what this actually ended up being was a gross lord of the flies retelling with more animal abuse and more sociopathic boys. Not sure what the takeaway was supposed to be with this story....
I just wished for more story, more character motivation, less gore and pointless gross.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
camifloyd's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Medical trauma
mccormicke2'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Death, Gore, Self harm, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Confinement
Minor: Eating disorder
mewpasaurus'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
If you like body horror, you'll probably find this is a good/fast read. It's also worth noting that while the characters aren't necessarily likeable, they are not two dimensional and do seem to be complex in the way I would say most pre-teens/teenagers tend to be, which made it more believable.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Homophobia, Self harm, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
jennaraetions's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Death, Fatphobia, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
madelinequinnee's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
This was so sad, I didn’t expect to feel so connected to the characters by the end, but i was actually heartbroken by Newt’s death in the end, and Max being the only one left but never being able to return to normality was just devastating.
The horror was so effective in this, the descriptions of the boys’ demise was so visceral, and the things that Shelley did to his troop mates made me feel so horrid, he was a great hidden evil character, and I was pretty damn happy he died in the end
Overall I think this is a solid contamination horror book
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Fatphobia, Gore, Self harm, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
_ash_mac's review against another edition
- 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? No
4.75
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Mental illness, and Medical trauma