Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare

6 reviews

emzhay's review against another edition

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adventurous dark sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

A fun and quick slasher read. The characters weren’t really developed enough for me to truly care about anyone. Most of them blended together. The adults were borderline cartoonish. The build up, tension and kills were all good though, very cinematic.  The killer reveal was a bit disappointing. 

Actually it wasn’t just disappointing it was absurd.
I mean, a group of adults choosing to slaughter a bunch of teenagers who “terrorize” the town? How could they think they would possibly get away with it? And then trying to frame two kids for it that’s didn’t even use guns? Completely ridiculous. After I read the second town meeting scene I was really hoping the adults weren’t the killer, but alas.


I think the audiobook narration was l overacted and distracting. The accents and men’s voices also weren’t the best. I’ll be going with the print versions for the sequels. 
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dirtwitch's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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ravenpuff's review

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dark emotional sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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kelanor's review

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dark funny fast-paced

4.5

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pyotrkrothotkin's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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_chelseachelsea's review against another edition

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dark funny tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.0

Did you guys know it’s possible for a book to pull off a jump scare??

I finished Clown in a Cornfield in one night. Cesare is smart - he knows you picked up this book because you want to see some clowns, some corn, and some gore, so he doesn’t waste much time. Even though the fast pace makes the characters’ motivations a bit of a stretch in terms of believability, it ultimately works in the story’s favor. You get what you came for, and the book truly delivers on creepiness and slashing.

I preferred the smaller moments of horror (one person being stalked by the killer) over the chaotic, large-scale action that dominates most of the last 2/3 of the book, but again, Cesare knows what he’s trying to deliver. This isn’t a slow-burn slasher, it’s CLOWN IN A CORNFIELD, baby.

There’s a message to the violence of CIAC that’s not very subtle and a little too spelled-out, but given the book’s YA themes, I’m going to be forgiving there. This is a scary story about rebellion, revenge, and rage, and even when the plot’s pacing is somewhat uneven, it never loses sight of those ideas.
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