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aesthekinetix's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
(Haven't read the first book since I thrifted this book)
The plot was pretty simple and straightforward in my opinion. We have your main character, John, a self-aware sociopathic teen, and the story pretty much revolves around his actions and emotions and the presence of what I think is his psychopathic urge, Mr. Monster. I honestly thought the plot was basic but i 's impressive how the author was still able to lure me in with the character of John. The ending was abrupt since it went from this thriller-oh we're stuck in the demonic serial killer's lair- to the said demonic serial killer suddenly dead (I still don't get how this happened so I might read that part again). I think the author intended the ending to be this epic type wherein the main character does something cool and heroic but it was just rushed and pretty meh for me.
Overall, the pace, the main character, and the writing were my cup of tea but the ending pretty much ruined the chance of this book being a 5-star for me.
The plot was pretty simple and straightforward in my opinion. We have your main character, John, a self-aware sociopathic teen, and the story pretty much revolves around his actions and emotions and the presence of what I think is his psychopathic urge, Mr. Monster. I honestly thought the plot was basic but i 's impressive how the author was still able to lure me in with the character of John. The ending was abrupt since it went from this thriller-oh we're stuck in the demonic serial killer's lair- to the said demonic serial killer suddenly dead (I still don't get how this happened so I might read that part again). I think the author intended the ending to be this epic type wherein the main character does something cool and heroic but it was just rushed and pretty meh for me.
Overall, the pace, the main character, and the writing were my cup of tea but the ending pretty much ruined the chance of this book being a 5-star for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Animal cruelty, and Animal death
gregoryscottdilcox's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
katydied's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Domestic abuse
guillevaldata's review against another edition
4.0
Retomé este libro después de que pase bastante tiempo y amé!
Creo que es más fuerte que el primero porque el señor monstruo está más vivo que nunca, así que ALERTA a los sensibles, por momentos se me revolvió el estomago.
Daaaaaamn el final, eso si que fue tenso. Creo que es de las cosas más creepies que leí en la vida.
Creo que es más fuerte que el primero porque el señor monstruo está más vivo que nunca, así que ALERTA a los sensibles, por momentos se me revolvió el estomago.
Daaaaaamn el final, eso si que fue tenso. Creo que es de las cosas más creepies que leí en la vida.
bibliophile80's review against another edition
4.0
This series is SO not in my usual wheelhouse, but it's almost a guilty pleasure at this point. I'll keep reading the John Cleaver books (or rather, listening, as both were audiobooks for me).
eol's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
crowsandprose's review against another edition
3.0
While I greatly enjoyed I Am Not A Serial Killer, Wells' John Cleaver followup simply didn't reach the heights of the original. It took far too long to reach the meat of the plot, John's mental processes were muddled and less engaging, and the addition of the Mr. Monster made this feel far too Dexter derivative (and I hated Lidnsey's Dexter, but I loved the streamlined Showtime Dexter that scraped a lot of the crapoff the source material for the honest gems inside the base premise.)
That's the short bit: the longer bits come now.
We spend over 150 pages just meandering through John's life. He's got an FBI agent on his back, he'strying to figure out what to do with the object of his fixation, and thinking back to his big score a few months ago. Small town Clayton life is not all that interesting, and it makes for slow reading.
John doesn't understand human behavior, but has learned how to vaguely immitate it. I say vaguely, because where most sociopaths are skilled manipulators, John falls flat here. He lacks charisma, makes morbid jokes, and is generally known to be abnormal since he's working at the morgue with his mom. This also hurts our ability to engage with him, because his emotional state is flat and foreign. I know that's the crux of the book -- that's part of what makes him useful to his eventual captor. But it's inconsistent, and states his "John can't feel [blank]" as opposed to having more concrete sensory details. When his blood's up, why aren't we getting more of the rush? When he just can't bring himself to care about the torture victims, we should get some sort of cue that isn't just John telling us in the least emotionally engaging language.
This proves inconsistent through the work, though. Suddenly John longs for heroism and a break from his sociopathic nature. Is he honestly a sociopath then? If he realizes there is a right and a wrong, if he wants to do the RIGHT thing as opposed to the surival thing, the needs thing, is he honestly that disconnected? It betrays the whole conciet of the series, and leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth.
So which is it? Generic Teen Male hero with madness as a superpower (my least favorite trope in fiction) or a genuine teen predator who has simply found his fixation, and that other victims simply won't interest/cut it for him? That answer was never delivered. I don't know that it will be in the next book, either. (Which I own and will still read!)
Anyway -- it wasn't a bad book, but it left way too much in question, was far too slow, and wasn't internally consistent. On the other hand, it separated John and Brooke, gave us more demon understanding, and the action, once it got started, was top notch. So it's not all flaws, there were good bits to it. It's just wasn't what I was hoping for out of Wells and Cleaver.
That's the short bit: the longer bits come now.
We spend over 150 pages just meandering through John's life. He's got an FBI agent on his back, he'strying to figure out what to do with the object of his fixation, and thinking back to his big score a few months ago. Small town Clayton life is not all that interesting, and it makes for slow reading.
John doesn't understand human behavior, but has learned how to vaguely immitate it. I say vaguely, because where most sociopaths are skilled manipulators, John falls flat here. He lacks charisma, makes morbid jokes, and is generally known to be abnormal since he's working at the morgue with his mom. This also hurts our ability to engage with him, because his emotional state is flat and foreign. I know that's the crux of the book -- that's part of what makes him useful to his eventual captor. But it's inconsistent, and states his "John can't feel [blank]" as opposed to having more concrete sensory details. When his blood's up, why aren't we getting more of the rush? When he just can't bring himself to care about the torture victims, we should get some sort of cue that isn't just John telling us in the least emotionally engaging language.
This proves inconsistent through the work, though. Suddenly John longs for heroism and a break from his sociopathic nature. Is he honestly a sociopath then? If he realizes there is a right and a wrong, if he wants to do the RIGHT thing as opposed to the surival thing, the needs thing, is he honestly that disconnected? It betrays the whole conciet of the series, and leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth.
So which is it? Generic Teen Male hero with madness as a superpower (my least favorite trope in fiction) or a genuine teen predator who has simply found his fixation, and that other victims simply won't interest/cut it for him? That answer was never delivered. I don't know that it will be in the next book, either. (Which I own and will still read!)
Anyway -- it wasn't a bad book, but it left way too much in question, was far too slow, and wasn't internally consistent. On the other hand, it separated John and Brooke, gave us more demon understanding, and the action, once it got started, was top notch. So it's not all flaws, there were good bits to it. It's just wasn't what I was hoping for out of Wells and Cleaver.
nahlaaly56's review against another edition
3.0
I DNF-ed this book... but then I Wikipedia-ed the rest of the book and other books in the series to know what happens next. Nothing against the writing, it just wasn't for me. It's a little too violent and disturbing for my taste.
mneiger's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
peterkeep's review against another edition
4.0
Dan Wells really sucked me in on this one.
When I read [b: I Am Not A Serial Killer|7617119|I Am Not A Serial Killer (John Cleaver, #1)|Dan Wells|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1442065592s/7617119.jpg|6154629], I thought it was a pretty fun thriller that had some cool horror/fantasy elements, but not much more. It was fast and fun. The sequel, though, was a nice step forward. It was still fast and enjoyable to read, but it was a lot darker and showed off some more depth to the main character and his family.
John is definitely battling with his serial killer tendencies (Mr. Monster, he calls it) and it feels a bit more real and scary here. In I Am Not A Serial Killer he, but it doesn't feel as real and terrifying as some of the things he's doing here. I have no clue how serial killers really act and feel other than the popular media's portrayal, but Dan Wells does a really believable job here.
I also really liked how the fallout of the Clayton Killer is dealt with. It was a bit less surprising this time when popped up, but the twists and turns in the book were better. They were less "out of nowhere" and more like things we could see coming a bit, to build anticipation and suspense. Even when the plot didn't always pan out the way I thought, the anticipation and suspense buildup was really fun.
These books are great -- they're short and enjoyable and thrilling, which is really all I'm looking for in something like this.
When I read [b: I Am Not A Serial Killer|7617119|I Am Not A Serial Killer (John Cleaver, #1)|Dan Wells|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1442065592s/7617119.jpg|6154629], I thought it was a pretty fun thriller that had some cool horror/fantasy elements, but not much more. It was fast and fun. The sequel, though, was a nice step forward. It was still fast and enjoyable to read, but it was a lot darker and showed off some more depth to the main character and his family.
John is definitely battling with his serial killer tendencies (Mr. Monster, he calls it) and it feels a bit more real and scary here. In I Am Not A Serial Killer he
Spoiler
brandishes a knife and is even violent to one of the innocent charactersI also really liked how the fallout of the Clayton Killer is dealt with. It was a bit less surprising this time when
Spoiler
some of the supernatural/demonThese books are great -- they're short and enjoyable and thrilling, which is really all I'm looking for in something like this.