Reviews with content warning for Violence - Off Season

I should have learned long ago that Jack Ketchum just isn't my cup of tea.

Everything about this fell a bit flat for me. No character depth, weak plot line, no back story to our villains. Just some horny folks in a cabin in the woods, and a disgruntled police officer who should have retired ages ago.

Wad it gory? Yes. Was it beyond brutal? Also yes. However it felt that the attempts at shocking the reader with violence far outweighed any attempt at building a storyline worth following. More attention was put into the spice level than the actual plot line and that just isn't my thing.

If you're into brutal gore stories with nonplots, this is for you.

Content Warnings

cclancaster13's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced

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

3.5

Eh, it was okay. Very fast paced. Sometimes it was just painfully written by a man. Like when your rental house is being surrounded by a unfathomable amount of cannibals trying to break in and tear you apart you totally stop to notice and admire a hysterical woman's naked body that you're trying to get dressed, as a woman, right? Right? LOL

Overall it was fine. The writing was fine. The story, fine. And gruesome and not a very happy ending. I kinda nothing this book tbh.

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benwoll's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I love deep, intricate stories… but I also love fast-paced, no-nonsense slashers that develop characters just enough for you to care and then kill them off in extremely violent ways. That is exactly what Off Season is. It’s simple, it’s gory, it’s entertaining… it’s just a good horror novel.

Content Warnings

reddarko's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-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

2.5

Not a fan of the weird sex stuff and Ketchum's "woman was obviously written by a man" writing. It was intriguing for sure but not a favorite and not something I would personally recommend

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chouxlette's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

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

2.25

Big fan of gore and horror, but this reminded me of all the violent horror manga that choose to traumatize women in the most gruesome way possible so the audience can be like : oh that’s scary! Like seriously the women face more violence than the me. and their over sexualization is insane. The women and poorly written and they’re really just there to be assaulted or eye candy. ( There is definitely something misogynist about their presentation within the book. ) Other than that, it’s a gross book ( in a positive way ). I’d only recommend if you wanna make yourself sick but wouldn’t recommend if you want character development or progression. It really is just a nasty book meant to make you sick ( not that i personally felt that way reading it. ) Also, I hate when authors are weird with kids especially in a horror setting and this book is weird with kids.

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waverlyloyd's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

1.5

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wholesome_chaotic's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

3.0

From the perspective of a horror fan this book has it all. Lean and mean. Gore soaked. Unforgiving. As a horror book it's 5 stars for being so visceral and unrelenting with it's brutality.

However it also contains every single trigger warning a person could imagine. Very taboo subjects are presented and Ketchum lacks the deft hands to present them as anything more than shock for the sake of it. (I 'm only referring to this book with that previous statement.) It's also grossly sexist and even as a male I found myself rolling my eyes at how the women are portrayed. It doesn't help that the characters are thinner than paper. This why it only has a 3 star rating.

There's no subtlety in this book. For better and for worse.

Only recommend for hardcore horror fanatics with stomachs of steel and some questionable morals.

Content Warnings

spicykombucha's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No

1.0

Characters were flat and boring, the women especially written as vain and only worried about how the men viewed them (horribly misogynistic) idk how many times ‘breasts’ were mentioned but it was one to many, this is why I don’t read horror written by men

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