Scan barcode
helhas3letters's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Very readable. The plot hooked me completely and despite a few awkward turns of phrase, I raced through this one.
My main gripe, however, is that I felt the ending was rushed and left too open-ended. I wanted more concrete answers and explanations as to why half the events in the book occurred. I understand that a lot of modern fiction leaves things up to interpretation for the reader, but in this case it felt less 'up to interpretation' and more 'couldn't be bothered thinking of specific reasons why specific things happened'.
The ending was also unfortunately semi-spoiled for me by a way too on-the-nose and frankly reductive pull quote on the cover of the book. It was from Essence and read:"Reminiscent of Jordan Peele's terrifying film Get Out." If you've read the book, you'll know what I mean when I say that reading that quote essentially told me the entire ending.
My main gripe, however, is that I felt the ending was rushed and left too open-ended. I wanted more concrete answers and explanations as to why half the events in the book occurred. I understand that a lot of modern fiction leaves things up to interpretation for the reader, but in this case it felt less 'up to interpretation' and more 'couldn't be bothered thinking of specific reasons why specific things happened'.
The ending was also unfortunately semi-spoiled for me by a way too on-the-nose and frankly reductive pull quote on the cover of the book. It was from Essence and read:
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Drug use, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cancer, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Racism, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Colonisation
Minor: Ableism, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Stalking, and Alcohol
haylzno's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I think it had read this book rather than listened to it, I may have enjoyed it more.
The cadence of the narrators speaking was...weird? For lack of a better word. Something about it was off and it took me forever to get over it (speeding it up helped)
I will also say that I am not the target demographic for this novel, however I did enjoy the plot itself for the most part. But I also felt like I have been left with more questions than answers.
That plot twist though.
Holy moly.
The cadence of the narrators speaking was...weird? For lack of a better word. Something about it was off and it took me forever to get over it (speeding it up helped)
I will also say that I am not the target demographic for this novel, however I did enjoy the plot itself for the most part. But I also felt like I have been left with more questions than answers.
That plot twist though.
Holy moly.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Racism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
srhi96's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-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? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Torture, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cancer, Gun violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Addiction, Excrement, and Vomit
raebies_03's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- 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? No
3.0
I don't have a lot of thoughts about this book. Obviously the content is horrific and is a reflection of how society treats bipoc people to this day.
The writing intrigued me throughout the book. Grabbing my interest and dropping it here and there. Overall I'm just not sure how I feel about it.
The writing intrigued me throughout the book. Grabbing my interest and dropping it here and there. Overall I'm just not sure how I feel about it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Racial slurs, and Racism
Minor: Cancer and Death of parent
lamorna's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- 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? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Violence, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cancer, Confinement, Drug use, Dementia, Grief, Medical trauma, and Death of parent
peachmoni's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical trauma and Death of parent
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Racism, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, and Classism
Minor: Ableism, Cancer, Child abuse, Vomit, and Gaslighting
nenaveenstra's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This is such a layered novel. It was explained to me as being a horror book, and while there definitely are some horror-esque elements in here, I would argue that this is much more than that. It's a book about grief - beautifully, tragically described grief - and family and the lengths at which one would go to help a loved one out. The tragic thing about this book, of course, is that black people have been exploited for science in reality, and that, still, their illnesses are often not recognised, and the effects of some illnesses and medication on black people is still unknown. I loved that this book briefly talked about that, while still being a plot driven, enjoyable, non-preachy read. (Nothing against being preachy, I just think that this might be able to reach a broader audience because of it.) I saw the ending coming from miles away, but I didn't mind, however I did think it was a bit rushed. I guess I was waiting for something really big to happen, then all of a sudden it was over.
One thing that I didn't love about this book is that I didn't trust the research study from the very beginning, and so I had to suspend my disbelief in order to go along with Lena's decision. I never would've participated.
One thing that I didn't love about this book is that I didn't trust the research study from the very beginning, and so I had to suspend my disbelief in order to go along with Lena's decision. I never would've participated.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Gore, Blood, Medical content, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Confinement and Death of parent
Minor: Racism
jourdanicus's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
fast-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? No
This book broke my brain a little bit so I'm not sure what to say about it. I see that Megan Giddings is also a poet which makes a lot of sense to me given the (possibly?) non linear structure of this story, and just the way she wrote overall. Novels written by poets tend to be somewhat intense reads for me, so that plus the subject matter of this story...whew. On a more surface level it explored a (not so very) fictionalized history of the US's racist and unethical experimentation on Black people. I also got from it themes about revisiting and healing from generational trauma with family members, mother/daughter relationships, and... A lot more that I don't have words for. I kinda think this book was too smart for me in some ways. I would definitely recommend it to others.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Racism, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Cancer, Chronic illness, Grief, and Death of parent
gentlethem's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Death of parent
Moderate: Gun violence and Racism
sherbertwells's review against another edition
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Before I begin my review, I’d like to thank Ms. Saunders for generously giving me this book. I wish I had taken better care of it. Without you I would never have encountered it, and it really expanded my horizons!
I’m not normally a fan of horror in fiction. Lakewood by Megan Giddings is the first horror/thriller novel I can recall reading. I don’t know how closely the book hews to the tropes of its genre or whether it’s a ‘proper’ thriller at all. It disappeared a few hours after I finished reading it, so I can’t exactly comb through it and pick out the most atmospheric quotes. Then again, disappearing books are pretty spooky.
The reviews I watched in advance for this book claimed it was terrifying. It was horror because it was real, because the US government really had exploited people for years in horrible projects like the Tuskegee syphilis experiment and Project Stargate. For the first half of the book, I was frozen in terror as Giddings patiently revealed the main character: Lena is a black millennial whose mother, Deziree, suffers debilitating migraines, and in order to pay the family’s medical debts she volunteers for a sketchy government experiment in the fictional Michigan town of Lakewood. In fact, the first half of Lakewood isn’t grotesque or ugly at all, merely thick with dread. I read it all in one sitting because I kept expecting something terrible to happen.
I sort of expected the horrible parts of the plot to be satisfying or to wrap up neatly or at least to explain what’s happening in the eponymous town. But unlike the creepy white observers whose omnipresence leads to some of Lakewood’s best scenes, Giddings isn’t concerned with the disgusting details of the experiment. Instead she focuses on its human costs; Lena, her mother and dead grandmother each have a mysterious tie to the US Government’s legacy of scientific exploitation, and only by understanding their history can they put their common demons to rest.
The world requires a book like this, and I require this book more than I like it. The Tuskegee syphilis study and other unethical experiments are real American horror stories. It makes perfect sense to retell it as a thriller. I just don’t understand thrillers, and now I can’t even find the goshdarn book!
I won’t forget it, though. The name “Lakewood” summons a chilling story from my own past.
A few years ago I spent a month at a German-immersion summer camp whose gift shop doesn’t sell postcards. Twenty years before the village opened in 1961, the Nazis had forced Hungarian Jews in Auschwitz to write to their families about how wonderful their new residence was. The letters’ authors were murdered and their addresses were collected for further atrocities. Because the name of the fictional location was so generic and idyllic-sounding, the founders of a wholesome little immersion program in Bemidji had accidentally chosen it for their flagship village. When a French village opened, then a Spanish one—there are twenty now—the creators copied and pasted the original title until the woods of northern Minnesota were dotted with identically-named projects.
That name? Waldsee.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Medical content
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gore, Racism, Violence, and Vomit
Minor: Grief and Death of parent