Reviews

I would have preferred if there was a little more horror and a little more humour, tbh.

Likes:
- The cover, I mean it's pretty good, right?
- The plot, this seemed like it would be an enticing story and piqued my interest early on.
- Including the map at the start was a nice touch.
- Some genuinely creepy vibes near on the onset. I, especially, liked where this was going when they entered Edenville.

Dislikes:
- A lot of repeating phrases

(Go Crows!)

throughout that came off as a little pretentious, maybe?
- Using the word "fuckin" instead of fucking.
- "The Shattered Man" poem wasn't particularly frightening, and I'm still not sure if it was supposed to be.
- An excessive use of pop culture terms/name-dropping.
- The subplot involving the "old ladies" never quite landed for me, and was never explained in the slightest.
- A lot of things were actually not ever explained. I could tell about 50 pages from the end that there wasn't going to be any real kind of resolution, and that's not a good thing.
- Worms!?

There are some plot turns that I won't mention as it would take away from the reading experience going in knowing them beforehand. But there's a really great line near the end of the novel where the dialogue summed up my thoughts on the story pretty accurately:

"Oh boy," Quinn sighed. "Ya know, at this point? I <i>barely</i> understand what's going on. So I . . . have no idea. I sorta don't give a shit."
"Same."

Overall, definitely not terrible, but it also left me hoping for a little more.

nouveau's review against another edition

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medium-paced

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

2.0

stepriot's review

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5.0

This is fun! Gore, monsters, conspiracy, other dimension and eldritch knowledge all in one relatively short time. It is wonderfully over the top and brilliantly written. I see why it was nominated for a Stoker Award this year. It works because it doesn't take itself too seriously. There's a level of self awareness that allows it to be comedic and horrible all at once. I loved it.