minimicropup's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Fanatical, sanguine, peculiar
Our MC, struggling with their life of loneliness and instability, finds solace in true crime podcasts. When their favourite host stops posting, the last bright spot in their life is gone and they fear the worst has happened.
🇺🇸 Set in Happy Camp and a nearby ranch in Northern California, USA
🐺Growls, Howls, and Tail Wags🐕
😃 The present tense narration directed exclusively at the podcast host added to the creepy elements and drew me in from the first chapter. I did not want this book to end and there were multiple times where I thought "where could we possibly go from here?"
👍😃 If you aren't big into true crime I think this would still be an interesting story, but if you are a fan or regular consumer, it's enhanced by references to common tips and actual 'infamous' true crime cases paired with fictionalized ones that seemed so plausible I found myself looking them up. Each chapter starts with a blurb from a case that hints at the theme and event to come.
🥺 The character development (respectfully) plays in the area between highly sensitive neurodivergence and completely unhinged delusional danger. At first I was there for all the cringe Sera brings to the story but then I started to care for her. It isn't contrived or convenient, but she was still annoying so you may struggle with this if you don't like think-yelling things like "what is WRONG with you?!" and "No, no do NOT go over there and say those things!"
🤪 Creepy small town isolation with an odd family done right. Each character is 'off' in their own way and we go back and forth about trusting them and their explanations for what is going on. The isolation comes from not knowing where the safe spaces are anymore and being too invested to leave...but still being able to.
😳 I wish there was a ranch map at the start. The ranch has all these well drawn out regions where we spend a lot of time and I kept misplacing them in relation to others.
😍 The suspense comes from the eerie undercurrent, figuring out who to trust, getting invested along with the MC in what is going on and if anyone is even in danger and if so, who? There are times where nothing much happens but I love that in stories as long as it's used to build more suspense and mystery and is paired with good character, plot, or world development.
🤷♀️ This is the kind of story where you can predict what happened because we are consistently getting clues (and lets face it, our MC is rather dense), but possibilities are varied so even if you guess the 'big bad', there is still the mystery of why and how. The ending felt too chaotic and rushed at one point, but it evened out.
📺 I want this to be a mini-series. It reminded by of Bloodline on Netflix (vibes, not story).
🐺Growls, Howls, and Tail Wags🐕
😃 The present tense narration directed exclusively at the podcast host added to the creepy elements and drew me in from the first chapter. I did not want this book to end and there were multiple times where I thought "where could we possibly go from here?"
👍😃 If you aren't big into true crime I think this would still be an interesting story, but if you are a fan or regular consumer, it's enhanced by references to common tips and actual 'infamous' true crime cases paired with fictionalized ones that seemed so plausible I found myself looking them up. Each chapter starts with a blurb from a case that hints at the theme and event to come.
🥺 The character development (respectfully) plays in the area between highly sensitive neurodivergence and completely unhinged delusional danger. At first I was there for all the cringe Sera brings to the story but then I started to care for her. It isn't contrived or convenient, but she was still annoying so you may struggle with this if you don't like think-yelling things like "what is WRONG with you?!" and "No, no do NOT go over there and say those things!"
🤪 Creepy small town isolation with an odd family done right. Each character is 'off' in their own way and we go back and forth about trusting them and their explanations for what is going on. The isolation comes from not knowing where the safe spaces are anymore and being too invested to leave...but still being able to.
😳 I wish there was a ranch map at the start. The ranch has all these well drawn out regions where we spend a lot of time and I kept misplacing them in relation to others.
😍 The suspense comes from the eerie undercurrent, figuring out who to trust, getting invested along with the MC in what is going on and if anyone is even in danger and if so, who? There are times where nothing much happens but I love that in stories as long as it's used to build more suspense and mystery and is paired with good character, plot, or world development.
🤷♀️ This is the kind of story where you can predict what happened because we are consistently getting clues (and lets face it, our MC is rather dense), but possibilities are varied so even if you guess the 'big bad', there is still the mystery of why and how. The ending felt too chaotic and rushed at one point, but it evened out.
📺 I want this to be a mini-series. It reminded by of Bloodline on Netflix (vibes, not story).
Mood Reading Match Up:
- Plot and themes around true crime (podcasts and listeners) and domesticity
- Missing person that reads like a true crime case
- Slightly ‘off’ broken narrator + creepy everybody
- Eerie isolated small town and secretive ranch world building
- Stuck together/forced proximity romance
Content Heads-Up: Obsession. Mental Illness (anxiety, panic, sleep disorders). Gaslighting. Loneliness. Vomit. Animal death and cruelty. Sexual content (consenting). Alcohol use (self medicating, addiction). Childfree by choice rep. Car accident.
For animal death and cruelty:
For animal death and cruelty:
Spoiler
some of it is just what come from being surrounded by nature and living on a ranch with wild animals around, some of it is cat and horse murder, and the rest is cruelty where livestock are harmed because of human inaction to prevent itFormat: Paperback
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Vomit
Minor: Sexual content and Car accident
nickoliver's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-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
1.0
This is possibly the stupidest thriller I've ever read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Murder, Stalking, and Vomit
Moderate: Gun violence, Infidelity, and Suicide
Minor: Pregnancy and Sexual content
carisamarie's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Violence, Kidnapping, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Stalking, Sexual content, Sexism, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Miscarriage, Infidelity, Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, Drug use, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Death, Confinement, Car accident, Blood, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Alcoholism, and Alcohol
More...