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blurrypetals's review against another edition
5.0
I forced myself to read this before I read The Dream Thieves so the wait for Blue Lily, Lily Blue won't seem quite as bad. In retrospect, that was not a very good idea because I sort of blasted through this book, all while staring at my shelf at The Dream Thieves as an incentive. I am not very good at waiting to read something.
However, I waited a long time for this book. A year and a half. I needed to know how it ended. Jazz trapped in a warehouse after being shot. Connie captured by Billy. Howie bleeding out next to a concussed Gramma Dent, who was also suffering a heart attack. How could it get any more tense?
Well, uh...it didn't. The entire first three quarters of this book was falling action: the kids ending up in the hospital, Jasper on the run but not really in any actual danger, Howie and Connie searching for clues, Jasper grappling with his own self worth...interesting, but not tense. Apart from Jasper's hospital escape (which was the best scene in the entire book) there wasn't a lot of heart-pounding, unpredictable action or anything. I liked the final showdown with Billy, but the one with his mom felt forced and sudden. And the fact that he didn't kill his mom? Dumb. I liked that last line in the book that he could kill her any day if he wanted to but that was the only thing the book benefited from leaving her alive.
I still really enjoyed myself but there were a lot of parts that felt slow or, if they weren't slow, they were forced. It was a fitting conclusion (other than the fact that his mom lived) and it was a nicely wrapped package, imperfect but still wonderful, because this series was like that from square one: a fun thing wrapped in a nice package, but a thing that was gruesome and messy and didn't know what to do with itself sometimes. Still one of my faves because the first book was FANTASTIC and even though the second and third books sort of shat themselves, that's okay, because I still had fun.
(this review also shat itself toward the end so who am I to really critique)
However, I waited a long time for this book. A year and a half. I needed to know how it ended. Jazz trapped in a warehouse after being shot. Connie captured by Billy. Howie bleeding out next to a concussed Gramma Dent, who was also suffering a heart attack. How could it get any more tense?
Well, uh...it didn't. The entire first three quarters of this book was falling action: the kids ending up in the hospital, Jasper on the run but not really in any actual danger, Howie and Connie searching for clues, Jasper grappling with his own self worth...interesting, but not tense. Apart from Jasper's hospital escape (which was the best scene in the entire book) there wasn't a lot of heart-pounding, unpredictable action or anything. I liked the final showdown with Billy, but the one with his mom felt forced and sudden. And the fact that he didn't kill his mom? Dumb. I liked that last line in the book that he could kill her any day if he wanted to but that was the only thing the book benefited from leaving her alive.
I still really enjoyed myself but there were a lot of parts that felt slow or, if they weren't slow, they were forced. It was a fitting conclusion (other than the fact that his mom lived) and it was a nicely wrapped package, imperfect but still wonderful, because this series was like that from square one: a fun thing wrapped in a nice package, but a thing that was gruesome and messy and didn't know what to do with itself sometimes. Still one of my faves because the first book was FANTASTIC and even though the second and third books sort of shat themselves, that's okay, because I still had fun.
(this review also shat itself toward the end so who am I to really critique)
hallie_34's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
odurant8's review against another edition
4.0
Lots of unexpected twists and turns - very unpredictable and chilling!
danid13's review against another edition
5.0
Brilliant!! This was a great book and an incredible ending to the trilogy. Definitely a page turner and it had me hooked! But don't read this one if you haven't read the previous books. Start at I Hunt Killers and go from there, you won't regret it.
akookieforyou's review against another edition
3.0
*3.5*
For me, this was the worst entry in the series. That being said, I still liked it for the most part. Finally getting answers for everything was awesome, and Jazz finally getting closure at the end was very satisfying. My problem was the format of the book, it didn't have that same feeling from the first two Even though it made sense for this one not to be centered around a murder mystery, that also made it a little less interesting for me. I also found parts in the last third to be quite sickening, I wasn't expecting for this YA series to go in that route. Overall I really enjoyed this whole series.
For me, this was the worst entry in the series. That being said, I still liked it for the most part. Finally getting answers for everything was awesome, and Jazz finally getting closure at the end was very satisfying. My problem was the format of the book, it didn't have that same feeling from the first two Even though it made sense for this one not to be centered around a murder mystery, that also made it a little less interesting for me. I also found parts in the last third to be quite sickening, I wasn't expecting for this YA series to go in that route. Overall I really enjoyed this whole series.
teddybears1221's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
rockymthorrorshow's review against another edition
5.0
WHAT the living SHIT. Easily the most fucked up book I have ever read, and I enjoyed every second of it. Would I recommend this? Only if I knew you really, really well and either thought you were the picture of stoicism or just really wanted you to suffer psychically or something. Would I read this again? Give me a few weeks to let the nightmares settle, and then yes, absolutely.
abaugher's review against another edition
5.0
Barry Lyga continues to bring alive the character of a serial killer in the grimmest fashion, and then the terror of the son that he will become just like his dad. He also includes the painful, but all too real and very relevant, issue of child sexual molesation. If you read this and it strikes you as too difficult to get through, it probably already happened to you.
It is crucial that teens get a chance to heal through reading of another person (fictional or not) having lived through the same trauma, and survived to make choices different from their abuser. Showing ugly doesn't mean supporting and advocating ugly.
It is crucial that teens get a chance to heal through reading of another person (fictional or not) having lived through the same trauma, and survived to make choices different from their abuser. Showing ugly doesn't mean supporting and advocating ugly.
athnyx230's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Incest, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Sexism and Misogyny
Minor: Vomit and Excrement