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soyboi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Also, it bugged me that all these other characters, like Brody and Jenny and the librarian, are the Hissing Lady’s henchmen toward the end because they’re LITERALLY BEING ABUSED. Like, Jenny is being molested by her brother and when she’s under the Hissing Lady’s power, she wants to punish the brother. But imo, the little fucker SHOULD be punished. Why are we making that Satanic? Sounds like justice to me. Anyway, I’m not a fan of being beaten over the head with bible stories. Gag me.
This book was LONG AS HELL. So much of it us extraneous details and the same words and sentiments repeated over and over.
The half star is for the narrator of the audiobook, who has a great voice and was able to give each character a little something different. Props to her.
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Dementia, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, and Classism
reclusivebookslug's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
On one hand, this book has an incredible ability to suck you in and keep you reading. Given the length of the book, I thought it might be more slow-paced or take its time on the exposition, but I was pleasantly surprised at how instantly gripping it was. It was very emotionally engaging and affected how I felt even when I was not actively reading it. At turns, it is scary, disturbing, sad, funny, and endearing. I was interested in the themes of generational trauma, cycles of abuse, and society's complicity in the evil of a few that allows suffering to spread.
On the other hand, I didn't enjoy the religious overtones of the latter part of the book and the reveal was something of a disappointment. It was grand in scale but not in emotional resonance for me. Sometimes plots of such cosmically huge proportions lose their impactfulness for me because they feel less personal. The very ending, in particular, I don't like.
The depictions of mental illness aren't the best. This is in line with part of a larger issue with the horror genre using mental illness as a plot device. There's also a very positive and uncritical depiction of a sheriff, which seems out of touch with the reality of the role of law enforcement.
The subplot of Mary Katherine's virgin pregnancy is annoying. The book ending with the implication that the baby will grow up to be the next pawn in the nice man's plan to escape Hell is such a disappointment. Despite the huge scale of the conflict, the resolution doesn't seem to reach that level of importance. Sure they escaped disaster, but it is only a temporary solution to a problem with no end in sight. I didn't expect them to kill the devil and rid the world of all evil or anything, but they didn't do anything to stop or change the cycle, they just created a slightly happier ending to this one circuit.
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Pregnancy
Mental health-related triggers are the biggest ones. They use a lot of common horror tropes like: not being able to trust your own thoughts; paranoia, hallucinations, and delusions being real; being constantly watched; the world ending; everyone but you and those close to you being crazy or out to get you; etc. which were upsetting to me, and I don't even have particular mental health reasons that make them triggering to me.jocy_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Death and Blood
Moderate: Alcoholism
Minor: Bullying and Child abuse
buecher_und_huehner's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
goodolmc's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, and Murder
jocelyn62013's review against another edition
I'm not halfway and I'm tired of "baby teeth" and the female characters being treated like trash (so far for no particular reason- that I would expect in classic horror but is part of why I prefer newer horror books). The first few chapters were good. After reading reviews, it apparently really drags on and gets a bit literal in it's metaphor so I decided not to force it and just read the epilogue. Reading the epilogue made me feel like DNF was the right choice.
Graphic: Bullying
Moderate: Ableism, Child death, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, and Alcohol
Minor: Child abuse, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Kidnapping
abbyg007's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Murder, and Pregnancy
fate_of_ansley's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Car accident, and Murder
sreilley's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
When the lines are crossed between reality and imagination, the lines of morality blur as well.
The main character is a young boy, 8 years old, but with the soul and wisdom of generations.
The small town in rural Pennsylvania finds itself plagued by a strange flu, terrifying thoughts, and a sudden span of time where nobody dies.
Christopher and the nice man come together to fight for good, but the fight isn't quite what Christopher expected...
Toward the end, I wished it would wrap up just a bit faster, but it was incredible and truly transformative.
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Physical abuse, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Classism
None of the content was too disturbing for me (and I'm really squeamish) but it might be for some.madysonlorraine's review against another edition
Also unacceptable decision made by the author, discussing eight year old’s genitalia.
It also seems to be going the route of using mental illness as a cop-out/plot device.
Simply not interested and I’m tired of authors being this way.
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Suicide, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis