randie's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
guywho_reads's review against another edition
3.0
3.75 ⭐️
Im branding this as Carrie if she was Cujo mixed with the Phantom of the Opera (I mean Sing to me sing to Pearl was tooo much)
Pearl led me to realize how much I love reading from the perspective of animals. That being said this concept is super original genius. I’m really a big fan of Josh Malermans brain for horror. Pearl is about this pig which develops mind controlling powers and carries out a revenge plot against his captures. It’s dark and gory and just a little bit ridiculous which I think worked great.
Plot recap with SPOILERS:
Pearl opens with this mom and her two sons going to visit her dad on the farm she grew up on. The little boy goes into the pig pen and just decides to brutally murder a pig, totally out of character for him. Everyone in this small farming town hears about it because the kid claims that one of the other pigs made him do it. Three teenagers go to the farm with the hopes of meeting the killer pig and end up in a fight for survival. When they arrive at the farm they find the farmer dead and an army of pigs waiting for them to capture. We jump to the farmers daughter as she processes what her son did. It brings up a lot of memories from her traumatic past. She always had weird feelings towards one of the pigs named Pearl. Her dad named him after his ‘dead eye’. The daughter always just got bad vibes from Pearl and it got so bad she had to ran away from the farm. We find out that Pearl was forcing the farmer to teach him literally everything he could in order to rise up and revolt against the farmer. He murders a farmer, but his real revenge plot is to take out this other guy named Bill Buck(?) or something- I literally know no names from this book. Bill Buck (maybe?) is like the lead guy in the pig trading business. He’s this super evil, rich man who takes pleasure in hurting and miss treating the pigs. We find out later on that he murdered Pearls mother right in front of him and then put out his cigarette in Pearls eye. In this sense it’s giving Carrie vibes- like a good for her situation. The plot, ultimately comes to this big battle on the farm with the farmer’s daughter, her two sons, and Bill Buck(?) against Pearl. ~ I don’t remember how this ends haha I’m pretty sure they shoot Pearl but his ‘bad’ eye lives on or something creepy like that. I’ll have to re read the last chapter and then update ~
Final thoughts: I thought the mind control stuff was really cool. It madd it so you never trusted anyone, left to wonder if they were bad or if they were controlled by Pearl. I like the plot layout of Pearl making the farmer teach him everything so he could develop and advance his scheme. Overall, it was entertaining maybe a bit drawn out for being such a short book- it took me a while to read.
Im branding this as Carrie if she was Cujo mixed with the Phantom of the Opera (I mean Sing to me sing to Pearl was tooo much)
Pearl led me to realize how much I love reading from the perspective of animals. That being said this concept is super original genius. I’m really a big fan of Josh Malermans brain for horror. Pearl is about this pig which develops mind controlling powers and carries out a revenge plot against his captures. It’s dark and gory and just a little bit ridiculous which I think worked great.
Plot recap with SPOILERS:
Pearl opens with this mom and her two sons going to visit her dad on the farm she grew up on. The little boy goes into the pig pen and just decides to brutally murder a pig, totally out of character for him. Everyone in this small farming town hears about it because the kid claims that one of the other pigs made him do it. Three teenagers go to the farm with the hopes of meeting the killer pig and end up in a fight for survival. When they arrive at the farm they find the farmer dead and an army of pigs waiting for them to capture. We jump to the farmers daughter as she processes what her son did. It brings up a lot of memories from her traumatic past. She always had weird feelings towards one of the pigs named Pearl. Her dad named him after his ‘dead eye’. The daughter always just got bad vibes from Pearl and it got so bad she had to ran away from the farm. We find out that Pearl was forcing the farmer to teach him literally everything he could in order to rise up and revolt against the farmer. He murders a farmer, but his real revenge plot is to take out this other guy named Bill Buck(?) or something- I literally know no names from this book. Bill Buck (maybe?) is like the lead guy in the pig trading business. He’s this super evil, rich man who takes pleasure in hurting and miss treating the pigs. We find out later on that he murdered Pearls mother right in front of him and then put out his cigarette in Pearls eye. In this sense it’s giving Carrie vibes- like a good for her situation. The plot, ultimately comes to this big battle on the farm with the farmer’s daughter, her two sons, and Bill Buck(?) against Pearl. ~ I don’t remember how this ends haha I’m pretty sure they shoot Pearl but his ‘bad’ eye lives on or something creepy like that. I’ll have to re read the last chapter and then update ~
Final thoughts: I thought the mind control stuff was really cool. It madd it so you never trusted anyone, left to wonder if they were bad or if they were controlled by Pearl. I like the plot layout of Pearl making the farmer teach him everything so he could develop and advance his scheme. Overall, it was entertaining maybe a bit drawn out for being such a short book- it took me a while to read.
lexitrumble's review against another edition
3.0
Weird. Freaking weird.
This was written well. Really, really, really well. Josh Malerman is an incredible author, but this was bizarre. 2 of these stars are for the writing, one is for the body horror.
A murderous telepathic pig. That’s what the story is about. You’re reading reviews correctly. It’s not an allegory, or a metaphor, or a trick of a character’s mind. It’s an actual evil pig, and it’s the definition of camp.
This was written well. Really, really, really well. Josh Malerman is an incredible author, but this was bizarre. 2 of these stars are for the writing, one is for the body horror.
A murderous telepathic pig. That’s what the story is about. You’re reading reviews correctly. It’s not an allegory, or a metaphor, or a trick of a character’s mind. It’s an actual evil pig, and it’s the definition of camp.
blind_lawyer's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Very creepy, and a good take on a trope that's been done before.
Sing for Pearl.
Sing for Pearl.
littlespookycute's review against another edition
3.0
This book was so promising! I loved the idea of a killer pig (some of y'all did not) but I just got really bored.
jessicaw8's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
selfiegrandpa's review against another edition
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.75
Man am I disappointed 😔 I usually say I wish books were longer but I really wish this one had been 100 pages shorter. I really liked the concept and the first 30% I was completely invested. It then starts to drag and what feels like a really great set up and pace then turns into a bunch of different perspectives and background that I felt didn’t add anything. I then hit 70% and I was ready to be done with it!
I think a big flaw is that it attempts to add too many characters and their sides when in reality it should have been a max of 4 characters with 2 main people that we really actually care to read about. I will say there were a few scenes that made me a little uncomfortable so that was nice but overall the pace takes away from any real suspense or horror for me.
I think a big flaw is that it attempts to add too many characters and their sides when in reality it should have been a max of 4 characters with 2 main people that we really actually care to read about. I will say there were a few scenes that made me a little uncomfortable so that was nice but overall the pace takes away from any real suspense or horror for me.
w333d_w0rm's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
This was really great. Makes me wanna get the physical book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Death, and Gore
Minor: Vomit
Spoiler
The ending really was fever dreamish. I loved that plot twist because wow that’s horrifying. Like damn Susan and Jerry’s instincts are kicking in for a reason. They need to get as FAAR away as possible. And ~maybe~ they would be safe.minimalistvampyre's review against another edition
dark
inspiring
tense
fast-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
3.5
Cruelty breeds cruelty. One could argue Pearl was a tyrant, or was Pearl simply doing what all of us raised on a farm know how to do: killing? I finished this book in about two hours. I love how Pearl's "voice" given. Some timelines were, at points, difficult to follow. Over all, I loved it and will be adding Pearl to my personal collection.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Violence, Gore, and Animal death