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james_desantis's Reviews (6.43k)
Okay my review score is around a 4.5 but closer to a 4 than a five. If you look at my ratings I'm sure you can see I am a pretty harsh rater. I don't give 5's out much, especially books. However, this one truly almost got to a 5. I will say why it didn't, without giving much spoilers, but let me start with the good.
First off I was given a copy of this book for free, but I couldn't get it to fit the screen on my device so I went ahead and bought a copy off Amazon. 2.99 won't kill me, sacrifice a Mcdonalds meal to help a indie author is no problem. So, back to the good. The detail and atmosphere is top notch. The room where 80% of the story takes place is like a area of pure evil and it's so hard to chug through it at times. I basically felt like the room was in my head and I can envision every sick and twisted action taken place.
The characters. Hillary is a master of tricking people. Her words are like a dagger, and they cut into the minds of everyone who comes in contact with her. The two doctors and even the doctors wife become a little game to her. How to mentally destroy their defenses. You'd think it be harder to believe it, with her being a fifteen year old girl, but you'd be very wrong. The way she does it comes off very natural and it's horrible to think people out there could really be just like her.
Now here is a warning, this book is not for people who get grossed out easily. I mean, holy shit, at one point I had to put the book down and take a second because there are some scenes even I wasn't ready for. Both good and some bad. I'll get to the bad later, but let me tell you something, some scenes truly made me cringe and my inner horror self was like "holy shit".
I really enjoyed the pace of the story and the strong build of each character and their past. They all felt like someone you might know OR don't want to know. Either way, they were all individuals ho felt believable.
The bad boil down to a few things. Most aren't major, so that's why the score doesn't drop. Things I didn't like begin with the characters. I loved that the characters were well made and real, I just didn't LIKE anyone. See, in horror, it's very hard to find that balance of having someone to root for because, hell, most of them die. However, I usually have a character I somewhat like but here, I hated everyone. Which I guess is a good thing for the plot itself being strong enough that I want to find out what all the secrets are.
The only other negative I really can think of, and this one lowered the score a bit, is the unnecessary scenes in the torture. There are moments where I cringe and like say "Goddamn" but that's good. But to make me feel sick to my stomach, and not in a horror way, but in a human centappied type way, is just unnecessary in my book. Now saying that, this won't be a negative for everyone. I applaud the author for creating the story THEY wanted and not watering it down. If they felt the scene was suppose to be there, more power to them.
There weren't any spelling mistakes from what I could see. I did see a few mistakes with the " but nothing to take me out of the story. Honestly, one of the better written self published stories. Do I recommend Hillary: Tail of the Dog? 100%, to horror fans, and I mean hardcore horror fans only. It's dark, it's twisted, a scene of mystery through 60% of the book, a tension filled moment at the end, and a opening for the sequel that makes you wanna grab the next one.
I was 100% pleased with this one, and a 2.99 WELL SPENT! Great job Angel =)
First off I was given a copy of this book for free, but I couldn't get it to fit the screen on my device so I went ahead and bought a copy off Amazon. 2.99 won't kill me, sacrifice a Mcdonalds meal to help a indie author is no problem. So, back to the good. The detail and atmosphere is top notch. The room where 80% of the story takes place is like a area of pure evil and it's so hard to chug through it at times. I basically felt like the room was in my head and I can envision every sick and twisted action taken place.
The characters. Hillary is a master of tricking people. Her words are like a dagger, and they cut into the minds of everyone who comes in contact with her. The two doctors and even the doctors wife become a little game to her. How to mentally destroy their defenses. You'd think it be harder to believe it, with her being a fifteen year old girl, but you'd be very wrong. The way she does it comes off very natural and it's horrible to think people out there could really be just like her.
Now here is a warning, this book is not for people who get grossed out easily. I mean, holy shit, at one point I had to put the book down and take a second because there are some scenes even I wasn't ready for. Both good and some bad. I'll get to the bad later, but let me tell you something, some scenes truly made me cringe and my inner horror self was like "holy shit".
I really enjoyed the pace of the story and the strong build of each character and their past. They all felt like someone you might know OR don't want to know. Either way, they were all individuals ho felt believable.
The bad boil down to a few things. Most aren't major, so that's why the score doesn't drop. Things I didn't like begin with the characters. I loved that the characters were well made and real, I just didn't LIKE anyone. See, in horror, it's very hard to find that balance of having someone to root for because, hell, most of them die. However, I usually have a character I somewhat like but here, I hated everyone. Which I guess is a good thing for the plot itself being strong enough that I want to find out what all the secrets are.
The only other negative I really can think of, and this one lowered the score a bit, is the unnecessary scenes in the torture. There are moments where I cringe and like say "Goddamn" but that's good. But to make me feel sick to my stomach, and not in a horror way, but in a human centappied type way, is just unnecessary in my book. Now saying that, this won't be a negative for everyone. I applaud the author for creating the story THEY wanted and not watering it down. If they felt the scene was suppose to be there, more power to them.
There weren't any spelling mistakes from what I could see. I did see a few mistakes with the " but nothing to take me out of the story. Honestly, one of the better written self published stories. Do I recommend Hillary: Tail of the Dog? 100%, to horror fans, and I mean hardcore horror fans only. It's dark, it's twisted, a scene of mystery through 60% of the book, a tension filled moment at the end, and a opening for the sequel that makes you wanna grab the next one.
I was 100% pleased with this one, and a 2.99 WELL SPENT! Great job Angel =)
Grammar wise it's fine. And even the gory moments are well done. What sucks are the Ni explanation of how a certain one gets to a certain place. Also, main character is weak. Overall decent free read
Solid fun comic book type story. Interesting characters, a little cliche, but still fun as heck. If you want a fun quick read try it out!
This story was as fun as the first, but took too long for the build up. Enjoyable but wish the pace was a bit better.
I caught the fact the author was trying to add multiple messages throughout but none clicked with me and the ending was rather lame. Maybe with a full blown novel I'd enjoy more. For now I'd say pass on this one.
A well done prequel short story. It adds enough background to make cover how his father was captured and sets up how evil he truly is. Can't wait for the final book.
This was a strange story. I kept fighting back and forth with the score. At first I thought it would end up being a steady 3. Good read but nothing special. The writing was solid (though some slang and such was odd or looked wrong but it could because we live in different parts of the world) and I enjoyed the characters for the most part.
As I read on I really began to feel the connection with the main character and Tom. It felt well balanced and even cute at times. When the twist came around, I was a little "Eh" and turned the score down some. So it went back to a 3.
So I thought about it over and over again and the themes and message the author was trying to convey was interesting. I'm in the middle ground between a solid 3 (good) and 4 (Great) and end up with a 3.5. I will round it up, because it's different yet good.
So now I'm interested in reading another one from him! Goodjob Matt.
As I read on I really began to feel the connection with the main character and Tom. It felt well balanced and even cute at times. When the twist came around, I was a little "Eh" and turned the score down some. So it went back to a 3.
So I thought about it over and over again and the themes and message the author was trying to convey was interesting. I'm in the middle ground between a solid 3 (good) and 4 (Great) and end up with a 3.5. I will round it up, because it's different yet good.
So now I'm interested in reading another one from him! Goodjob Matt.
Sometimes pick up a Manga and smile, because it goes against the boring cliches. Is this the next berserk or vagabond? Just might be.
15-20 bucks for the mass amount of quality and quantity is perfect. The characters all feel well made, great art, well done pacing. Ends on a good note and makes you want volume 2, which I'm picking up tomorrow.
15-20 bucks for the mass amount of quality and quantity is perfect. The characters all feel well made, great art, well done pacing. Ends on a good note and makes you want volume 2, which I'm picking up tomorrow.