allisonsmith120's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.5
Graphic: Blood, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Mental illness, Murder, Alcohol, and Drug use
Minor: Sexual assault and Vomit
fallingquinnlove's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Spoiler
(Obviously, if you pick Bram's girlfriend, he is going to pick Saundra. Don't intentionally make enemies with people who scare other people for fun!)My main thing, I think, is the fact that it felt like it wanted to be a movie. It's extremely visual, and in the way that it borrows intentionally and makes explicit reference to a lot of horror movies (as opposed to horror books), I think there's something genuinely lost in the development of it as a book. I imagine it along the lines of "Do Revenge" or "Bodies Bodies Bodies".
Also, be prepared for Gen-Z language that feels a little out of place, particularly outside of dialogue.
Spoiler
It was when Saundra's POV had a line about how Rachel had been acting a little "sus" and someone else had a line about thinking that someone else should "prob/def break up".Overall though, I did enjoy it, I enjoyed the twists and the motifs
Spoiler
Everything to do with masks, especially Bram's masks, was brilliant. And I loved the Frankenstein motif, obviously, with the projector scene and the fact the masks are Frankenstein but painted, and everything about Thayer's Shelley lore drops. I also really liked what was being said about class divides in NYC schools.Graphic: Murder and Gaslighting
Moderate: Xenophobia, Drug use, Violence, and Alcohol
Minor: Homophobia and Sexual harassment
julsreadinglist's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Minor: Drug use, Death, and Murder
tors_tomes's review
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Murder, Grief, and Blood
Minor: Drug use
cactuspunk's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Alcohol, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Child death, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Drug use, Homophobia, and Classism
themoodreader's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.0
Minor: Alcohol, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Toxic relationship, and Vomit
snovella's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Drug use, Sexual content, Death, and Alcohol
Moderate: Sexual harassment
Minor: Homophobia
house_of_hannah's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I went into this without reading the description, so everything was a surprise for me. Despite the page count this is actually a pretty quick read. The font is quite large, so I was flying through the pages. The pacing was weirder though; it simultaneously felt fast and slow. It's one of those where it feels like there's always something happening, but also not at the same time. It's hard to describe.
Who needs enemies when you have these people as friends ? My god, everyone was the absolute worst friend in this book. What awful people ! It felt like the characters in this club were trying to force themselves together even though they only had one common interest. We also never really got to see who they were outside of the club, so it just seemed like everyone was being miserable the whole time.
Spoiler
Don't get me started on the Fear Tests ! Once they explained what those were all I could think was, "This is the US, someone is going to get fucking shot". I have absolutely no idea why they never thought that people would fight back, or maybe have a gun in the house. It really just seemed incredibly stupid and naive. I was never surprised when someone got hurt.I did really enjoy the horror references ! I think there was only one that went over my head as I had not seen the movie before. Usually books only reference horror classics, so it was neat to actually see some very modern movies represented. I did find it unbelievable though that that many people in the same grade were obsessed with horror and had seen every movie. I would have jumped on a group like that in a second if it existed when I was in high school though.
I did end up being quite engrossed in this book. It made me feel anxiety as to what was going to happen next, and it raised my heart rate a few times. However, the plot is predictable, none of the characters are likable, and I wasn't a fan of the ending. I closed this book thinking about how dumb the Mary Shelley Club actually is, and how their whole concept is actually quite disrespectful to the horror genre rather than embracing it. However, in the end, it does keep with the theme: people are the true monsters.
Graphic: Death and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Bullying, Blood, Gaslighting, and Drug use
Minor: Suicide and Vomit
jjames_mal's review
- 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
4.5
I usually hate books about trials and games, but I loved this one. I loved how we are quickly thrust into the Mary Shelley Club and while there is mystery we also have a pretty good idea what's going on. I also love books about people getting obsessed with things, and the Mary Shelley Club sure is obsessed with horror, and their excitement is super contagious even through the page. I really liked the ending (couldn't really care about the romance) and I liked the feeling this book left me with.
Graphic: Mental illness, Death, Bullying, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Alcohol, Drug use, and Classism
setafire's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Drug use
Minor: Sexual harassment