Reviews tagging 'Car accident'

Penpal by Dathan Auerbach

41 reviews

aidareads's review

dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

this was exactly what i’ve been looking for all october!! it was so creepy and unsettling. the ending made me tear up though

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Death, Grief, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Stalking

Moderate: Car accident

Minor: Child abuse

_fallinglight_'s review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail and Stalking

Moderate: Pedophilia, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Child death, Car accident, Child abuse, Dementia, and Kidnapping

murmurations_x's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

3.5

How far can you go into the woods?

The one word I have to describe this book is eerie. It feels bizarre to say that this was an enjoyable read giving the subject matter, it was one of the few horror books I've ever read that I was actually creeped out by when reading at night, maybe because it felt very real.

There are parts of the story that feel a little drawn out but with this story being a creepy pasta originally I imagine it needed bulking up for traditional publishing. After reading each chapter I actually listened to a Mr. Creepypasta on YouTube read the original and though some elements of the book felt drawn out there where one of two added items that added good suspense.

Would recommend this book for sure, especially as a Halloween/October read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Child death, Stalking, and Death

Moderate: Animal death, Murder, Dementia, and Kidnapping

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Pedophilia, Car accident, Gaslighting, Grief, and Medical content

bashsbooks's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

What an eerie book. I was not expecting a horror that could, more or less, be real. I liked that aspect of it. I think that the jumping around in the timeline mostly works, but the sections where

Spoiler

the main character spent time with Veronica and then she died, felt kind of random and disjointed compared to the rest of the story. I know it was to reconnect him to Josh but I just felt like she appeared out of nowhere just to die.

That said, I really enjoyed most of this book, and while I feel like I guessed a lot of what was going to happen, that didn't really ruin the experience of watching the mystery unfold. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Car accident, Grief, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Stalking, and Child death

Moderate: Murder

Minor: Cursing, Animal death, and Bullying

isobelthefrog's review

dark emotional sad tense medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, and Stalking

Moderate: Pedophilia

Minor: Kidnapping

killmoore_'s review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

1000Vultures (Dathan Auerbach) has been one of my favorite nosleep authors for years, so going in to Penpal I was very familiar with the stories within, and I was thrilled to not only be able to support a wonderful author, but to have one of my favorite collections of nosleep stories on my shelf.

Penpal is a story that takes us on a journey into the past as a man works to unravel the mystery of his lost friend and the unsettling experiences of his childhood. It is dripping with dread, and each story leaves you feeling like maaaybe you should check to make sure the doors are locked one more time before heading to bed.

What makes Penpal successful for me is what we are left without. We never see the monster. In fact, there is a significant section of this book that works to shut down the idea of our villain as the Boogeyman - he's just a man. 

On its own, Penpal is horrific, but as a parent myself with 2 boys in the age range of our MC, it is absolutely gut wrenching. 

I'm not giving this 5 stars simply because of the format - it reads very much like a nosleep post (which it is) and tends to be a bit wordy and disconnected at points. However, if nosleep is your jam, or maybe you just want to read something that will leave you sick to your stomach, Penpal is the perfect novel for you.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Child death, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Stalking, Bullying, Grief, and Pedophilia

ivymaew's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Blood, Car accident, Child abuse, and Dementia

Moderate: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, and Murder

Minor: Torture, Murder, Violence, and Pedophilia

gabforshort's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Stalking

Moderate: Car accident

fancypotato1995's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, Child death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Death, and Stalking

kyra_joy's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-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 was a great quick book to read, it had a tense and creepy atmosphere, it also felt fully real like something that could actually happen. The characters were all great though him being six years old in a lot of it felt a little off but I still really enjoyed it.

I also really enjoyed the time jumping around, and the order that the story was told really add to the overall creep factor. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Murder, and Stalking