caitiebarton's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Blood, Death, Murder, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Gun violence, Cannibalism, War, Excrement, Gore, and Body horror
simbareadss's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Death, Murder, and Body horror
Minor: Cannibalism
jesshadlow's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Gun violence
Minor: Rape, Cannibalism, and Confinement
that_cow_girl's review against another edition
- 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
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
helenastinks'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? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Violence, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Blood
Minor: Rape, Torture, Confinement, Drug use, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Biphobia, Sexual harassment, Excrement, and Suicidal thoughts
anastashamarie's review against another edition
- 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.
Graphic: Gore, Murder, Gun violence, Violence, Death, Blood, Abandonment, and Confinement
Moderate: Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, and Cursing
Minor: Drug use, Rape, War, Cannibalism, and Alcohol
ramalam98's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This book is Lord of the Flies on steroids, brutal, gory, and a tough listen at times. The author has done a fantastic job with the writing and the way the interview style can reveal information slowly while also showing you events from different perspectives. I can't talk about much without spoilers but I really recommend it if you think you can stomach it.
Some spoiler discussion under the cut.
Spoiler
One aspect I loved was the whole unreliable narrator thing which becomes more and more clear as you get further through the book, and towards the end you truly realise that there is no way of knowing what actually happened. On the one hand, people may (intentionally or otherwise) exaggerate what they saw and especially heard, but on the other, these are traumatised people who committed crimes and may not want to be fully honest about what they did.
I would have liked another interview from a Pirate, as I feel the stupid kid didn't quite provide enough information about what was going on, and couldn't possibly be a complete representation of every member. However, I still think the author did a great job especially with the interview with the Pirate leader (I've forgotten his name lol) in portraying how groupthink and cultish behaviour can happen very quickly under dramatic circumstances.
My main criticisms are minor but: (1) I feel like extreme violence occured a bit too soon, (2) the (male) author tried to dance around the subject of rape (which would have been widespread had these events actually occured) with some throwaway lines about why it wasn't happening (though, again, unreliable narrators), and (3) there was a bit of a 'phones bad' thing going on which wasn't explored beyond that. Yes, 'phones bad', but there is more to it than that and you need to explore it for me to enjoy it as a narrative trope.
Graphic: Gore, Blood, and Violence
Moderate: Body horror, Torture, and Murder
Minor: Cannibalism, Gun violence, and Medical content
magical_mads'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Torture, Blood, Excrement, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, and Violence
Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Mass/school shootings, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Cannibalism
shinysprigatito's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Misogyny, Blood, Death, Gun violence, Murder, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Confinement
Minor: Cannibalism and Rape
marslotus'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
4.5
Graphic: Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Death, Gore, Murder, and Torture
Moderate: Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, and Blood
Minor: Alcohol, Bullying, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Cannibalism, and Rape