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ribbenkast's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Samantha Allen made incredible characters who you'll love to hate. All of them felt so distinct. Even with a 5 way split pov, every character has their own voice.
My single issue is actually with Renee's character. She's supposed to be the main character but we get to spend little time with her. I wish the book was a bit longer so Renee's (very cool) character arc would feel less rushed. This would also ad more padding to the ending. I'll chalk that up to this book being a fiction debut though! I will definitely pick up any future horror novels Samantha Allen writes.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Biphobia, Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Car accident, Murder, Lesbophobia, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Abortion
Minor: Animal cruelty, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, and Alcohol
mermaidsherbet's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, and Car accident
Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Gun violence, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Abortion, Murder, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
indigoblue777'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? Yes
2.75
Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, and Murder
Moderate: Gore and Violence
Minor: Kidnapping
supermarioctopus's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, and Car accident
Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Terminal illness, Abortion, and Lesbophobia
stine_0's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Car accident, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Biphobia, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Racism, Blood, Kidnapping, Car accident, Murder, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Alcoholism, Biphobia, Bullying, Homophobia, Racism, Sexism, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Lesbophobia, and Alcohol
alleahwebb's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Death, Gore, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body shaming, Racism, Sexual content, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Abortion
christine_d's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
this is a quick, snappy read with an engaging writing style that is easy to read. i zipped through it in one night and it really gripped me. the horror elements, shall we say, really had me tense. i particularly liked the concept of these “airheaded” dating reality show contestants behind the scenes, and the conversations that both they and the producers/filmmakers had on the side too.
the negatives:
for me, this book missed in a couple of key ways. for one, it does feel quite short to read, and over the course of the book, i don’t have any true feeling of any of the characters developing in any material sense, or finding a satisfying plot resolution. i was interested in all of the main characters - both the contestants, producers, and jeremy - and wanted to better understand their motivations, but they fall a bit flat.
i wish that there was a bit more development of the characters - i would have liked to see how the spat between casey and matt played out. i originally thought the book would end with renee and one of the contestants falling in love and running away to the palm springs resort.
i also would have really liked to see the aftermath of amanda and renee’s kiss. that felt like such a promising moment, especially with jeremy attacking renee about it afterwards. then the horror of renee finding amanda’s body diverts the plot back to sasquatch.
and in some of the final scenes, i was baffled by renee not just refusing to attack sasquatch, but directing sasquatch to kill jeremy? i know she thought he was a stupid fuck (and he was), but he died gruesomely and she did not react at all.
final thoughts:
it’s a quick, “fun”, gripping read about The Bachelor if it was even sleazier, but there were a lot of unresolved plot points that left me a bit baffled and wrong-footed by the end. the final leg of the book is frankly a bit bizarre. while i do like the concept of
Graphic: Body horror and Violence
Minor: Homophobia and Racism
cmboyke'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: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Biphobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Lesbophobia, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
averyt121's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Homophobia, Racism, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, and Murder
eliya'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
2.75
It took me about a month to read this pretty short book lol. 13 hours of reading time.
Loved the “weird” nature of the book, combining two loved genres, the snide remarks the characters make about each other. There are some good quotes from this book that I’ll be listing below. I don’t think you’re supposed to like any character and I definitely didn’t lol. Loved the physical descriptions the author used to describe feelings.
Did not love the writing style. The author focused a lot on scene dressing and filled most of the book with painful, needless details and empty attempts to develop internal dialogue between the different characters.
In the author’s note, the author talks about how it took courage to write this “weird” book, but it truly was not weird enough.
I had a lot of hopes for this book, but all in all, it was: boring, boring, cringy and unbelievable, funny, boring, until 80% through, then it was really exciting!! Where was that the whole rest of the book?
Favorite quotes out of context -
“For Alexa, the knife in my heart”
“But that was the point, wasn’t it? To be reminded.”
“Some pretzel bags are prettier than others…”
"But she's trying to stop searching for herself in the eyes of others"
"Standing over her like a gangly teenager about to ask his mom for lunch money"
"He tasted minty and yet somehow still disgusting, like Altoids that had been scraped off of the floor of the car."
"She imagines what it would be like to have a brain unburdened by intelligence--and then Vanessa's..."
"Casey didn't finish; she wasn't expecting to"
"It seems like the sort of place where you could actually just live life, instead of researching the best way to live your life on the internet."
"Nothing but silence and sky. It feels like the end of the world."
"...barely notice it at first, is a fresh human head, detached from a body that is nowhere to be found. Her hair tied in a ponytail, her expression frozen in shock, a layer of blood caking on pale skin. 'Hi, Amanda,' Renee says, looking down at the head. Amanda doesn't speak back, because she's a disembodied head. Alas, poor Amanda."
Indefatigable - Persisting tirelessly.
Eponymous -
- (of a person) giving their name to something.
- "the eponymous hero of the novel"
- (of a thing) named after a particular person.
- "Roseanne's eponymous hit TV series"
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Gun violence, Homophobia, Terminal illness, Religious bigotry, and Abortion
Minor: Fatphobia, Racism, and Grief