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chezler24's review against another edition
- 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
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
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
wganas4's review
- 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
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
kikis_a_book_wh0r3's review against another edition
- 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
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
kromez7's review
- 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? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Police brutality, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Mass/school shootings, and Violence
Moderate: Drug use, Alcohol, and Fire/Fire injury
nerdsbianhokie's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Police brutality, Child death, and Gun violence
twistykris's review against another edition
- 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
2. The adults calling new-girl Quinn a "whore" and a "slut" when she's literally done nothing was maddening.
3. I also feel like the timeline is so off. The Founder's Day incident happens and the adults who were in this "Make Kettle Springs Great Again" group now decide "let's go slaughter a bunch of kids." It just feels like everything happens SO fast that it doesn't make sense.
4. Ronnie and Matt are just... in on murdering their friends? Because they want to be on the "right side of history"?? Makes 0 sense to me.
5. Cole and Rust's relationship felt oddly thrown in. Sure, they were childhood friends, but they don't get that much interaction with each other in the book. Quinn's POV suggested maybe everyone had a crush on Cole (as in Janet, Ronnie, and Matt), but even from Cole's POV there didn't seem to be any sort of romantic feelings towards Rust. A desire to reconnect, sure, but they were literally hanging out for the first time in years at the party. This doesn't feel like queer rep.
6. And the ending with Cole's dad going to Cuba to "do the job right" was so confusing? How is him going to Cuba relate to killing his son? I think this was supposed to be a cliffhanger to lead into the sequel, but I was just left dumbfounded and confused.
And one of my biggest issues was the audiobook. I liked Jesse Vilinsky's narration in Seanan McGuire's Lost in the Moment and Found. But in this, the accents and the voice she gave for men and teenage boys was just distracting and at times the narration was so overly dramatic to the point it was hard to understand what she was saying.
I will not be reading the sequel, even after that (bizarre) cliffhanger epilogue.
Graphic: Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Blood, Gore, Murder, Child death, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Grief, Death of parent, Police brutality, and Medical content
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders
loosejelly's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Murder, Mass/school shootings, and Gore
Moderate: Death of parent, Cursing, and Police brutality
corporealmystic's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Frendo is Kettle Springs mascot. His face is on the dilapidated factory outside Quinn's new bedroom. It's not creepy at all, right?
Quinn and her father moved to Kettle Springs for a new start after a very publicized death of her mother. Glenn believed that him and his daughter needed the change, but he didn't realize that the townspeople also wanted a change as well.
The characters are amazingly written and will keep you entertained throughout the book. There are a few twists and turns that you won't see coming in the dynamics of the group that we follow throughout the story.
The atmosphere is small town creepy, and it totally works. The writing style sucks you in and makes you think about being in these situations yourself and how you would react.
Overall, it is a great read! I suggest it for anyone who is a fan of horror and wants some entertainment. I will be picking up the second in the series as soon as possible.
"Make Kettle Springs Great Again!"
Moderate: Alcohol, Gore, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Suicide, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, Blood, Bullying, Death, Medical content, Body horror, Child death, Medical trauma, and Violence
kups's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Death, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Police brutality, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Misogyny and Suicidal thoughts
whatthegayle's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
“Looking at these houses, Quinn was struck with the feeling that Kettle Springs had left its best days behind. The town had given up.”
This book was a fun and quick read! Loved how the adults were fighting against the kids, and was pleased with how the book never made me lose interest!
Graphic: Blood, Car accident, Child death, Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Cursing, Gore, Death, and Violence