shidoburrito's Reviews (1.54k)

A rounded-up 3.5 stars because of pet dog death. CW: the dog dies and there is discussion of possible rape.
Other than that, a great horror book! It pairs nicely with the season 4 of Stranger Things that I'm watching right now. Fantastic 80s nostalgia and some wonderful tongue in cheek horror humor. But don't get me wrong, the horror in this is scary and can get pretty dark and gory.
On the other hand, I LOLed often as Hendrix often had bits of the Catholic high school experience that I could totally relate to! The travelling muscle brothers that promote faith in Jesus? That is almost spot on to some of the speakers we would have at MMHS!
A fun book for fans of horror, love the 80s, and/or attended Catholic high school.

I love when I read a horror novel that is YA. Now I have more in my RA arsenal for teens who love horror. Is there sex? No. LGBTQ rep and also a deaf character? Yes! Is this book legitimately scary? YES! It was amazing, y'all.

You get body horror, ghosts, strange Lovecraftian elder god-monsters, all encompassing darknesses, people BEING FORGOTTEN (a big time psychological scare-point for me), mind-bending haunted houses with wraiths and spider-monsters, haunted woods, legends,

Spoiler

posessions

. This book has it all! And NO animal deaths!! Only people deaths in the classic picked-off-one-by-one. This book is a mind-trip, especially towards the end. Almost made me think of House of Leaves. The group of ex-friends start out in a group of 9 knowing the "rules" of this haunted road and it just goes downhill from there as things aren't what they seem, rules can be bent, and the punishment for breaking rules is sometimes a fate worse than death, but almost always scary or gruesome.

Recommended for teens...I'd say an avid horror and book fan 14 but mostly 16 and older. There are parts that get confusing, and many reviews say it slows down after the middle of the book, but I didn't feel that.

Still, a great horror book I highly recommend!

A good comic about the author/artist's experience growing up and learning about asexuality in her college years and finding a partner that is just like her. A sweet comic with some relatable bits, but like she mentions, everyone's experience and preference within the ace spectrum can differ. It's good representation and explanation for some of the different aspects of asexuality (aromantic, romantic gray, etc,) and I enjoyed the little aside pages that were more informational outside of her biographical comic.

3.5 Stars. A good page turner with some ghostly stuff and a seemingly spooky kid and fun artwork smattered throughout the book. This is a nice, quick read with some thrills and chills and fun to read. So if you're looking for a quick, easy horror fix, this should do the trick!

Was it anything new and amazing? Nah. Deep, thought-provoking writing? Not really. The characters are this book's strongest point.

I liked this one! Maybe because I like snow and winter...

When the Fourth Wall becomes a character in and of itself...
Another fun and amusing Spidey-pool!

Aw, that was such a sweet book! The strange, slightly ahead, futuristic setting in time made me confused for a second, and I'm wondering when exactly this takes place? Is this a generation after our current time? Also, it takes place in a world like ours, but slightly different. It seems the divergence of our world and the Reflecting world where animal people live is a historical fact?
It's okay, that slight confusion for me still didn't dampen the experience of this wonderful book. Oli is adorable and any time he mentioned throwing back his head in a silent scream I just pictured a cartoony snake just going "Aaauuughhhh!" in my head and chuckled. Adorable.
Oli was my favorite but all the characters in this are fantastic. Oh, but maybe Ami was my favorite... Adorable tiny toads with selective mutism (in my mind, he was) or bespectacled cottonmouths?
Fantastic book. I recommend this to anyone!

Hhnnnnggggg, this book was SO good as an audiobook. I was listening to it any chance I got!
But it was SO sad and full of feels. Definitely deals with some very dark, disturbing, sad stuff, so be aware. I want to keep the CW vague but know that if any kind of abuse triggers you, you may want to skip this book.

Spoiler

And if you are a woman, you might catch on pretty quickly what's going on.

BUT, this audiobook was fantastic with a full cast and some excellent talent. You will love Sadie. You will be angry with Sadie. You will also want revenge with Sadie. You will hold back sad and angry tears with Sadie.

I finished this book three days ago but it's still haunting my thoughts, and even my dreams a little! Now THAT'S the kind of book I love to read!

3.5 stars. Read as an audiobook, which I think was a great choice. I enjoyed the 3 different voices as the POV would switch based on the chapter.

This made me think of Veronica Mars with the theme of teen who used to live the life of the rich and famous but lost it all and is now the school pariah. Old friends are enemies, the town shuns the family, etc,. Only thank goodness Veronica had her dad (who is, BTW, one of my favorite fictional dads), because Tress's grandpa Cecil is utter trash. Worse than trash. That man should be arrested and just thrown in jail for child AND animal abuse and neglect. So Tress has to raise herself, make her own money (selling drugs) or steal what she can't afford (which are the bare basics of used clothes from Goodwill and tampons since Cecil tells her to "just hold it"). All the while still going to the same high school as the other richie rich kids of Amontillado, OH (I'm guessing her parents paid for it all before disappearing? How is she affording this tuition right now?)

And then you have her former best friend, now a big bitch not really doing much to help her former best friend who is OBVIOUSLY in a terrible home. (Quick aside: like seriously, why is no one helping Tress? They all just brush her off as white trash now that she lives with her grandpa, steals shit, smells like animals and is totally not getting the attention she needs. Is there not ONE concerned parent or guidance councilor or teacher in this town? Did I miss something??)

So when Tress starts to brick up her former best friend Felicity to try and learn what happened the night of her parents' disappearance, where Felicity was a witness, I honestly don't blame her. Sure we get some redeeming qualities from Felicities side of the story but I'm all about revenge. Brick her up, I say!

This is why I can't read much YA these days. Everyone is just so... catty and bitchy in these high school settings. I get very angry and just can't quite suspend my disbelief enough that there isn't a single halfway-decent adult in this town. I need books with redeeming characters. Luckily this book had Hugh. And a giant panther.

I think this might have been my favorite Bobiverse book yet!