averagesparrow's review against another edition
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
Graphic: Gore, Grief, Blood, Child death, Murder, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Sexism, Torture, Excrement, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Drug use, Kidnapping, and Cannibalism
bickleyhouse's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
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
4.0
FantasticLand is a fictional amusement park in Florida, near Daytona Beach. In 2017, Hurrican Sadie (also fictional) became the first hurricane in fifty years to hit that area of Florida. While there were no more customers in the park, most of the employees were still there, and, due to flooding, were stuck in the park for several weeks. There were safety protocols in place, and plenty of food, but when the power went out, everything went to heck.
The employees that stayed around (many bailed before it got too bad to leave), banded together into "tribes," which ultimately began fighting one another. Things got brutal pretty quickly.
If Lord of the Flies and Nuka-World (from Fallout 4) had a love-child, it would be this novel. In fact, the whole time I was reading this, I couldn't help thinking of Nuka-World. Fallout 4 is and probably always will be my all-time favorite video game, and I bought the "Far Harbor" and "Nuka-World" DLC for the game. In that game, Nuka-World was an amusement park that was abandoned because of "the bomb" that hit and wiped everything out. Many buildings and rides were still standing. But the park had been taken over by raiders; there were at least three different tribes of raiders and they all hated each other, so there was plenty of fighting. There was also one area of the park that had been taken over by a horrible hybrid of crocodile and T-Rex. There were no raiders in that part.
But I shan't continue raving about Fallout, because this is a book review. The book is presented in the form of a number of interviews by fictional news reporter Adam Jakes. He interviews many different people, from management to survivors to someone from the Florida National Guard who finally came in to rescue the survivors. At the end, he interviews the son of the man who came up with the FantasticLand idea, in the first place.
This book is not for the faint of heart. It's bloody, it's violent, it involves bullying, terror, bombing, arrows, guns, and many other things. There are allegations of rape, but we never hear of any that actually happened, only gossip about it.
Ultimately, I did really enjoy the book. It was slow starting, but each interview carries the story a little bit further, and once it got to interviews of people who were actually there during all of the fighting and dying, it picked up the pace and got more interesting.
Are our children (most of the employees who went through all of this were college age or younger) really capable of things like this? Many of us read Lord of the Flies in high school. Those were younger children than these. Fear, abandonment, and hopelessness does strange things to people, and that seems to be what all of the FantasticLand employees went through. Because it seemed as though they would never be rescued. The final fight scene is pretty mind-numbing. As is the interview with the leader of the toughest tribe in the park, the Pirates, Brock Hockney. A psychopath if there ever was one.
There were a couple of interesting quotes that I got from the book. In one of the interviews, Clara Ann Clark, the leader of the ShopGirls, says she hates people. She doesn't mean individual people. She means people when they get in groups. She says that "a person gets stupid when they become people." I find that I kind of agree with her.
Then there was a shoutout to Tom Petty, at one point, when one of the interviews said, "Then we waited. A wise man once said it's the hardest part."
Fiction, but is it as far-fetched as it seems? Hopefully we never find out.
The employees that stayed around (many bailed before it got too bad to leave), banded together into "tribes," which ultimately began fighting one another. Things got brutal pretty quickly.
If Lord of the Flies and Nuka-World (from Fallout 4) had a love-child, it would be this novel. In fact, the whole time I was reading this, I couldn't help thinking of Nuka-World. Fallout 4 is and probably always will be my all-time favorite video game, and I bought the "Far Harbor" and "Nuka-World" DLC for the game. In that game, Nuka-World was an amusement park that was abandoned because of "the bomb" that hit and wiped everything out. Many buildings and rides were still standing. But the park had been taken over by raiders; there were at least three different tribes of raiders and they all hated each other, so there was plenty of fighting. There was also one area of the park that had been taken over by a horrible hybrid of crocodile and T-Rex. There were no raiders in that part.
But I shan't continue raving about Fallout, because this is a book review. The book is presented in the form of a number of interviews by fictional news reporter Adam Jakes. He interviews many different people, from management to survivors to someone from the Florida National Guard who finally came in to rescue the survivors. At the end, he interviews the son of the man who came up with the FantasticLand idea, in the first place.
This book is not for the faint of heart. It's bloody, it's violent, it involves bullying, terror, bombing, arrows, guns, and many other things. There are allegations of rape, but we never hear of any that actually happened, only gossip about it.
Ultimately, I did really enjoy the book. It was slow starting, but each interview carries the story a little bit further, and once it got to interviews of people who were actually there during all of the fighting and dying, it picked up the pace and got more interesting.
Are our children (most of the employees who went through all of this were college age or younger) really capable of things like this? Many of us read Lord of the Flies in high school. Those were younger children than these. Fear, abandonment, and hopelessness does strange things to people, and that seems to be what all of the FantasticLand employees went through. Because it seemed as though they would never be rescued. The final fight scene is pretty mind-numbing. As is the interview with the leader of the toughest tribe in the park, the Pirates, Brock Hockney. A psychopath if there ever was one.
There were a couple of interesting quotes that I got from the book. In one of the interviews, Clara Ann Clark, the leader of the ShopGirls, says she hates people. She doesn't mean individual people. She means people when they get in groups. She says that "a person gets stupid when they become people." I find that I kind of agree with her.
Then there was a shoutout to Tom Petty, at one point, when one of the interviews said, "Then we waited. A wise man once said it's the hardest part."
Fiction, but is it as far-fetched as it seems? Hopefully we never find out.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Violence, and Blood
kier26's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Blood, Gun violence, Gore, Violence, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Sexual violence and Sexual content
_terah_hansen_'s review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Murder, Violence, and Blood
caitiebarton's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Murder, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Gun violence, Cannibalism, War, Excrement, Gore, and Body horror
outsmartyourshelf's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
Hurricane 'Sadie' causes devastation in Florida whilst 400 employees holed up in 'FantasticLand' (an entertainment park similar to Disneyland) are cut off from the rest of the state & from outside help. The employees are expected to be OK as there are emergency plans in place as well as plenty of food & water available in the park. When the Florida National Guard enter the park several weeks later, they are greeted by the sight of dead bodies & signs of violence. Something went badly wrong in FantasticLand.
At first I thought interviews were an odd choice as a narrative to tell this story, but as it went on I realised that it was the best format & the author's choice made more sense. More of the story is gradually revealed & the reader gets different takes on the same events to show things aren't always what they seem. It's an interesting read that works as a social commentary. There's mention about social media & how it has people glued to their phones, & what would happen if the internet was shut off. The big question though is why a group of (mainly) young people would turn on each other in such a short time. There are several quotes online about the fact that people are smart as individuals but become stupid in groups. Is this true?
I think it's partly this - you only need one sociopath to persuade others to follow their lead as most people are social or herd animals & want someone to follow. One group acting in violence causes others to defend themselves or either take up the offence. The other component is that when people are removed from normal life into an artificial situation, they can feel divorced from reality & therefore do things they normally wouldn't. This can lead to great co-operation & heroics or it can lead to violence & tragedy. The human capacity for both good & evil is an interesting dichotomy.
At first I thought interviews were an odd choice as a narrative to tell this story, but as it went on I realised that it was the best format & the author's choice made more sense. More of the story is gradually revealed & the reader gets different takes on the same events to show things aren't always what they seem. It's an interesting read that works as a social commentary. There's mention about social media & how it has people glued to their phones, & what would happen if the internet was shut off. The big question though is why a group of (mainly) young people would turn on each other in such a short time. There are several quotes online about the fact that people are smart as individuals but become stupid in groups. Is this true?
I think it's partly this - you only need one sociopath to persuade others to follow their lead as most people are social or herd animals & want someone to follow. One group acting in violence causes others to defend themselves or either take up the offence. The other component is that when people are removed from normal life into an artificial situation, they can feel divorced from reality & therefore do things they normally wouldn't. This can lead to great co-operation & heroics or it can lead to violence & tragedy. The human capacity for both good & evil is an interesting dichotomy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Gore, Violence, and Death
blklagoon's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
jesshadlow's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Gun violence
Minor: Rape, Cannibalism, and Confinement
onewoman_bookclub's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Gore, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Rape
that_cow_girl's review against another edition
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
Graphic: Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, War, Violence, Cursing, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Child abuse, and Bullying
Moderate: Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Alcohol, and Cannibalism