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I love reading something and being able to come away from it totally understanding why it’s held in such high regard. This is a fantastic setup to what seems to lead into a cat and mouse serial killer story, and I really enjoyed the journey Tenma takes to reach a point where he’s determined to catch the killer.
Usually this scenario would totally be my jam, but she is SO NOT into him and his pursuit is just kinda gross to build a romance out of, even for two assassins. Plus, it felt very…hollow. Like I had no real concept of time or space in the art. I think one volume was enough to decide this isn’t for me.
Eh, this series is just okay. While I can see how it's trying to create tension with the game and the character interactions, it feels like everything is taking place in a blank room. No sense of time or place in this, and character interactions and changes don't make sense. Just really good facial expressions. (Like seriously, the art is really good.)
Not going to be continuing this series.
Not going to be continuing this series.
Nothing super amazing or new here in the story, but the art is very, very good.
First of all: this is one of my top favorite book covers of 2023. It's perfection.
Let me say up front that I am aware that at age 38, I am SO not the target audience for this novel. This is squarely set in YA and it feels very much so. I actually have to give Springer a lot of credit for that; her writing feels like this book was actually made to be read by current teenagers, and NOT by adults who read and enjoy YA. It's young and full of Black Gen Z culture.
That is to its credit and also to its detriment, because this book is going to age terribly in a decade. There are very specific references to movies, actors, celebrities, songs, social media trends, etc that feel very fresh and connected right now in 2023, but will probably feel dated in 2043. Though, I can see this being a super fun time capsule of a book to look back on.
As for the story itself, this is PURE HORROR CAMP and I loved that aspect of it. Springer takes no time to get to the meat of the story. You get introduced to the main character, you very quickly meet the stereotypical cast of characters, and I think around the 15% mark on my Kindle is when the first body dropped. It was non-stop action, horror, camp and gore from then on, and it did NOT let up until the last chapter. This book is doing a very specific thing, and it did that thing well. If that sounds to your taste, then this book is loads of fun.
Because it focuses on being a camp slasher from a black girl perspective, it does suffer in terms of the setup and the character work. There is no setup or character work, really. We get a flimsy excuse to get all these kids in one house, we get a flimsy outline of each kid. Somehow all these super rich, semi-famous influencer kids all go to the same rich private school? Sure, okay. I'll suspend my disbelief - but I was working real hard to remind my brain to turn off and just enjoy it. I think that was 38 year old in me talking, and where me not being the target audience didn't help.
Let me reiterate again so there aren't any mistakes in terms of expectations: this is CAMPY HORROR. This is a love letter to slasher films in book form, focused on a black girl perspective. This is Springer's ode to screams and gore and horror tropes. It's absolutely fun and lives up to that expectation, as long as you know that going in.
I'm too old to have enjoyed this more than I did, but for its target audience and what Springer set out to do, it's great fun.
Let me say up front that I am aware that at age 38, I am SO not the target audience for this novel. This is squarely set in YA and it feels very much so. I actually have to give Springer a lot of credit for that; her writing feels like this book was actually made to be read by current teenagers, and NOT by adults who read and enjoy YA. It's young and full of Black Gen Z culture.
That is to its credit and also to its detriment, because this book is going to age terribly in a decade. There are very specific references to movies, actors, celebrities, songs, social media trends, etc that feel very fresh and connected right now in 2023, but will probably feel dated in 2043. Though, I can see this being a super fun time capsule of a book to look back on.
As for the story itself, this is PURE HORROR CAMP and I loved that aspect of it. Springer takes no time to get to the meat of the story. You get introduced to the main character, you very quickly meet the stereotypical cast of characters, and I think around the 15% mark on my Kindle is when the first body dropped. It was non-stop action, horror, camp and gore from then on, and it did NOT let up until the last chapter. This book is doing a very specific thing, and it did that thing well. If that sounds to your taste, then this book is loads of fun.
Because it focuses on being a camp slasher from a black girl perspective, it does suffer in terms of the setup and the character work. There is no setup or character work, really. We get a flimsy excuse to get all these kids in one house, we get a flimsy outline of each kid. Somehow all these super rich, semi-famous influencer kids all go to the same rich private school? Sure, okay. I'll suspend my disbelief - but I was working real hard to remind my brain to turn off and just enjoy it. I think that was 38 year old in me talking, and where me not being the target audience didn't help.
Let me reiterate again so there aren't any mistakes in terms of expectations: this is CAMPY HORROR. This is a love letter to slasher films in book form, focused on a black girl perspective. This is Springer's ode to screams and gore and horror tropes. It's absolutely fun and lives up to that expectation, as long as you know that going in.
I'm too old to have enjoyed this more than I did, but for its target audience and what Springer set out to do, it's great fun.
From a casual DC reader, this was a fun alternate universe take on the DC universe. Interesting story so far, nice mix up of character origins and Allie glances, and even some fun character mashups. All around a good time.
I need someone to spoil the whole Mister Magic reveal for me because I had to DNF @ 36%. This is SO boring. Not even the intrigue of what happened when they were on this kids show is enough to get me to care about any of these people. Kiersten White's horror just isn't for me.
