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A review by poetsofsweetpea
The Angel of Indian Lake by Stephen Graham Jones
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
It is always a shock to me when a horror novel wrecks me. It's not that it is hard to bring me to tears, coffee commercials at Christmas time can do it. It's just, when a novel spends a good amount of time ripping the guts from its characters, I figure mine are safe. The Angel of Indian Lake though, gutted me. It's not just that I love Jade. She's one of the few characters in fiction that I genuinely adore, that I want to reach into the pages of the book and shake because she can't see how special she is. It's also because her growth is so completely perfect. While the other novels in the series felt like love letters to the genre of slashers, this third and final installment felt, to me, like an homage to the American experience. In that it highlighted our obsession with pop culture until it mirrors our everyday lives. The seeds may come from foreign places, but the fruit is all ours, the soil, the climate, and the future of the plant are in the hands of the depraved and brave. There are so many things I want to say about this novel. I want to write about why this book made me cry, but I hate spoilers in reviews. I'm also never sure if it is just me or if every reader will love it as much as I do. There were fewer POV's in this one and I was grateful for that. The POV's that emerge also had voices that were different. I was never lost in who was telling me the story. I am glad most of it was from Jade. I listened to the audio book and having Steven King be the voice of the teacher was so perfect. I almost don't want to tell anyone, just so it can hit them the way it hit me. In a lot of ways The Angel of Indian Lake felt like three books, like there were three final scenes. The book was full of blood. It was leaking out on every page, but it also had heart.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail