kier__'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Animal death, Violence, Mental illness, Murder, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Cursing, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
ilaxaria's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Moderate: Death, Animal cruelty, Bullying, and Transphobia
thechocolatefinger's review against another edition
- 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
1.75
Peter = Fred (leader)
Kerri = Daphne (popular) + Velma (smart)
Nate = Shaggy (on drugs and vaguely mentally ill)
Tim = Scooby Doo (dog)
Andy was just a tomboy and didn’t reflect any of the characters tbh
The writing style was like half normal speech and then written like a script sometimes. It was inconsistent and annoying. There was some breaking-the-4th-wall metaphors and descriptions which were funny though
Overall it was bad and it was so clearly man writing lesbian relationship
The trans character wasn’t even trans unless it was so transphobic that the writer thinks trans people choose to be trans
it was a
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Ace Ventura filmGraphic: Violence
Moderate: Outing, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gore, Gun violence, Suicide, and Sexual content
Minor: Bullying and Transphobia
The transphobia wasn’t even to a “real” trans character but they did out her and then misgendered her they were really annoying vibes to the tomboy girl and it was vaguely transphobic/homophobichauntedboi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, and Gun violence
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Car accident, Confinement, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Murder, and Cursing
Minor: Addiction, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, and Drug use
ash_ton's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
First, though, no matter how much I complain, I did like the book. I like the concept of the
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talismansSpoiler
the kids to be part of the ritual.Spoiler
Dunia Deboen to be involved, nor was I expecting her to be Damian Deboen.These are things I know others have talked about, so I'm just going to be another voice agreeing with them. The random insertion of the script format throughout the book wa sso jarring and unecessary. It did nothing for the storyline. If all the dialogue would have been in script format, sure. But that would've sucked and I would have hated it lol. In the same vein, I hated the amount of ridiculous "big" words added that seemingly were only there to beef up the sentences. Also, the made up words as well. Myriaphonic, as far as I can tell from googling, is not a real word. After some clicks, I found out a miraphone is a type of tuba, so maybe that's what he was going for? But like, bud. Pick something else.
The one random 4th wall break 75% into the book was also super jarring and unnecessary to me. If you're going to break the 4th wall, only doing it once isn't gonna cut it. Is the book self-aware or not?
My one last small gripe is how
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Dunia/Damian spoke at the end. Like he was trying to be old but hip at the same time. No one, not even a 200 year old dude, is gonna talk that cringy and weird.One last thing. I'm confused about the ending. I get that Tim is Sean's great-grandson. Fine. Makes sense. But
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the spirit inhabiting Tim says he's been possessing all the dogs and that it got easier when Kerri was at college? And then the spirit makes Tim smile "bittersweetly" and says "It's all been done before." Bro wtf does that mean.Bottom line: I liked the book/story, I just mostly hated some of the writing style. Usually, I can get over that and in this case I did. I'd still recommend it, especially if you like Scooby Doo and/or retellings.
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Violence, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Grief, Gun violence, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Blood, Drug use, Murder, and Suicide
Minor: Lesbophobia, Homophobia, and Transphobia
calamity_cal's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.5
Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gun violence, Mental illness, and Violence
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Bullying and Lesbophobia
laurajones's review against another edition
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, and Violence
Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual harassment, and Transphobia
Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Car accident, Colonisation, Confinement, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, and Vomit
peytonmooneyyy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Moderate: Bullying and Mental illness
Minor: Suicide