Reviews with content warning for Gore - Dead Eleven

Reviews tagging 'Gore'

kalypsowolf's review

dark mysterious tense

4.0

If I could sum this book up in one word it would be accessible. If you are just getting into horror or maybe are a young horror loving teen who is just getting into full length novels, I would recommend picking this one up. It's unsettling and eerie without ever fully going into super scary territory. There's gore here and there, but it's not gratuitous and the descriptions of it are fairly mild in my opinion. But it is definitely still a step or two up from horror targeted at younger audiences and that's why I think it would be a nice bridge. If you don't mind a slow moving story, that is.

Let's talk about pacing. This book is over 400 pages and it absolutely could have been chopped, but I'm not sure I wanted it to be. Even though some things were repetitive (I mean....probably intentionally tbh given the story) and occasionally became a bit of a slog to get through, I was thoroughly enjoying my time reading this. I think what helps it is that not all of the chapters are from the same perspective. We are jumping around in time, some of the chapters are written as letters or text messages, sometimes we get a one-off perspective that gives some insight as to what is happening on the island. The story crafting here is really well done, even if a bit drawn out.

The writing itself is nothing to write home about. It makes sense with R.L. Stine being the front cover blurb and the author having made his start on a horror subreddit. It's simple, straightforward. While youre reading, nothing is going to jump out at you as particularly great, but it's not going to be so bad at to distract you either. I found a few quotes I enjoyed enough to tab, but other than that it was mostly there to serve it's purpose and it does it well. Another thing lending to it's accessibility as you don't have to work hard to understand the words written.

I went in knowing next to nothing about this book other than it's about an island seemingly stuck in the 90s and someone disappeared. I would recommend doing the same, if you can. The layers of the mystery of the island are done really well and have a very satisfying reveal. The horror elements are certainly there and present enough that yeah, this is definitely a horror book, but the mystery of it all is the driving force here. It's a combination that plays off each other well, horrifying reveal after horrifying reveal. None of which are particularly surprising, but not exactly predictable either unless you are a huge horror buff.

Highly recommend, really enjoyable, super unsettling, will pick up this author again.

Content Warnings

themelaniewaite's review

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

If I had to quickly sum up the plot of this book, I’d say it’s Midnight Mass meets WandaVision meets the Supernatural episode “Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid” (s5, ep15).

It was the cover that originally drew me in. And then the idea that this island was stuck living as thought it was still 1994 mixed with a missing persons plot - it all had me so curious. I didn’t realise when I bought it, that the story was essentially a “found footage” theme - the last one I’d read in that format had put me off the genre. And though it took a few chapters to get into the flow of this storytelling, once the story found its rhythm it was really well done and worth powering through. It definitely achieved what it set out to do.

The plot was eerie and had me hooked, desperately eager to get answers for what million questions the plot threw in. All of which tied together so well. No stone was left unturned by the end of the story.

There was something so satisfying in the way the ending came together, and I’m pleased with the way it all came together. If you’re looking for a story that has you questioning literally everything, this is the one for you. With each chapter, there are more questions but once it starts coming together, this slow burn mystery is so well executed. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

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waclements7's review

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-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

3.5

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heather667's review

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dark emotional tense slow-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

3.0

Content Warnings

lexifinck13's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Content Warnings

kaleighcurran's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

I heard about this book on one of my favorite podcasts. I saw the vintage 90s VHS tape cover and immediately put it on hold at my library. I loved the beginning of it and truly enjoyed the 90s nostalgia, but I found myself just wanting more than what I got from this book. I think there was a big opportunity to make it into something deeper than it was. I read in the acknowledgements section that it was supposed to be a novella, but then a literary agent pushed Juliano to make it a novel. I think the added content to probably turn it into a longer piece is what made it convoluted. I’m sure it would’ve been spookier and had more depth if it would’ve been kept to the shorter length. But alas…the money and opportunity to turn a great story into a meh novel and then make potentially a bunch of money with a movie deal was probably too tempting! .25 added on to 3 stars because it was a debut. It’s a great premise but I think it could’ve been done better if it wasn’t so muddy in last two thirds. I’ll probably still read his next one.

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