A review by l1ndz7
What Stalks Among Us by Sarah Hollowell
dark
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I liked this book a lot for what it was, a YA horror novel. The main characters, Sadie and Logan, are a great example of a good friendship looks like. They are so supportive, empathetic and they never give up on each other. They both get trapped in this crazy corn maze that is a mixture of something you would see in a horror movie and/or video game. They both make a lot of references to this throughout the story, which can seem repetitive, but serves as a way for them to process their situation and strategize how to get out. There are time loops, restarts, and a wide variety of rooms throughout the corn maze that poor Sadie and Logan have to navigate together with corn monsters, a sheep skeleton, and Helena trying to kill them.
After we were introduced to Helena, I couldn't get the MCR song called "Helena" out of my mind hahaha. I also may have pictured Helena in the story as the one featured in the MCR music video hehe IYKYK. I noticed a lot of parallels between the song and this story in regards to both Helenas.
I loved the representation in this book. Sadie is a plus-sized, neurodivergent, queer FMC and Logan was her amazing, also neurodivergent, best friend! The story is told only from Sadie's POV and I think it would have added to the story if the author had a POV from Logan as well. He was with her the entire time and whenever they would have to restart, they couldn't without each other. "There is no Logan without Sadie. There is no Sadie without Logan."
The ending felt rushed to me and didn't provide answers about the maze in the same depth that the author went into with everything else in the story. That seems to be a common occurence in endings though but I might be in the minority here in thinking so. Overall, I did like this and thought the premise was original and interesting. Thank you to HarperCollins and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
After we were introduced to Helena, I couldn't get the MCR song called "Helena" out of my mind hahaha. I also may have pictured Helena in the story as the one featured in the MCR music video hehe IYKYK. I noticed a lot of parallels between the song and this story in regards to both Helenas.
I loved the representation in this book. Sadie is a plus-sized, neurodivergent, queer FMC and Logan was her amazing, also neurodivergent, best friend! The story is told only from Sadie's POV and I think it would have added to the story if the author had a POV from Logan as well. He was with her the entire time and whenever they would have to restart, they couldn't without each other. "There is no Logan without Sadie. There is no Sadie without Logan."
The ending felt rushed to me and didn't provide answers about the maze in the same depth that the author went into with everything else in the story. That seems to be a common occurence in endings though but I might be in the minority here in thinking so. Overall, I did like this and thought the premise was original and interesting. Thank you to HarperCollins and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Minor: Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, and Emotional abuse