Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

Black River Orchard by Chuck Wendig

5 reviews

wyabook234's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

4.75

Black River Orchard is a saga with a storyline that extends through multiple seasons. As the Storyline unfolds; what effects the apples have when consumed are more grim than anyone realizes.

While perhaps it’s a very slow burn and some interval chapters about the Orchard’s history can detach me from focusing on the main plot; which deserves my concern because I cared about the characters. Calla can be the typical teenage archetype that isn’t any different from all the other girls. However, I enjoyed the dynamic that grows between the Emily and John in their search for the truth and then their desire to get justice done for the town. John was interesting due to how restraint he might be as a Quaker while carrying the skills of a formidable veteran and ally. Joanie was both amusing and likeable in the early chapters. Later in the story, she becomes dedicated to fighting back against the apple cult’s control over lives.

The intoxicating effect of apples well influenced the town, as evidenced by the growing obsession of their eaters over several. It was then revealed that apples could either make these people into the worst of themselves or bring out who they are, such as Dan Paxton; who becomes more vile once his Apple Orchard becomes more popular. Despite his backstory bringing out some of his humanity, that is based on selfishness and revenger. Those unveilings of their selves become more apparent as the townsfolk get aroused by the Ruby Slipper taste and their dripping juices, which can be seen as their obsession developing through the course of their story.

The references to the main plot to the current decade and highlighting of social could detract in how they could make the story feel dated. However, you’ll be enjoying the body horror and tension once the situation becomes bad enough and the people change; mentally and physically. There’s also a spirit in a white suit who stalks people into haunting them or doing terrible deeds that suddenly disappear near the end of the book; which lessens his impact.

Black River Orchard’s most disturbing moments involve transforming Prentiss and Marco into willing servants, with their teeth turning into apple seeds and their bodies mangled like roots. This is especially with how Marco was gaslighted and started into becoming of these grotesque creatures for Dan’s ego; to where is he calling him the title of “father”.
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paracosim's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

My only complaint about this book is that it is going to read as very dated, very soon. The Gen Z lingo and references to tiktok will age Black River Orchard beyond comparison within just a few years lol. The last line was also very lackluster, which brought the score down solely because it made me roll my eyes at what was otherwise a flawless book. I already want to reread it.
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araebird's review against another edition

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dark mysterious slow-paced
  • 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

4.75

It's been a long time since I read a horror, and I'm glad I got back into it with this one. While it's chunky (at 600+ pages), like a lot of Wendig's books, he spends time building up the characters and the setting before any of the actual plot takes place. There is a sense of unease throughout the book, and really amps up after half way. Most of the characters are absolutely detestable, but that makes the story all the more believable when things go wrong. 
Honestly I would never have thought that a book about an evil apple orchard would be this compelling, but I couldn't put it down. Check trigger warnings (especially for body gore, there's a lot of it).
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cavernism's review against another edition

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

4.5

If I hear the word "frisson" one more time...

Okay, nitpicking aside, this was an epic horror novel. The terrifying devolution of the apple-eaters into inconsiderate assholes and then further into actual monsters kept ratcheting up to a truly horrific, body-horror-cult-weirdness-extravaganza. 
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imstephtacular's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

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