haliwafa's review
5.0
This book has just been sitting on my self for a long time. I was scared that it was going to be boring so I decided against reading it for a long time. I have never read the first two but this book does a great job with connecting the characters and the plot that it is not necessary.
I loved the main character: John Cleaver. It was clearly evident that he did not feel typical emotions. Dan Wells did a great job with allowing the reader to get into the characters minds and letting us feel empathy for their emotions or lack thereof.
It was fast paced and the twists at the end had me reeling with sorrow, excitement, and contempt. I could not believe some of the stuff that happened and it all happened so abruptly. I loved this book and I am really contemplating buying the first two to see what twists are in store.
I loved the main character: John Cleaver. It was clearly evident that he did not feel typical emotions. Dan Wells did a great job with allowing the reader to get into the characters minds and letting us feel empathy for their emotions or lack thereof.
It was fast paced and the twists at the end had me reeling with sorrow, excitement, and contempt. I could not believe some of the stuff that happened and it all happened so abruptly. I loved this book and I am really contemplating buying the first two to see what twists are in store.
natenason's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
heiditighe's review
5.0
This book didn't scare me, which confuses me because it seems like it did many others, but it thrilled me, moved me, inspired me.
First, his characters: in addition to John Wayne Cleaver, who's a pretty unique fellow in and of himself, Wells creates amazing characters. He doesn't take shortcuts or rely on tropes and stereotypes. The voluptuous most popular girl at school? Guess what--she's not an empty-headed bimbo. She's smart, reflective, even wise. Wayne's mother is neither the denial-ridden, emotionally absent parent nor the uber-controlling fix-it freak. She's just a mom who loves her kid and who's going to insist on loving him even though he's a sociopath. Brooke isn't the adoring rescuee--she's the teenage girl who's freaked out because she was held hostage and had a knife at her throat.
Next, plot. Most of the time, I guess books' endings and I'm either right or disappointed because the ending I guessed was better than the ending the author used. This almost always happens when I know in advance that it's a "didn't see THAT coming ending." But in this case, I truly didn't see that coming and what came was way better than what I expected. And wells executes something else (which I can't elaborate on without spoiling the book) that SHOULD feel forced but doesn't because he brings it about so subtly. Excellent stuff.
Finally, feel. I don't know why, but this series feels intimate. Maybe it's because you're inside the head of an completely candid serial killer. Maybe it's because the characters are so real. Whatever the reason, you feel like you need to own this book because you just can't let Cleaver go.
I should add that this book got the MIL award: my mother-in-law borrowed my copy and then called to ask if she could lend it to her friend. Score!
First, his characters: in addition to John Wayne Cleaver, who's a pretty unique fellow in and of himself, Wells creates amazing characters. He doesn't take shortcuts or rely on tropes and stereotypes. The voluptuous most popular girl at school? Guess what--she's not an empty-headed bimbo. She's smart, reflective, even wise. Wayne's mother is neither the denial-ridden, emotionally absent parent nor the uber-controlling fix-it freak. She's just a mom who loves her kid and who's going to insist on loving him even though he's a sociopath. Brooke isn't the adoring rescuee--she's the teenage girl who's freaked out because she was held hostage and had a knife at her throat.
Next, plot. Most of the time, I guess books' endings and I'm either right or disappointed because the ending I guessed was better than the ending the author used. This almost always happens when I know in advance that it's a "didn't see THAT coming ending." But in this case, I truly didn't see that coming and what came was way better than what I expected. And wells executes something else (which I can't elaborate on without spoiling the book) that SHOULD feel forced but doesn't because he brings it about so subtly. Excellent stuff.
Finally, feel. I don't know why, but this series feels intimate. Maybe it's because you're inside the head of an completely candid serial killer. Maybe it's because the characters are so real. Whatever the reason, you feel like you need to own this book because you just can't let Cleaver go.
I should add that this book got the MIL award: my mother-in-law borrowed my copy and then called to ask if she could lend it to her friend. Score!
rhythmofryn's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
gmvader's review
5.0
John Wayne Cleaver is a teenage sociopath. He lacks the ability to form emotional connections with people and to feel empathy. He is also obsessed with serial killers. Having studied serial killers and their habits and psychological profiles he has begun to recognize in himself many of the signs of their behavior. Afraid of becoming one of the subjects of his obsession he creates a series of rules to govern himself based on how he observes others behaving around each other.
In the previous two books he was forced to compromise and even break those rules to save the people of his community from a terrifying demon that was in their midst. Now the consequences of those actions have come around full circle and John is forced to confront his own personal nightmare and to look it in the eye.
Another serial killer has come to town and in the midst of yet another killer stalking the streets there has been a rash of suicides in the community. John knows the killer is a demon… because he invited her to come to town. Now he needs to find her and kill her so that she cannot hurt anybody else.
If these stories were told by anybody else they wouldn’t be worth reading. John has a wry sense of humor that he employs at just the right times to make us laugh even while we are ready to cry for him.
Many people refer to the humor of these books as the element that makes John likeable and I suppose that might be part of it. I think it’s more than that. His particular disability makes him incapable of empathy and he tends to fantasize about killing and hurting people. But he doesn’t. He overcomes his desires and temptations. That struggle is what relates him to all of us. Everybody struggles – hopefully not with a desire to kill – and most people know what its like to walk away from something that we know we want right now but we will regret later. That makes John one of us and it can be rather shocking how familiar many of his problems feel.
Dan Wells has written a trilogy of books – and I hope even more – that should not ever have to end. They are the kind of stories that you can’t put down but fervently hope the end is farther away than it is.
It’s kind of a staple of young adult fiction that the main character must have a broken or dysfunctional family – look at any Disney family for example – and these books are no exception. The difference is that John’s mother really does love him and he really does love her. He shows it in odd ways, he is, after all, a sociopath, and they don’t always get along but they love each other. His father is a different story.
There is physical danger to character in this book but the parts where Dan Wells tears your heart out and squeezes it in his fist are the parts where John realizes that he’s going to have to let out Mr. Monster in order to save people that he is incapable of caring about.
This book gets marketed as horror but it is so much more than that.
In the previous two books he was forced to compromise and even break those rules to save the people of his community from a terrifying demon that was in their midst. Now the consequences of those actions have come around full circle and John is forced to confront his own personal nightmare and to look it in the eye.
Another serial killer has come to town and in the midst of yet another killer stalking the streets there has been a rash of suicides in the community. John knows the killer is a demon… because he invited her to come to town. Now he needs to find her and kill her so that she cannot hurt anybody else.
If these stories were told by anybody else they wouldn’t be worth reading. John has a wry sense of humor that he employs at just the right times to make us laugh even while we are ready to cry for him.
Many people refer to the humor of these books as the element that makes John likeable and I suppose that might be part of it. I think it’s more than that. His particular disability makes him incapable of empathy and he tends to fantasize about killing and hurting people. But he doesn’t. He overcomes his desires and temptations. That struggle is what relates him to all of us. Everybody struggles – hopefully not with a desire to kill – and most people know what its like to walk away from something that we know we want right now but we will regret later. That makes John one of us and it can be rather shocking how familiar many of his problems feel.
Dan Wells has written a trilogy of books – and I hope even more – that should not ever have to end. They are the kind of stories that you can’t put down but fervently hope the end is farther away than it is.
It’s kind of a staple of young adult fiction that the main character must have a broken or dysfunctional family – look at any Disney family for example – and these books are no exception. The difference is that John’s mother really does love him and he really does love her. He shows it in odd ways, he is, after all, a sociopath, and they don’t always get along but they love each other. His father is a different story.
There is physical danger to character in this book but the parts where Dan Wells tears your heart out and squeezes it in his fist are the parts where John realizes that he’s going to have to let out Mr. Monster in order to save people that he is incapable of caring about.
This book gets marketed as horror but it is so much more than that.
jennjohnson's review
5.0
I don't think a rating system exists that conveys the right feeling for these books.
Well-written, incredibly creative worldbuilding, with characters I adore, and twists I never see coming. And each one with a title I can't speak too loudly in public without getting A Look from strangers. They're delightful.
This one, though. I wasn't ready for it...Immediately after I finished it, I wanted to throw it into the fireplace. Instead I stared at the ceiling for an hour, trying to figure out what went wrong.
Was what happened, John's fault? Was it because he broke his rules? Or was it because he just does not understand what he's dealing with?...
John's such a brilliant protagonist, caught between empathy and sociopathy, and between normal living and an entire world he isn't ready to face. His voice is perfectly realized, and every unbelievable thing that happens to and around him is tempered by his disassociation.
I recommend these books so hard, but I also recommend that you brace yourself for them. They pack a hell of a punch.
Well-written, incredibly creative worldbuilding, with characters I adore, and twists I never see coming. And each one with a title I can't speak too loudly in public without getting A Look from strangers. They're delightful.
This one, though. I wasn't ready for it...Immediately after I finished it, I wanted to throw it into the fireplace. Instead I stared at the ceiling for an hour, trying to figure out what went wrong.
Was what happened, John's fault? Was it because he broke his rules? Or was it because he just does not understand what he's dealing with?...
John's such a brilliant protagonist, caught between empathy and sociopathy, and between normal living and an entire world he isn't ready to face. His voice is perfectly realized, and every unbelievable thing that happens to and around him is tempered by his disassociation.
I recommend these books so hard, but I also recommend that you brace yourself for them. They pack a hell of a punch.
mairio's review against another edition
3.0
re-read 2022: I agree with my past self. this book was annoyingly slow-paced.
can't wait to read the sequels now which are unknown territory for me.
-------
2014: all in all this series was ok, I'd rate it with 3,5 stars. I didn't like those paranormal elements with all those demons tho, since I expected something completely different...
and in most parts I had to fight my way through the chapters... especially the third book was a long ass read
can't wait to read the sequels now which are unknown territory for me.
-------
2014: all in all this series was ok, I'd rate it with 3,5 stars. I didn't like those paranormal elements with all those demons tho, since I expected something completely different...
and in most parts I had to fight my way through the chapters... especially the third book was a long ass read