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orizenda's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
An interesting culty, kind of folk horror-y (imo anyway), take on grief. This book wasn’t necessarily what I was expecting, but in saying that, I mean that it surprised me with some of the things it did. and I think the ways the audio version actually played with some of the storytelling too was interesting.
Possibly getting into spoiler territory here? But I thought it was really interesting how a good portion of the story is told by willow to dominic, even though we don’t hear from him at all through the action of the story. I also appreciate how the story was complicated by the families torn apart by grief, and the multiple layers of storytelling that the story goes through to get to us. Like, how much are we supposed to take at face value, what’s been twisted by grief, what’s been warped through the various means of communication to get to us, etc. if that makes any sense at all. anyway. ty for coming to my ted talk
Possibly getting into spoiler territory here? But I thought it was really interesting how a good portion of the story is told by willow to dominic, even though we don’t hear from him at all through the action of the story. I also appreciate how the story was complicated by the families torn apart by grief, and the multiple layers of storytelling that the story goes through to get to us. Like, how much are we supposed to take at face value, what’s been twisted by grief, what’s been warped through the various means of communication to get to us, etc. if that makes any sense at all. anyway. ty for coming to my ted talk
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, and Grief
nightlight_reader's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Consumed this in a few sittings but at about the halfway point just had to rip my way to the end cause it was MOVING, like we had entered a rollercoaster phase that I didn’t sign up for but was happy to be strapped into.
Short chapters. Zippy cliffhangers. Mixed media of interviews and text conversations and narratives.
None of the characters were particularly standout, but because it’s a horror book, that’s not usually something I’m looking for. This worked for me, mileage may vary.
I definitely had no idea where this was going and it built like a layer cake. It gave you all the ingredients and slowly walked you through the pieces and let you figure out what was coming next JUST before it gave it to you.
This was really fun, and I might actually try to hunt down this writer’s NoSleep content just to see what else he’s done…
Short chapters. Zippy cliffhangers. Mixed media of interviews and text conversations and narratives.
None of the characters were particularly standout, but because it’s a horror book, that’s not usually something I’m looking for. This worked for me, mileage may vary.
I definitely had no idea where this was going and it built like a layer cake. It gave you all the ingredients and slowly walked you through the pieces and let you figure out what was coming next JUST before it gave it to you.
This was really fun, and I might actually try to hunt down this writer’s NoSleep content just to see what else he’s done…
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Gore
Moderate: Child death, Death, Violence, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
jadeejf's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Oh man. This was so good. A horror novel that has it all - a mysterious island where people go missing, a grieving mom looking for her soon, and some strange anachronistic pieces from... The '90s. It's really layered and fun to read!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror
hauntedantiqueshop's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
The best thing about this book is the cover.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Grief, Stalking, Murder, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Confinement
Minor: Body horror
jourdanicus's review against another edition
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
I really liked the premise of this book, and the writing style was propulsive and kept me engaged. I loved that the audiobook had multiple narrators!
Something about it is still just "meh" to me though. I think there could have been more tension maybe? I don't mind a horror novel that you kinda have figured out from the beginning if it's also supposed to be an allegory, but I felt like this book was trying to do that and then was too obvious to be an allegory. Like, the way that Pastor Ritalaid it all out for Willow when she was trapped in the demon house completely ruined the suspense of that moment. It was cartoonist, like the big villain reveals in Scooby Doo, and not what I would want out of a novel for adults. Leave a little something to the imagination, ya know?
But anyways, I did enjoy it and do recommend it especially to fans of LOST. A lot of similar elements there.
Something about it is still just "meh" to me though. I think there could have been more tension maybe? I don't mind a horror novel that you kinda have figured out from the beginning if it's also supposed to be an allegory, but I felt like this book was trying to do that and then was too obvious to be an allegory. Like, the way that Pastor Rita
But anyways, I did enjoy it and do recommend it especially to fans of LOST. A lot of similar elements there.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Medical content
heather667's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Car accident
Minor: Ableism
samseyz's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
The premise was really fascinating and I was intrigued by the first half. However, the ending kind of fell flat for me and was disappointing due to its predictability.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Blood, and Grief
Moderate: Death of parent
readsaplenty's review against another edition
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, and Grief