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minimicropup's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
🇺🇸 Set in a Pennsylvania home during Christmas (Dec 18 - 22) in the 1980s
POV: The story unfolds through the perspectives of various family members and peripheral characters in third-person narrative. We get particular focus on a 23 year old graduate student, a 17 year old high school senior, a 14 year old high school freshman, a 12 year old growing up fast, and their two parents in their forties.
Mood Reading Match Up:
-Elements of family saga with the tension of a true crime family tragedy
-Literary fiction horror set against the backdrop of Christmas with a nostalgic feel
-Themes include multigenerational trauma, repressed emotions, destructive perfectionism, family dynamics, true love, personal growth, mental illness, consequence, and societal pressures.
—
🐺 Growls, Howls, and Tail Wags 🐕
✏️ Writing: The writing felt exceptional to me, blending literary fiction with character studies. Scenes that could be mundane are made interesting through a strategic combination of showing and telling. This was written in the 1980s but it does not feel that way at all. It could easily be a modern publication set in the 1980s. The writing style, perspectives, and challenges are still relevant (somewhat sadly) even today.
🫥 Characters: Each character is well-developed, introduced in a natural way that allows the reader to gradually get to know them. The different perspectives are distinct and give us a comprehensive view of the unfolding drama.
🗺️ Worldbuilding: The setting is built naturally through the characters’ actions and experiences, creating an immersive environment without overwhelming the reader’s imagination (or getting bogged down in details).
🔥 Fuel: The suspense revolves around Tom’s mysterious internal conversations and the gradual escalation of events within the family. The narrative builds tension around whether Tom can overcome his struggles and the impending life-changing events for each family member wrestling with their own personal struggles and plans for after Christmas.
🐢🐇 Pacing: The story dives straight into Tom’s experiences, then maintains a steady pace that kept me hooked. If you want fast-paced action, slasher, pure evil type narratives this could feel slow, even boring for you. I loved it for the slow build psychological and suggestive elements gradually gaining speed as we head into the culmination of the past four days.
🎬 Scenes: The narrative includes mini-tragedies and symbolic elements, with relatable family dynamics. This family was reminiscent of the “Home Alone” family to me. Despite all their faults and failures, they felt familiar, even likeable at times. I think most of us either had family dynamics like this or knew someone who did growing up. The horrors are definitely descriptive, but to the point and didn’t feel gratuitous.
🤔 Random Thoughts: This story offers a deep and thought-provoking exploration of morally grey characters, each dealing with their own baggage. It’s a true-to-life narrative that highlights the impact of everyday decisions, particularly on children. I think certain scenes will resonate more than others for different readers, so it would be an excellent book club pick if everyone can stomach some of the more terrifying scenes at the end.
—
“Such Nice People” is an intense and psychologically deep novel that effectively portrays the complexities of family dynamics and the ripple effects of personal actions.
Content Heads-Up: Mental illness (hallucinations, dissociation, psychosis). Body shaming. Fatphobia. Blood. Mass murder. Violence (gun, knife). Parental neglect (emotional). PTSD. Sexual violence/self harm. Infidelity. Loveless relationship. Alcoholism (recall). Sexual content. Attempted rape.
Rep: The story features a White American family, with gay, Jewish-American, and dark-skinned characters in peripheral roles.
Format: Digital scan via the Internet Archive. (Thank you Internet Archive! This book is almost impossible to find online for less than $70. I hope this gets re-printed or digitized for ebook readers🤞)
🥺 This was one of my most captivating books of 2023
“Reviews are my musings 💖 powered by puppy snuggles 🐶 refined by my AI bookworm bestie ✨”
POV: The story unfolds through the perspectives of various family members and peripheral characters in third-person narrative. We get particular focus on a 23 year old graduate student, a 17 year old high school senior, a 14 year old high school freshman, a 12 year old growing up fast, and their two parents in their forties.
Mood Reading Match Up:
-Elements of family saga with the tension of a true crime family tragedy
-Literary fiction horror set against the backdrop of Christmas with a nostalgic feel
-Themes include multigenerational trauma, repressed emotions, destructive perfectionism, family dynamics, true love, personal growth, mental illness, consequence, and societal pressures.
—
🐺 Growls, Howls, and Tail Wags 🐕
✏️ Writing: The writing felt exceptional to me, blending literary fiction with character studies. Scenes that could be mundane are made interesting through a strategic combination of showing and telling. This was written in the 1980s but it does not feel that way at all. It could easily be a modern publication set in the 1980s. The writing style, perspectives, and challenges are still relevant (somewhat sadly) even today.
🫥 Characters: Each character is well-developed, introduced in a natural way that allows the reader to gradually get to know them. The different perspectives are distinct and give us a comprehensive view of the unfolding drama.
🗺️ Worldbuilding: The setting is built naturally through the characters’ actions and experiences, creating an immersive environment without overwhelming the reader’s imagination (or getting bogged down in details).
🔥 Fuel: The suspense revolves around Tom’s mysterious internal conversations and the gradual escalation of events within the family. The narrative builds tension around whether Tom can overcome his struggles and the impending life-changing events for each family member wrestling with their own personal struggles and plans for after Christmas.
🐢🐇 Pacing: The story dives straight into Tom’s experiences, then maintains a steady pace that kept me hooked. If you want fast-paced action, slasher, pure evil type narratives this could feel slow, even boring for you. I loved it for the slow build psychological and suggestive elements gradually gaining speed as we head into the culmination of the past four days.
🎬 Scenes: The narrative includes mini-tragedies and symbolic elements, with relatable family dynamics. This family was reminiscent of the “Home Alone” family to me. Despite all their faults and failures, they felt familiar, even likeable at times. I think most of us either had family dynamics like this or knew someone who did growing up. The horrors are definitely descriptive, but to the point and didn’t feel gratuitous.
🤔 Random Thoughts: This story offers a deep and thought-provoking exploration of morally grey characters, each dealing with their own baggage. It’s a true-to-life narrative that highlights the impact of everyday decisions, particularly on children. I think certain scenes will resonate more than others for different readers, so it would be an excellent book club pick if everyone can stomach some of the more terrifying scenes at the end.
—
“Such Nice People” is an intense and psychologically deep novel that effectively portrays the complexities of family dynamics and the ripple effects of personal actions.
Content Heads-Up: Mental illness (hallucinations, dissociation, psychosis). Body shaming. Fatphobia. Blood. Mass murder. Violence (gun, knife). Parental neglect (emotional). PTSD. Sexual violence/self harm. Infidelity. Loveless relationship. Alcoholism (recall). Sexual content. Attempted rape.
Rep: The story features a White American family, with gay, Jewish-American, and dark-skinned characters in peripheral roles.
Format: Digital scan via the Internet Archive. (Thank you Internet Archive! This book is almost impossible to find online for less than $70. I hope this gets re-printed or digitized for ebook readers🤞)
🥺 This was one of my most captivating books of 2023
“Reviews are my musings 💖 powered by puppy snuggles 🐶 refined by my AI bookworm bestie ✨”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Mental illness, Murder, Violence, Gun violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fatphobia, and Body shaming
Moderate: Blood
Minor: Self harm, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Alcoholism
lanecropolivre's review against another edition
3.0
Was the perfect Christmas holiday reading for me this year.
stephsj's review against another edition
5.0
An absolutely brutal holiday book about a family in crisis. It’s scary and nasty and full of tension.
lee_brahms's review against another edition
dark
tense
4.0
What a weird book. Not to say I didn’t enjoy reading it, but the summary for this thing just says Tom wants to kill his family before Christmas, and then straight off the bat Tom’s having conversations with an interdimensional being.
I liked the exploration of all of the suburban drama, the silent judgement, the impossibility of keeping secrets, and the constant refrain of needing to keep up the pretense of a happy family, but wow was everything with Tom so much weirder than I could have ever anticipated.
I liked the exploration of all of the suburban drama, the silent judgement, the impossibility of keeping secrets, and the constant refrain of needing to keep up the pretense of a happy family, but wow was everything with Tom so much weirder than I could have ever anticipated.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Infidelity, Death, Mental illness, Murder, and Gun violence
Moderate: Vomit, Drug use, Fatphobia, and Cursing
Minor: Sexual content and Child death
slimeandslashers's review against another edition
5.0
5 STARS! Since I finished reading this, I honestly haven't been able to stop thinking about the ending. And although it was somewhat of a slow burn, I never felt bored or restless with the story. However, a good friend of mine struggled through the beginning. It was almost too slow for her tastes. For me, the character examination and simple family drama that takes place in the book was enough to keep me engaged until the story really picked up and got crazy. In my opinion, there is great character development throughout the entire book. And the last 70 pages is when things really start to pick up! I really was on the edge of my seat by that point and even gasped at times while reading. There is a lot of hype around this one, and, for me personally, it did not disappoint.
verkisto's review against another edition
4.0
This is one of those books that's for people who like books like The Girl Next Door or Let's Go Play at the Adams', because whoa nelly, is it dark. The title comes from those soundbites you hear on the news after one of those quiet neighbors does something terrible. Here, though, it's not just one person who is "such nice people'; it's everyone.
It's not quite horror, but it's not quite a thriller, either. In fact, it's more a character-driven novel than anything else, until you come into the final stretch of the book. There's nothing supernatural here, but there are scenes that will stay with you long after you finish it.
2022 Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book set during a holiday
It's not quite horror, but it's not quite a thriller, either. In fact, it's more a character-driven novel than anything else, until you come into the final stretch of the book. There's nothing supernatural here, but there are scenes that will stay with you long after you finish it.
2022 Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book set during a holiday
the_bookubus's review against another edition
4.0
Tom Nash is a popular seventeen-year-old boy who comes from a middle-class family. Christmas is fast approaching and Tom is planning on killing his family.
This is a very character driven story and we learn a lot about each character as individuals and as part of the family dynamic. On the surface they are a very ordinary family but we learn that they each have their own secrets and personal demons that they are dealing with. There is a lot of social commentary here including themes of the traditional family unit and gender roles.
Towards the end of the book the tension is tightened with every page. The chapters are broken down by day and the countdown element was very effective. I loved that the author wasn't afraid to go to some wild and WTF places. Dark and disturbing, Such Nice People is well worth tracking down.
This is a very character driven story and we learn a lot about each character as individuals and as part of the family dynamic. On the surface they are a very ordinary family but we learn that they each have their own secrets and personal demons that they are dealing with. There is a lot of social commentary here including themes of the traditional family unit and gender roles.
Towards the end of the book the tension is tightened with every page. The chapters are broken down by day and the countdown element was very effective. I loved that the author wasn't afraid to go to some wild and WTF places. Dark and disturbing, Such Nice People is well worth tracking down.
pdestrienne's review against another edition
dark
3.5
I read this because it was on a list of Grady Hendrix's favs and it was exactly as lurid as promised. There is no explicit explanation for SOLA and SOLUDA, in regards to if it's a psychotic break or if it's a real delusion/paranormal force, though in my opinion it leans towards psychotic break. The narration is unsparing and brutal in describing the personal flaws of the characters and their gory deaths. I guess I wasn't surprised but the fatphobia is rampant for poor Susan who actually asks "is it because I'm fat?" and gets an affirmative answer before being shot in the face. So, now you are warned. And, anyone else picturing Terry Quinn as Cole? And Parker Posey as Ann?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, and Murder