Reviews

Stronger Than Hate by Robert Essig

sea_caummisar's review

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4.0

3.5 stars rounded up to 4. I can honestly say that I have never read a book about a teacher falling into a sinkhole and her ex students using the opportunity to torture her. So kudos to the author for a unique idea. The story started out solid.
DO NOT READ AHEAD IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ SPOILERS
The story was solid at first. Students mostly using the sinkhole as a toilet. That was kinda funny and all. Then even that got kinda boring. As with most books where someone is stuck in solitude, you get glimpses into their mind. That part of the teacher reliving old memories started getting old to me. I almost lost interest halfway through. Then, towards the end, the ex students came up with new methods of torture that pulled me back into the story. Yes, parts of it was unbelievable... that the teacher was in the hole for several weeks and all the town delinquents know about it and nobody blabbed. Then taking the neighbors hostage and so on. It was interesting, I just found it to be unbelievable. Then the ending... Here's a spoiler. At the very end it takes on some supernatural element. Overall, the story was interesting. However, due to me losing interest and the sudden supernatural/ paranormal element, I had to knock off 1.5 stars. I still recommend this book to readers who are into humiliation, grossness, and unique storylines.

sandzm's review

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dark sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No

4.0

That’s a lot of hate towards a teacher.

5hadow_girl's review

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4.0

Wow!

It's been a while since I've read human depravity at this level.
The story worked - the bully and the bullied, the mentality that allowed this to go on for so long, and the drugs, (it had to have the drugs).
The reason I only gave 4 stars instead of 5 was 'The Dark Ones'.
*Not really - but possible spoilers ahead*
It's only my personal opinion, others may completely disagree. 'The Dark Ones' took the story somewhere that I didn't think was needed. As a coping mechanism - yes. But, the bit at the end was something I think the story could have done without.
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