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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Thanks to @netgalley for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Let’s be honest, I’m going to love pretty much any to big Chuck Wendig writes. This books audience is a bit younger than what I normally read but that made it such a nice palate cleanser between heavier books. The writing is fun and playful and unique and I had such a great time with it. It’s obviously a quick read for adults but still contains some great lovable characters and a solid amount of plots and action.
Let’s be honest, I’m going to love pretty much any to big Chuck Wendig writes. This books audience is a bit younger than what I normally read but that made it such a nice palate cleanser between heavier books. The writing is fun and playful and unique and I had such a great time with it. It’s obviously a quick read for adults but still contains some great lovable characters and a solid amount of plots and action.
adventurous
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
adventurous
funny
tense
fast-paced
Ethan is afraid of everything, so when his best friends Olivia and Harvey insist on him joining in on a screening of a mysterious film considered to be the scariest movie ever made, he refuses outright. However, when the movie turns out to be a monster bent on destroying the town, Ethan must brave his fears if he is to save everyone and everything he loves.
There's a difficult balance to reach with middle grade horror, which I hadn't thought much before I started reading this book. The best sort of horror, in my opinion, is underpinned with the horrors of daily life, but as a result middle grade horror writers have what seems a smaller pool to draw upon. Wendig does a good job at dredging those depths though.
Ethan is a great lead - his anxiety, his art, and his determination to stick by his friends makes him easy to root for, but beyond that he just sounds like a twelve year-old boy, tiptoeing somewhere between his careless childhood and his very first more mature realizations about life and other people. The horror too is innovative, walking the tightrope between creepy and truly irredeemably terrifying. There's plebty imagery is vivid, whether it's the headless townsfolk, the filming scenes, or Ethan's artwork.
However, I did think the pacing could have been tightened up, as it takes a fairly long time establishing the setting and characters, and consequently the final sequence felt like it went too fast. I wished we'd had more of a denouement too - the cheeky twist at the ending is fun but left me with plenty of questions still.
Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. This is my honest and voluntary review.