Reviews with content warning for Child death - Penpal

while some may find the nonchronological flow of this book confusing, i found that it contributed to the novel being incredibly suspenseful. a few questions remain unanswered, but i personally enjoy when a book leaves me with something to think about after i finish it. a chilling example of the horrors of reality and how hard it can be to accept and understand that humans can be just as terrifying as monsters or ghost.

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lady_grey_with_honey's review against another edition

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dark sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This horror story is narrated by a young man who is reflecting back on many strange occurrences from his childhood. In each of the six chapters, he lays out some significant experience, based on what he remembers, starting in kindergarten and progressing through his teen years. These glimpses into his coming-of-age begin innocently - with a school project or an activity with a friend - and slowly ramp up to something terrifying, but inexplicable. He eventually enlists the help of his mother to piece it all together - the truth of what was really happening all those years is devastating. This story was originally released in sections on the r/nosleep forum on Reddit and adapted for The NoSleep Podcast. Fans loved it so much that the author launched an extremely successful Kickstarter to self-publish it as a novel in 2012. I loved it too and stayed up too late some nights because I couldn't put it down. The only reason that I didn't give this a full 5 stars was because the very end of the book became a bit confusing in a few ways. I finished in astonishment and then spent an hour on Reddit threads reading long discussions about the ending in order to make sure I wasn't missing something.

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pryingblackbird's review against another edition

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dark sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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g_xandra's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.25

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lugosi147's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This book is deeply deeply scary and tense at times and so deeply deeply tragic in others. The author has a knack for crafting horror and pathos into an incredibly paced narrative.

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nospaddy's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Seriously creepy and upsetting. The book’s structure and simplicity really plays to its benefit as the story unfolds. Best to go in without knowing anything.

Content Warnings

nalakoala's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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