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chezler24's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-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
3.5
"Quinn took comfort in that. The fact that history bent toward progress, no matter how hard the assholes tried pushing back." (p. 336)
If you want a straightforward slasher to entertain you, then Clown in a Cornfield is the book for you! This book just screams summer slasher! Quinn's dad uprooted her life to move to the small town of Kettle Springs, Missouri. She wanted to stay invisible and make it to the end of her senior year; however, making it to graduation and actually *surviving* seemed to be a bit more of a challenge. Quinn and her dad accidentally find themselves in the crossfire of a major clash between the older and younger generations of the town. While the slasher and thriller aspects were executed perfectly, I wish the backstory and characterizations had been more fleshed out before getting to the bloody meat of the story. Quinn felt a little bit of a standard final girl, Cole was a popular kid with a sad backstory, and Rust was a loner country kid cast aside by the "popular" kids. I would have loved more time setting up their backstories instead of dealing with the annoying kids who kept shoving cameras into everyone's faces. (I understand why they had to be annoying, but I was slightly over them before the prologue ended.) Regardless, I'm still rounding up to 4 because it felt very much like a slasher I would devour with my friends in the summertime. The book does leave room for a clear sequel so I'm interested to see where book two and the eventual book three will take our remaining cast of characters.
3.5/5 stars rounded up to 4
If you want a straightforward slasher to entertain you, then Clown in a Cornfield is the book for you! This book just screams summer slasher! Quinn's dad uprooted her life to move to the small town of Kettle Springs, Missouri. She wanted to stay invisible and make it to the end of her senior year; however, making it to graduation and actually *surviving* seemed to be a bit more of a challenge. Quinn and her dad accidentally find themselves in the crossfire of a major clash between the older and younger generations of the town. While the slasher and thriller aspects were executed perfectly, I wish the backstory and characterizations had been more fleshed out before getting to the bloody meat of the story. Quinn felt a little bit of a standard final girl, Cole was a popular kid with a sad backstory, and Rust was a loner country kid cast aside by the "popular" kids. I would have loved more time setting up their backstories instead of dealing with the annoying kids who kept shoving cameras into everyone's faces. (I understand why they had to be annoying, but I was slightly over them before the prologue ended.) Regardless, I'm still rounding up to 4 because it felt very much like a slasher I would devour with my friends in the summertime. The book does leave room for a clear sequel so I'm interested to see where book two and the eventual book three will take our remaining cast of characters.
3.5/5 stars rounded up to 4
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Death, Gore, and Child death
Moderate: Addiction, Gun violence, Alcohol, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Police brutality, Death of parent, and Suicidal thoughts
bowlsofpasta's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Death, Child death, Murder, Mass/school shootings, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Alcohol, Death of parent, and Drug abuse
riflelizards's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
2.75
heavy handed but otherwise enjoyable
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Gun violence, Violence, Death, Death of parent, and Blood
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, and Fire/Fire injury
hrb7917's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Murder, Blood, and Genocide
Minor: Drug abuse and Death of parent
wganas4's review
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Body horror, Murder, and Police brutality
Moderate: Grief, Kidnapping, Cursing, Medical trauma, Medical content, Sexual harassment, Addiction, and Death of parent
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Cancer, Suicide, Bullying, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, and Car accident
readraterelate's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Fun slasher book in the style of 90s slashers
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, and Murder
fr0gsonmushrooms's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
At first, I wasn't excited to be reading "Clown in a Cornfield" because I thought it was just another YA thriller, but I found myself enjoying it once I got past the first third of the book. I especially enjoyed the gore, which was totally unexpected. The story was fun and way better than I thought it was going to be.
I don't know how to feel about this ending. It definitely sets up the book for a sequel, but the epilogue felt like it was trying too hard. Nevertheless, I'm still probably going to buy the book to annotate and also read the other two books in the series.
This was the first time I digitally read a book so that played a role in me taking so long to read it (also the fact books over 400 pages intimidate me lol), but I still recommend this book to anyone looking for a good thriller.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Death, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Alcohol and Death of parent
chelseamayxxx's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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? Yes
5.0
Wow this book was incredible I don’t like clowns as they scare they hell out of me and this book did exactly the same-thing scare me but I really enjoyed this book it had me hooked from page one and didn’t let go till the very last page. The cliffhanger at the end of the book has got me wanting to buy book two to read it straight away. The clowns in this book were described so well and the amount of detail into each individual clown was told so perfect as you found out who most the clowns were and what there reasons were for been so bad and angry. The teenagers in this book worked well together and they all made the book that more connected and made the story more enjoyable. I really liked the newbie girl in this book as she doenst take no shit and I liked how well she fitted into this book aswell. The writing was so descriptive and so well written though out the whole book. Can’t wait to read book two and book three when it’s realised xxx
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Death, Blood, Violence, and Murder
theknm's review
challenging
dark
informative
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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
This book was definitely a great read in the case of the second half where i couldn't put it down. The suspense did take a bit and the side characters did annoy me a little which is my only con but i think it was called for a bit cause of the big reveal - but everything else, the pacing, the past/future chain events that lead to the big climax, the small town lore of Frendo the clown mascot, and even horror movie aspect of it. One of the parts i didnt expect was of the big climax obviously but the main one was when the mayor or mayor candidate gets killed in plain sight. All and all cant wait for the next one !!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Murder, Blood, Death, Gore, and Suicide attempt