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coralinejones's Reviews (556)
Cute little book. Slightly humorous. You can tell the author is really passionate about this topic. However, this novel isn't as detailed as I thought it would be. You can watch a video essay on Youtube and get a very similar vibe. If you're familiar with Wendigoon on Youtube then you'd probably enjoy the vibe of this book.
How cute!! Like Monster House in book form. I wish I had a middle schooler I could recommend this to, perhaps I'll buy it for my sister!
I would recommend everyone wait to read this until Halloween. If you're someone who loves to watch those nostalgic, made-for-tv family horror / Halloween movies every year you'll loveeee this.
I would recommend everyone wait to read this until Halloween. If you're someone who loves to watch those nostalgic, made-for-tv family horror / Halloween movies every year you'll loveeee this.
This is boring as hell. Not a thriller. Not a horror. "All vibes, no plot" and the vibes are so uninteresting and not worth reading that I had to put it down. I was considering slogging through until the end but it's not worth it.
I read to about half-way through before I truly decided I didn't care. Not even a little. In my opinion, you can't write a "sad girl" vampire novel with a beautiful cover and an interesting title, and then do literally nothing interesting with the concept.
I read to about half-way through before I truly decided I didn't care. Not even a little. In my opinion, you can't write a "sad girl" vampire novel with a beautiful cover and an interesting title, and then do literally nothing interesting with the concept.
Sad and heartbreaking. This should be required reading.
We will see a free Palestine.
We will see a free Palestine.
(Edit: Additional thoughts).
Nah.
Pros:
Nah.
Pros:
- Love the descriptions of 1970s suburban living. I can't relate to the Lisbon girls and their version of girlhood. I was not, and still am not, very feminine, but I can appreciate their little quirks and attributes as I'm positive there's some realism to be found in those descriptions. Listening to rock, hanging your bras up to dry, sneak-smoking in your bedroom, hairbrushes, nail polish, etc, etc. Just as an aesthetic alone I understand why people cling to these portrayals so heavily.
- It was quite a ride to read such avid seclusion of their daughters as well. Mrs. Lisbon, you're a monster in my eyes.
- Cecelia's chapter was a high point. I found chapter one to be the most interesting aspects of this novel. It was one of the only times where the outsider perspective didn't cause me to vomit in my mouth. I felt very upset for her, and the Lisbon family, and it made me want to continue reading the book. I even mentioned whilst reading the first chapter that I already enjoyed it more than the adaptation even seems to love so much.
- (I think) there's a bit of discourse here about religion and secluding your kids so heavily from society; making it out that it's for their own good whilst ruining them in the process. If I'm correct, I enjoy the think pieces that stem from this.
Cons:
- Everything else.
- I absolutely hate the fact that this book is told through the perspective of these naive, childish, obsessive young boys. I do understand what the author was trying to do there, and at times, I do think it came across pretty well; I think part of the "allure" (for lack of better term) of this novel is how uncomfortable it makes you feel, and how you just have to sit with it. Suicide is not a comfortable conversation, especially when it relates to a bunch of religious young girls with so much ahead of them. But to see it from their point of view, and how they come across as unreliable narrators, also makes you... in a way... obsessed with the girls? At least wanting to know the truth, wanting to know so much more than what the boys tell you.
- Which is something I also cannot stand. I wish we had spent more time with the Lisbon family. Actual, in detail, explorations of their life. I wish we got more of the girls that wasn't just the boys sniffing their panties and drooling over their tampons, so to speak.
- I hate that we have no clue why they killed themselves. Makes this whole novel feel pointless.
Hmm.... Ahh... Mhm??!! Well, yes.
I get it. Don't know if I like it. Unique, original; a long string of words at time. I think this would've been better as a novella or something. Can't wait to see how this translates on screen. Will be one unsettling, uncomfortable ride and I'm ready for it.
This is also a me issue but I've read too many "weird" books where children are involved. And though this book is not sexual at all in nature towards her child, I'm still annoyed with it. I don't know why all these weird books need to be weird with children too? I'm also referring to All's Well by Mona Awad if you care.
I get it. Don't know if I like it. Unique, original; a long string of words at time. I think this would've been better as a novella or something. Can't wait to see how this translates on screen. Will be one unsettling, uncomfortable ride and I'm ready for it.
A book that starts with "there's a corpse in the bathtub" Should have a darker, gothic vibe to it, right? It should flow easily throughout the pages, causing me to shake in fear and grip my e-reader with an intense need to figure out what's going on.
It did when the book first began and the way everything was described was soooo intriguing to me I thought I found another 5 star read this year. Even when we first met Mary and she found that child at her workplace (IYKYK) I was hooked and couldn't wait to see what other weird shit unfolds. Unfortunately, especially when we get to the middle parts of this novel, it kind of dragged with minor horror elements thrown about here and there. By the time we get to the meat and potatoes of the story I was like "eh". I do think the last half of the book is fun if you're willing to sit through it.
I also assume the point of this novel was to feel bad for Mary the same way you do for the original inspiration, Carrie White. However, I did not. I couldn't really find it in me to care for her, feel bad for her, empathize with her, etc. Don't get me wrong, I get that she hasn't had an easy life, nor an easy time as it currently stands, but I didn't really care, lol. As a big "Carrie" (by Stephen King) fan, I don't really see the comparison or the inspiration between this novel and that. I certainly can't take that away from the author but as I read through I kept trying to make the connections but it just fell short.
I will say that Cassidy, I assume, did a good job at explaining what it's like transitioning into middle age-womanhood; I'm not middle aged and I'm non-binary, and the author is a man, but it did feel authentic and realistic. I've read other reviews of this book and people around that age have explained they felt seen, or that the experiences Mary went through rang true to them and their family, so I can absolutely give him that!
All-in-all, "What if Carrie had no powers, lived to be older, and still got revenge on her bullies?!" This book really wasn't any of that to me.
It did when the book first began and the way everything was described was soooo intriguing to me I thought I found another 5 star read this year. Even when we first met Mary and she found that child at her workplace (IYKYK) I was hooked and couldn't wait to see what other weird shit unfolds. Unfortunately, especially when we get to the middle parts of this novel, it kind of dragged with minor horror elements thrown about here and there. By the time we get to the meat and potatoes of the story I was like "eh". I do think the last half of the book is fun if you're willing to sit through it.
I also assume the point of this novel was to feel bad for Mary the same way you do for the original inspiration, Carrie White. However, I did not. I couldn't really find it in me to care for her, feel bad for her, empathize with her, etc. Don't get me wrong, I get that she hasn't had an easy life, nor an easy time as it currently stands, but I didn't really care, lol. As a big "Carrie" (by Stephen King) fan, I don't really see the comparison or the inspiration between this novel and that. I certainly can't take that away from the author but as I read through I kept trying to make the connections but it just fell short.
I will say that Cassidy, I assume, did a good job at explaining what it's like transitioning into middle age-womanhood; I'm not middle aged and I'm non-binary, and the author is a man, but it did feel authentic and realistic. I've read other reviews of this book and people around that age have explained they felt seen, or that the experiences Mary went through rang true to them and their family, so I can absolutely give him that!
All-in-all, "What if Carrie had no powers, lived to be older, and still got revenge on her bullies?!" This book really wasn't any of that to me.
Unfortunately, nothing happens. The cover? Stunning. The vibe? Incredible. The beginning? Captivating. Then, it turns into a teen drama where it drags and drags... and drags. Not very good character work, either. The book is too short for it not to be full of action and horror, as advertised. Lots of potential.
I don't think the author is untalented or anything, but had this been a little tighter it could've been... Something?
I don't think the author is untalented or anything, but had this been a little tighter it could've been... Something?
Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology
Shane Hawk, Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.
DID NOT FINISH: 50%
didn't really care for any of the stories