eggplantia5's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I was curious about this book well before the movie, as there was a fair amount of controversy around the ending when it first came out.
I think it was a little hard for me to get through at times because the writing was a little stilted. The differing perspectives were fine, although with relatively few characters, I feel like we could have gotten some more perspective from all the strangers.
A tense and creepy book - not going to be everyone's cup of tea. I think I probably would not have finished it had I not been so curious about the debate around the ending.
Spoiler
The ending is definitely ambiguous but I feel like the 4 strangers were telling the truth, and that the world was ending. What was conveyed through the book, sure, was self-reported, but that is all the evidence we have - we don't have any evidence that they did confabulate a bizarre story. We don't have evidence that they knew each other or were somehow set up in an elaborate scheme. There is no specific reason why this family was targeted. The potential coincidence of the one guy potentially being the one to beat up one of the dads was not 100% confirmed, in my opinion.
Borrowed from library, probably won't re-read.
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, and Death
demartinodoc's review
- 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? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Gore, Child death, Gun violence, and Violence
Moderate: Hate crime, Suicide, and Homophobia
Minor: Animal death
thesapphiccelticbookworm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Graphic: Murder, Child death, Violence, Death, and Gun violence
Moderate: Homophobia and Religious bigotry
Minor: Animal death
mousey's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Child death, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Torture, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Gun violence, Hate crime, Medical content, Gore, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Violence, Cursing, and Death
camillesuzannes's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.25
Graphic: Child death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Gore, Death, and Gun violence
Minor: Animal death
rachaelallyn's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Vomit
Moderate: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, and Child abuse