Reviews with content warning for Suicidal thoughts - Fantasticland

Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

Fantasticland by Mike Bockoven

10 reviews

averagesparrow's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Content Warnings

that_cow_girl's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This book is fucking CRAZY! I didn’t think I’d be a fan of the format but it was very easy to pick up and read. The author was amazing with all of the different characters and SO MUCH HAPPENING!! my jaw dropped at certain points and I was thoroughly invested. I couldn’t stop reading.

Content Warnings

helenastinks's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

datewithathriller's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

anastashamarie's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

❗ I ended up liking this one a lot. Big Lord of the Flies vibes. Overall I would recommend to anyone who likes horror/thriller without paranormal elements.

🎢 Good stuff:
The structure, with each chapter as an interview, makes it a good one to read as you have time; easily digestible. It was spot-on for how cliquey amusement park employees are (I said what I said) and for how leadership can really set the tone for people. I liked that the multiple POVs were embraced to show all the different sides of the story, which also allowed for some ambiguity for how the events happened.

🏴‍☠️ My only genuine complaints are these:
1) I don't think the interviews needed to be chronological, and I personally would rearrange some of the later chapters for pacing purposes. Maybe if I had spaced out my reading, I might not have felt this so strongly, but I finished it in two sittings and just felt like the falling action hit fast after the climax at the Council.
2) This gets so, so close to a strong conclusion, but didn't seem brave enough to make that leap. It decidedly didn't ruin the book at all, just kept it from a perfect rating...but that's all I can say without giving major spoilers.

🏹 Other consideration:
• The explorations of the mental health and family systems impacts are sort of lacking here. There's one character who goes to therapy (yay!), But there were quite a few places where there could have been more depth--missed opportunities if you ask me.
• This story leaves a lot unanswered. This is separate than my complaint about the conclusion lacking, because I didn't mind the lack of answers...we often don't ever get the whole story when IRL bad things happen, having to sit in ambiguity. What bothered me, and what I alluded to above, was that the author started to make a strong point about human nature but backed off before really doing it.
• There does have to be a suspension of disbelief to really get into this. Despite the real world setting, there are quite a few plot holes if we try to think of it too much in the real-world in which we function.

Content Warnings