Reviews

The Apparition Phase by Will Maclean

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jacobee's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

sugoimax's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious

4.0

arthurninesheep's review

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4.0

A fast paced read with a few twists and turns. Some of the dialogue (Seb, introduced in Part II) felt clunky and awkward. Otherwise, I really enjoyed this book.

matasatan's review

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5.0

Well this book was absolutely the best horror book for 2020. I truly absorbed the book in 2 days. Highly recommended!

isabelsophiex's review

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dark emotional tense medium-paced

4.0

thetamari's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.75

Ghost stories are to me the trickiest genre - so many common beats need to be covered, but there still has to be a sense of unpredictability. Maclean achieves this balance by making our lead character and his twin sister connoisseurs of the paranormal. The injection of something unpredictable is the presence of grief, which propels the protagonist’s story forwards. If you grew up with the Usborne Supernatural Guides, there’s a lot of nostalgic shout-outs to be enjoyed here. The greatest success of this book is how it captures people’s emotional responses with honesty, making it a bit more special than a standard spooky story.