Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare

104 reviews

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 

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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

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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

kristensreading's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gore, Violence, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail

riflelizards's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

2.75

heavy handed but otherwise enjoyable

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Gun violence, Violence, Death, Death of parent, and Blood

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, and Fire/Fire injury

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

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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

applerose301's review

funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death of parent, Alcohol, Kidnapping, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

huffkjames's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.0

Great horror book, YA or not.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mass/school shootings, Gun violence, Murder, Violence, and Kidnapping

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Death, Blood, Violence, and Murder

kikis_a_book_wh0r3's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

This was a really good story. Adam Cesar definitely keeps you on your toes and gives an amazing anxiety ridden tale of small town folks going crazy. Ultimately I feel like this would be a plan that MAGA would try to pull. Scary to think about. Its genocide but kept local? Lol I love that the ending sets it up for a sequel in true movie ending form!! A perfect nod to the classic slasher films. The audio performance was great as well! Definitely going to be checking out 2 & 3!!! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Gore, Mass/school shootings, Genocide, Body horror, Confinement, Gun violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Violence, Grief, Police brutality, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, and Bullying

dblue236's review

dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

 The title and cover tell you pretty much everything you need to know about this book. It's part teen slasher, part satire, all gore, and I honestly kind of loved it despite itself. It reminded me of the movies I loved as a teen, and the "reveal" toward the end that made it feel more like satire added to the fun, rather than detracting from it. This definitely didn't move any mountains, but that wasn't the intent and sometimes that's okay. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Murder, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Blood, Death, Death of parent, and Violence

Moderate: Drug use, Addiction, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Suicide, and Drug abuse

Minor: Confinement, Cursing, Alcohol, and Vomit