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thelovelydove's review against another edition
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
The writing is bad, I don't have another way to describe it. It is repetitive, the grammar is not good, and the word choices make me cringe. The author never lets you bond with the characters and I really didn't care about what happens to them.
The book is not scary and the only real horror is body horror. The author relies on violence for the sake of violence to create any feeling. There is a violent and horrible sexual assault that felt totally unnecessary. It felt very bury your gays.
I truly wish I had DNFed this or never picked it up in the first place. I would never recommend someone read this book.
The book is not scary and the only real horror is body horror. The author relies on violence for the sake of violence to create any feeling. There is a violent and horrible sexual assault that felt totally unnecessary. It felt very bury your gays.
I truly wish I had DNFed this or never picked it up in the first place. I would never recommend someone read this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Rape, Hate crime, Sexual assault, Homophobia, Sexual violence, and Torture
owlseyebooks's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
3.25
Most difficult to read SA I've ever seen.... I'm still trying to find words and get my mind right...
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Sexual assault, Hate crime, Gore, Bullying, Excrement, Torture, Rape, and Sexual violence
chuckstafer's review against another edition
4.0
Goodness, this was a challenging read at times. VERY dark and subject matter that was very heavy for sure. LaRocca has a way of sucking readers in with his narrative and writing style though and even when parts of this book were difficult to read, I couldn't stop.
A very strange tale as well and touched on some interesting topics regarding idol worship, religion, homophobia more.
A very strange tale as well and touched on some interesting topics regarding idol worship, religion, homophobia more.
the_walkyrie's review against another edition
2.0
Honestly the violence against the LGBT made me uncomfortable and I considered DNFing the book quite a few times as it felt gratuitous, and without purpose.
I kept telling myself that there HAD to be a purpose and it's why I finished it. But no. It fell flat and left me bitter and feeling sad.
I kept telling myself that there HAD to be a purpose and it's why I finished it. But no. It fell flat and left me bitter and feeling sad.
dprivera16's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
2.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Rape, Sexual assault, and Homophobia
reflectivepool's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- 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
2.5
entertaining enough but ultimately unsatisfying
cheezh8er's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
tcgarback's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
⭐️⭐️
Critical Score: C-
Personal Score: C
This is LaRocca’s lowest rated book, and that’s saying a LOT, because none of their books are well rated on this app.
I pretty much agree with the hate, though seeing all these one-star reviews lowkey makes me feel bad. But let’s get into it.
The writing is weak. Duh. It’s Eric LaRocca.
What really bothers me is the tasteless handling of the queer characters and the homophobia they face. It almost feels like a straight guy with some messy ideas wrote this thinking he was giving queer people some great real estate in his novel. But nope, a queer person really wrote this, including that r*pe scene. Like yes, this is horror, but I don’t wanna read all that hate crime stuff, oh em gee.
The supernatural stuff was so uninteresting. It makes Clive Barker look like Shakespeare.
I had high hopes from the jacket copy, but this book does not at all live up to the premise.
Oh, and I like that they wanted to go all out with the interior design, but it’s maybe a bit overdone. And that cover is not going to photograph well on my booksta 😩.
On the bright side, this is pretty fast-paced. Some portions didn’t bother me, and at some points I was having fun. Like, this wasn’t that painful to get through; it’s just that it’s very much low-quality fiction.
Critical Score: C-
Personal Score: C
This is LaRocca’s lowest rated book, and that’s saying a LOT, because none of their books are well rated on this app.
I pretty much agree with the hate, though seeing all these one-star reviews lowkey makes me feel bad. But let’s get into it.
The writing is weak. Duh. It’s Eric LaRocca.
What really bothers me is the tasteless handling of the queer characters and the homophobia they face. It almost feels like a straight guy with some messy ideas wrote this thinking he was giving queer people some great real estate in his novel. But nope, a queer person really wrote this, including that r*pe scene. Like yes, this is horror, but I don’t wanna read all that hate crime stuff, oh em gee.
The supernatural stuff was so uninteresting. It makes Clive Barker look like Shakespeare.
I had high hopes from the jacket copy, but this book does not at all live up to the premise.
Oh, and I like that they wanted to go all out with the interior design, but it’s maybe a bit overdone. And that cover is not going to photograph well on my booksta 😩.
On the bright side, this is pretty fast-paced. Some portions didn’t bother me, and at some points I was having fun. Like, this wasn’t that painful to get through; it’s just that it’s very much low-quality fiction.
lbwell700's review against another edition
1.0
Unnecessary excessive violence that served no real purpose but to cause distress.