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A review by alikath
The Loop by Jeremy Robert Johnson
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- 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? No
2.5
2.5 stars I think. I just felt so emotionally distant from this the whole time.
This should be a plot line I would love. It deals with the excesses of a tech corporation that reminded me of Bad Blood in an interesting way. However, I just could not get into the plot of this and I just didn't really feel for the characters. There is a mixed media element to this (sort of; there's only three instances of it) and I really wanted more of that. When they do show up, they feel like a sort of out-of-voice way of info-dumping what was happening. I don't think this is a terrible way of making sure readers are up to speed but I just wanted more of them so it would feel more integrated into the plot rather than just showing up with important plot info and then disappearing.
I thought that Lucy as a character was interesting but ultimately I never felt connected to her plight. The action of this book kicks off very quickly. When I'm reading horror, I want a bit of time to get to know the characters and feel tension start to build before the bad guy is revealed. Not every horror has to be like that but it's what I prefer and I didn't get any of that here. Because of that, I didn't feel anything when the characters were in danger, which really diminished the horror for me. This book falls more on the body horror side of things but even that wasn't that frightening to me and I usually hate reading about gore. I just wanted a greater scare factor from this.
Ultimately, I think this is fine. The writing is fine and the plot is fine. I just didn't connect with it, which left me a bit bored while reading.
This should be a plot line I would love. It deals with the excesses of a tech corporation that reminded me of Bad Blood in an interesting way. However, I just could not get into the plot of this and I just didn't really feel for the characters. There is a mixed media element to this (sort of; there's only three instances of it) and I really wanted more of that. When they do show up, they feel like a sort of out-of-voice way of info-dumping what was happening. I don't think this is a terrible way of making sure readers are up to speed but I just wanted more of them so it would feel more integrated into the plot rather than just showing up with important plot info and then disappearing.
I thought that Lucy as a character was interesting but ultimately I never felt connected to her plight. The action of this book kicks off very quickly. When I'm reading horror, I want a bit of time to get to know the characters and feel tension start to build before the bad guy is revealed. Not every horror has to be like that but it's what I prefer and I didn't get any of that here. Because of that, I didn't feel anything when the characters were in danger, which really diminished the horror for me. This book falls more on the body horror side of things but even that wasn't that frightening to me and I usually hate reading about gore. I just wanted a greater scare factor from this.
Ultimately, I think this is fine. The writing is fine and the plot is fine. I just didn't connect with it, which left me a bit bored while reading.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, and Death of parent