"Deathless Divide"

"Deathless Divide"
Written by Justina Ireland
Reviewed by Diana Iozzia


"Deathless Divide" is the second novel in the "Dread Nation" series written by Justina Ireland. The series follows our main character, Jane, who lives in a post-Civil War era but there is a twist. After the soldiers on both sides of the war died, they rose back to life, as zombie-like "shamblers" with acute senses of smell and hearing. Jane and her friends must learn to survive, utilizing the skills they have learned at the Miss Preston's Academy, in which black teens learn to fight against shamblers to protect their mistresses.

"Deathless Divide" picks up immediately after the fall of the town our main characters were stationed in, which was more of a cult than a safe haven. Jane and Katherine, a brilliant friend and secondary main character, must find their friends and escape to the nearest safe place. Jane and Kate have realized that Gideon, the mad scientist working on a shambler vaccine, is more Mr. Hyde than Dr. Jekyll, which prompts them to search for him, to stop him.

"D.D." takes place in two parts, both brilliantly executed. I have to admit, I was terrified to pick up the sequel, after adoring "Deathless Divide" incredibly. Fearing my disappointment, I found myself savoring every page, taking far too long to read the story. Ireland continues her magnificent ability to create wonderful characters, realistic dialogue, and compelling plots. The main trophy of this story, as with "Dread Nation" is the friendship between Jane and Kate. If a reader begins the series expecting zombies and horror similar to "The Walking Dead", they can continue in a different direction. The shambler horror is far lessened in this novel, as the true main villain manifests in Gideon.

The second part of the story continues in a brilliant fashion, causing a separation between the two main characters. As they begin to heal their relationship, they must fight against the odds to win and stop the evil.

I absolutely loved this novel, and I truly hope that Ireland continues the series. Although the sequel ended on a great final note, I'd absolutely hope for more.

I received a finished copy from the publisher, Titan Books, in exchange for reading, reviewing, and promoting the novel. Thank you again.

I rated this novel as a five star read out of five stars.

"Nightmares and Dreamscapes"

“Nightmares and Dreamscapes”

Written by Stephen King

Review written by Diana Iozzia

            “Nightmares and Dreamscapes” is a collection of short stories written by the beloved author, Stephen King. There are 23 in the collection, and I was pretty pleased with the stories. As with most of Stephen King’s work, there is a very large range of types of stories and who would enjoy the stories most. I have always said that his stories fit a shotgun effect for me, I have to read a few before I find one that I really enjoy. I loved reading the introduction and the “Notes” sections. His introductions aren’t that amusing or funny to me usually, but I enjoyed this one. The “Notes” section always includes little explanations or inspirations for each story.

             I don’t particularly enjoy his short stories about revenge, so I didn’t like “Dolan’s Cadillac” and its theme, but the quality of the story was intriguing. A man whose wife was killed by this horrible man seeks revenge after years gone by.

            In “The End of the Whole Mess”, we learn of two brothers. One brother, Bobby, is a child genius and prodigy, while his brother, the narrator, Howard, was smart, but lesser in comparison. Bobby is a flighty person, spending many of his years on his own, learning interesting things about the world and conducting experiments. One day, he shows up on Howard’s porch, explaining his new discovery. His discovery is a form of medicinal chemical that is supposed to stop a volcano from devastating the south of Earth. When this chemical does not work, many people begin to die. We read Howard’s narration after he’s put his brother down and is slowly dying by suicide. This was really sad, but very interesting. I always enjoy a good science-fiction, alternate future story.

            “Suffer the Little Children” follows Miss Sidley, a boarding school teacher, whose students start to creep up on her and drive her paranoid. The results of her paranoia and insanity are heartbreaking. As with most good science fiction / horror stories, this ends off on a cliffhanger, a strange future to come after the story ends. I enjoyed this, “Crouch End”, “Home Delivery”, and “The End of the Whole Mess” best out of the stories in this collection.

            “The Night Flier” is a sort of noir detective story where a man becomes obsessed with following and finding a mysterious serial killer who drains his victim’s blood during night flights. This was weird and creepy, but I liked it.

            “Popsy” is a creepy, kidnapping story, where you read through the perspective of the pedophile, which was uncomfortable. King always has a fantastic habit of making readers feel very unsettled. Not to spoil the ending, but the characteristics of the person who rescues the little boy, his Popsy, was an interesting twist.

            “It Grows on You” is a depressing epilogue to King’s “Needful Things”, my least favorite book by him so far. Needless (no pun intended) to say, I didn’t want to read or enjoy this story. Spoiler alert, I didn’t enjoy it.

            “Chattery Teeth” was a hitchhiker story gone wrong. I tend to like King’s hitchhiker stories. This was odd, but enjoyable.

            “Dedication” was about a woman whose son dedicated a story to her. We learn of her not-very-interesting backstory of her first husband, and then her second husband. Domestic abuse stories aren’t interesting to me.

            “The Moving Finger” came across as a campfire scary story for adults. A man is haunted by a little finger that pops up in his bathroom. He’s driven insane by this little finger. It’s comical and also slightly disturbing. I also enjoyed the characters as well as the story. A strange, but enjoyable read.

            “Sneakers” is about a man who sees a specific pair of sneakers at work, in the bathroom, and in other places in public. I didn’t understand this story, and I don’t think I’m missing out.

            “You Know They Got a Hell of a Band” is a great. My father is a collector and big music fan, so imagining my father finding himself in a rock-and-roll hell was an amusing time. Probably the worst version of Hell for him, so it was funny to read a story like that. A couple finds themselves trapped in a small town that turns out to have evil versions of Janis Joplin, Buddy Holly, and Roy Orbison. This read like a “Goosebumps” story / “Twilight Zone” story combined. I thoroughly enjoyed this funny but spooky read.

            “Home Delivery” is a really cool zombie story, but it doesn’t feel at all like a “Walking Dead” type story. I really enjoyed this science fiction, zombie horror story for many of its elements. Our narrator, Maddie, is pregnant. We learn of her horrific, abusive marriage. Maddie lives on a little fishing island, and we start to learn how on the mainland across the United States, corpses are coming back to life. We have a mini version of an epic story, where we witness the stopping of the corpses, her husband come back to life, and we resolve with Maddie becoming ready for her child to come, in a home delivery of course. This was great.

            “Rainy Season” follows a couple who find themselves on vacation in a strange town where every seven years, killer toads rain down from the sky. Weird, but pleasant story.

            I didn’t understand the story, “My Pretty Pony”. It first sounded like a predatory grandpa telling his grandson about life. I have no idea what happened in it.

            “Sorry, Right Number” is a creepy and twisty screenplay, where a mother Katie thinks she is receiving phone calls from her daughter, who seemingly is perfectly fine and not in danger.

            “The Ten O’Clock People” was my least favorite short story I’ve ever read by King. A man discovers that people around him are like secret alien / lizard creatures.

            “Crouch End” follows a team of London cops who try to help a woman find her husband who has disappeared. We read the story in two parts, the cops trying to find the husband and her story that she tells to the police. I really liked this, but I don’t want to reveal anymore, because there are great twists and turns.

            “The House on Maple Street” follows the children in a family explore their summer home and also find a way to seek revenge on their disliked stepfather. This was strange, but I enjoyed it. It reminded me a little of the books by Lemony Snicket.

            “The Doctor’s Case” is a story written through the perspective of Dr. John Watson, following a case in which Watson works with Sherlock Holmes. I liked Sherlock Holmes when I was younger, but this was a trip down memory lane. It was written in the same melodic style as Arthur Conan Doyle.

            In “The Fifth Quarter”, Jerry Tarkanian seeks revenge for his friend who died. He shows up to make a deal with Barney’s killers.

            “Umney’s Last Case” follows a private investigator who meets his last client, the author who created him. Then, Umney finds himself in a worse situation than he began.

            I didn’t read “Heads Down”. It chronicles his son’s baseball season and is practically a diary. “Brooklyn August” is a poem that coincides.

            “The Beggar and the Diamond” is a re-written Hindu teaching. It was similar to a cautionary tale.

            

"Needful Things"

“Needful Things”
Book written by Stephen King
Review written by Diana Iozzia

Be prepared, because this review of “Needful Things” is going to be a very honest, very long, and kind of mean one. “Needful Things” by Stephen King had a lot of promise in my mind. I was really hoping to like this, because if I had to pick a favorite author, I’d pick Stephen. Can I call him Mister King? Can I call him Stephen?

The plot follows the small town of Castle Rock, the infamous Castle Rock that appears in a large percentage of his books (I can’t be bothered to look up the exact percentage). Castle Rock is famous for being a small, little strange town created by King. The characters are numerous, some have appeared in “Needful Things” when they have appeared elsewhere. For example, we are reintroduced to Alan Pangborn from “The Dark Half” and Ace Merrill from “Stand by Me”. With a book having at least 20 characters to remember, you can imagine that it might be hard to keep track of certain characters. Alan, Polly, Leland Gaunt, Brian Rust, Lettie, and a few others are most memorable, but it becomes difficult in Part Two of the book to remember many of them. Part 3 is absolutely atrocious for mentioning characters. The main ones were easy to remember, but I lost track of certain plot lines.

Mr. Leland Gaunt, a peculiar fellow, opens a shop called Needful Things. He begins selling items to townsfolk that could be an item they’ve always lusted over or an item that symbolizes their main desires. From baseball cards to fox tails to a framed picture of Elvis, they are not ordinary objects that you’d imagine people would be driven insane over. Mr. Gaunt accepts money, but he also creates an agreement with the customer to do him favors and “pranks”. These favors and pranks eventually pit the citizens of Castle Rock against each other, ensuing in crimes, violence, and different types of murder.

This was a fantastic premise, but the book could have done well with having 50 percent of its material cut. The copy I have has about 500 pages in very small print. This took me a month to struggle through. The first part was great. It set up an interesting plot, that became less interesting the less I read.

I think this book reminds me of “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street”, an episode of the television show, “The Twilight Zone” where aliens pit neighbors against each other and cause havoc on one small street. Stephen King seems to “take inspiration” from many different stories, but this one felt eerily familiar.

I’m glad I read this book, because I had wanted to read it for some time. But I’m much gladder that I finished it. I could say I recommend it, but I can also say that you should steer very clear. Proceed with caution. I still can’t tell how I actually view this book, if in a positive light or negative light. I have heard that the short story “It Growns on You” in King’s book, “Nightmares and Dreamscapes” is a sort of epilogue to “Needful Things”, so perhaps I can find some closure there.

The aspects I liked:

Polly Chalmers and Alan Pangborn were great main characters.
The feud between Wilma Jerzyck and Nettie Cobb was a great storyline.
The climax and resolution.
“Answered Prayers”
Leland Gaunt’s Faustian personality.

The aspects I didn’t like:

Ace Merrill, terribly rotten in personality and plot line.
About 75 percent of the book. It was very descriptive to a fault.
Too many characters to keep track of.

The aspects I’m not sure on:

Danforth Keeton
The Rust Family

"Long Black Veil"

“Long Black Veil”

Written by Jennifer Finney

Review written by Diana Iozzia

                I was thoroughly disappointed with the book, “Long Black Veil”. I had received this as a complementary advanced reader’s copy, and I was very hopeful based on the description. The book blurb tells that this fictional story is about a group of friends who had broken into the Eastern State Penitentiary. However, one of them didn’t make it out alive. Then, years later, a mysterious woman named Judith finds her way into this murder investigation.

            This sounded like an interesting murder mystery/thriller. I admit: the first chapter of this book is very intriguing. The first paragraph hook is fantastic, really setting up the scene for the beginning of the book. There are many characters introduced very quickly, and it becomes very confusing to keep track of these characters.

            This book becomes more about the woman, Judith, who has a connection to these friends that is later revealed. In addition, you find the answer to the mystery half-way through the book! This doesn’t create a thrilling conclusion, it just ruins the surprise. It’s not even that a great surprise, who killed the victim and why. Just bland.

            I enjoyed the creepy and eerie chapters where the characters are walking around the Penitentiary. The characters had done this in the eighties, and the murder investigation kicks off in the 2013-2015 range. I had visited these penitentiary ruins last summer, so it was great to read a book about the place, but it was hardly about the prison. The main story is the murder investigation, but it hardly feels like that. It’s basically just Judith’s past and present story and how it relates to everyone else. (Spoiler: it’s not that interesting a connection.) I found myself often skimming this, because I just wasn't that interested.

            The positive points are: LGBT friendly, lots of suspense in the prison exploration, some twists and turns, and the characters Maisie and Rachel. 

"The Only Child"

“The Only Child”

Written by Andrew Pyper

Review written by Diana Iozzia

 

            “The Only Child” is very reminiscent of horror classics that I have read thus far in my life. It takes inspiration from “The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”, “Frankenstein”, and “Dracula”. Andrew Pyper has created a horror classic, and it’s only a few months old.

            We read about our main character, Lily, a criminal psychologist who isn’t living a very happy adult life. She talks about her lack of sexual interest, her drinking, and she seems to choke it up to her childhood tragedies. She meets her newest client, who tells her that he is the monster who inspired the classic stories I’ve mentioned above. He also tells her that he is her father.

            This is a whirlwind of a tale. Pyper has created a new monster, that is unlike other monsters I’ve read before, but exactly like other monsters. Without any further detail, (I feel I may spoil this), this is one of the best monster horror books I’ve read in a very long time. I am a longtime fan of Stephen King, who often makes his humans the monsters, but Andrew Pyper makes his monsters very human.

            This is a brilliant read, but there are some duller parts. The opening chapters are very reminiscent of the beginning of “The Silence of the Lambs”. I liked drawing the comparison, but it’s very obvious and not that thrilling. The last quarter of the book, including the climax, was very thrilling, and I couldn’t stop reading. However, I can’t lie and say the rest of the book was one where I couldn’t put the book down. I could, but when I picked it back up, I was happy to jump right back in.

            There are many characters, and they can get a bit confusing. One of my favorite quotes is “In writing, you must kill all your darlings.” I remembered this quote often as I read this book.

"Gone Girl"

“Gone Girl” 

Written by Gillian Flynn

Review written by Diana Iozzia

            "Gone Girl" is a caper like no other. The book starts out as a mushy gushy love story told by Amazing Amy Dunne, in dual perspective contrasting with ego-maniac and possible alcoholic Nick Dunne, who has discovered that Amy has gone missing. Frankly, the first half of her narrative is boring, endless, and I struggled through it, but you read on to realize it's purposely written like that.

            It's likely you may already know the twist behind Amy's disappearance, but if you don't, read this book. If you do, read this book immediately. It's not often I encounter a book that completely warps my mind and makes me doubt everything. This unreliable narrative could make Edgar Allan Poe green with envy.

            I am a very picky person, and find it very difficult to rate my favorite things in top ten forms, but this easily could be one of my top three book choices. I really, really love this.

"The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde"

“The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”

Written by Robert Louis Stevenson

Review written by Diana Iozzia

          What a fantastic and morbid novel. Naturally, I had known about this story all of my life until I was very fortunate to read it in English class, I’ve read it thrice since.

          This is a bone-chilling and grotesque novel, for the time period, but it still holds its terror-inducing chills and thrills to this day. The dark, spooky London streets are haunted by a mysterious monster man, known as Mr. Edward Hyde. Why has our narrator, Mr. Utterson, noticed this Mr. Hyde lurking around the home and laboratory of his dear friend, Dr. Henry Jekyll?

          I love this novel for more than the deep and intriguing descriptions and interesting plot. You see the descent of madness that Dr. Jekyll endures in his letters and diaries. You also see the destruction of the man he once was, juxtaposed with the monster, Mr. Hyde.

          I love science fiction, and I believe that this is the second-best science fiction known to man, losing to Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein”.

          Unfortunately, I will never be able to not know the secret behind Mr. Hyde. It’s on par with many literary and film twists, that once you know the secret, you would never read the story the same way. It would have been lovely to read this novel before knowing the truth about Mr. Hyde and Dr. Jekyll, but even so, this is a fantastic read. I almost forgot the secret, if that helps.

          I often find myself emerged in a book or story, then completely lose faith or lose interest. This happened in the first chapter, but that’s it? It felt like a slow start to me, but then I was more enraptured than I thought I could be. 

"The Picture of Dorian Gray"

“The Picture of Dorian Gray”

Written by Oscar Wilde

Review written by Diana Iozzia

            My, oh, me. This is probably one of the most hyped classic stories, along with the stories written by the Brontes, Shakespeare, Poe, and Jane Austen. However, I really do not think that the hype is well deserved for this book. I realize I’m a bit late to the game, but I am twenty-one, so I could have waited a longer time. If I’m correct, I read this in January 2016 as a Christmas gift.

            For the time period, it was an iconic, scandalous, crude, and creepy tale. It just doesn’t hold up as well in today’s society. Dorian Gray is an interesting villain, in theory. He’s a young, charming, charismatic, and licentious man, but he has a taste for the darker side. Slowly, the book unfolds how distorted he is. (But to be honest, he’s not really all that bad). For the time period and years after that, he was creepy. I just didn’t get an uncomfortable, creepy vibe from him. It’s interesting how he pursues his female love interest, but when he gets his way, he pouts like a little boy. In addition, there's a strange narration. 

            I was just disappointed in this book, in comparison to all of the other spooky classics out there.

"The Tommyknockers"

“The Tommyknockers” by Stephen King

Review Written by Diana Iozzia

            I can tell you right now that Stephen King is my favorite author. He writes horror fiction, which is one of my favorite genres, and he’s damn good at it. Everyone either despises him or worships him. “The Tommyknockers” was one of the only books I’ve read by him that I despised. You read about a very uninteresting and depressed protagonist named Bobbi Anderson. Bobbi is walking in her backyard with her old dog, when she finds a hunk of metal protruding from the ground.

            There are many ways to spoil this book, but I’d rather not completely ruin it for you. It’s very reminiscent of an episode from The Twilight Zone, or at least the beginning is. In many of King’s books, he writes of his inspirations and his connections, but sometimes, they feel so much more coincidental and slightly like he rips off some of his stories.

            I love Mr. King, but this was a very skippable book. It’s absolutely gigantic, and I just could not finish this with my sanity full intact. I was tired and bored of it by the first three chapters. Perhaps, I’ll re-read it in ten years and see if my thoughts have changed. Unfortunately, for now, I wouldn’t recommend this book. If I had a heart, it'd be broken by this book.

"Dark Souls"

"Dark Souls" by Paula Morris
Review written by Diana Iozzia

"Dark Souls" is a young adult fiction novel, full of ghosts, thrilling romance, and exploration in historic York, England. I read this when I was in my teenage years, but I re-read this two summers ago, when I was visiting York, England.

Miranda and her family are on vacation in York for the summer, so her mother can participate in an orchestra program. Miranda makes friends with a hipster-like guy named Nick, who shows her around the city. Soon, you realize that Nick is very shady and might not be telling the entire truth about himself. With lots of haunted folklore, it creates a creepy setting for the lovely city. 

I personally enjoyed "Ruined" by Paula Morris much more than this book, but for a second novel, it was quite creepy and interesting. There is a great sequence before the final climax. Good read for a young adult novel with some thrills and chills.

"Doom Sayer"

“Doom Sayer” by Zachary T. Owen

Review written by Diana Iozzia

            Tonight, I finished this second collection of horror short stories written by the independent author, Mr. Zachary Owen. I thoroughly enjoyed Mr. Owen’s first short story collection, “Burn Down the House and Everyone in It.” When I had the chance to read his second book, published just this February of 2017, I was very interested.

            If I count the days, I think it only took me three afternoons and one night to read this, so it’s very easily read and digestible. In comparison to his first book, Mr. Owen created more creepy and unsettling stories in his second novel than the first. The first felt more comical, but the second felt more gruesome and outlandish.

            The first half of the stories were okay to me. I enjoyed them, but the second half of the book was filled with interesting stories. As I spoke about in my review of his first book, Mr. Owen uses common fears and exemplifies them in his stories. These fear-filled felt much more natural and realistic than the first collection. Owen’s worlds that he creates are natural, but they are just at the fringe of your worst nightmare.

            Personally, my favorite stories from this collection were:

            “The Orphan Room”, which wasn’t as realistic and natural, but it reminded me of “Coraline” by Neil Gaiman.

            “Lucifer’s Dream Box”, an interesting story about modern art and secret pleasures.

            “What We Do for Love” felt like a haunting, cautionary, fairy tale. An interesting story, leaving you wondering who indeed was the beast.

            The last 60-70 pages (I didn’t do the math) were a fantastic, eerie tale about a pond in the woods, with macabre secrets hiding in said woods. “Beauties in the Deep” was a really vivid and interesting story. I’d love to see it played out in a short film.

            This second collection of horror stories by Zachary Owen were great, but I can’t even pick which novel I enjoyed more. I would seriously consider reading both.

"Burn Down the House and Everyone in It"

"Burn Down the House and Everyone in It” Zachary T. Owen

Review written by Diana Iozzia

“Burn Down the House and Everyone in It” was a fun, exciting, thrilling, and scary book! I am a great fan of the horror legend, Stephen King. My favorite writings of his to read are his short stories, so I was eager to read this horror short story collection by Zachary T. Owen.

Mr. Owen is a very imaginative author, and he must have been influenced by great horror writers. I love that he can blend the odd, weird, and goofy aspects with the grotesque and spine-chilling aspects of horror together to make a fun mix. I must admit, I plan to read all of the writings of this author now.

I can’t help but use clichés to describe my liking for this book. The stories are really creative. I personally like to call myself a writer, and I like to imagine where Mr. Owen got his ideas, because they are very different and unique, however, they are not so far off in his imagination that we couldn’t have gotten there ourselves.

My favorite stories in this collection are “Sometimes the Closet Isn’t Big Enough”, “A Small Death Worth Morning”, “Kids’ Teeth and More”, and “Forgotten Tenants”. I think Mr. Owen’s writing is interesting, because each of his stories picks up on common fears held by humans, and really exaggerates them creatively to become quite horrific.

Some of his stories are a little too out there for me. I didn’t particularly enjoy “Little Danny”. “Growth” made me feel quite sad. “Glass Skeletons” was confusing. “Favors from Hell” was just not interesting or relatable. I didn’t like “I Know There Are People Who Wander in the Night”, because it was a very generic idea.

I think that many of Mr. Owen’s stories could be great for sitting around a campfire at night, in the spooky mood with only one flashlight. To be honest, that’s probably the scariest way to tell a story, if you ask me. I was always afraid of Bloody Mary, so I guess you could see why.

In conclusion, I truly enjoyed these stories. I read them in three days’ time. I didn’t have any nightmares, but being over the age of 12, that makes sense. I did feel a bit on edge after these stories, so I regard that as a worthwhile experience.

"Black Chalk" by Christopher J. Yates

"Black Chalk" by Christopher J. Yates

Review written by Diana Iozzia

“Black Chalk” is an honest and interesting portrayal of the dynamic in a friendship group. There are two different narratives in the story, told in the past and present. At Oxford University, there are six friends, Chad, Jolyon, Emilia, Dee, Mark, and Jack, who become involved in a game of dares and consequences. They realize that as they continue playing, the stakes grow higher and the animosity grows between them.

The book is advertised as “six strangers, five survivors”, so instantly, the suspense grows to see who will not survive. Survive as in death or survive as in staying in the game? Unfortunately, you find out in the last two chapters, so the suspense has died over the length of the book. I have lots of praise and lots of dismay for this book.

The two narratives are told very separately. One is a written story by the character, Jolyon. The second narrative is from his perspective. We learn this early in the book, however, I interpreted that Chad was the main character, but over time, you realize that Jolyon’s story is not reliable. Jolyon was tormented by the past and his own dementia, so it makes for an interesting and unreliable narration.

The characters in this book are very likeable, and are relatable. The friendship dynamic reminds me of the ones in “A Beautiful Mind” and especially “The Dead Poet’s Society”, perhaps further exemplified by the school campus setting. I really enjoyed the characters, Jolyon and Chad, for their friendship. They start out as strangers, Chad on a study abroad, the American in England cliché. They connect very well and quickly, which causes some rivalry. In addition, I like that this book is contemporary, but it’s not telling of the times. It could have taken place last year or ten years ago. The characters are not dated by their music, art, or film tastes, like many books I have read before.

Naturally, I must address the faults I found. As interesting as the characters were, I do feel that six characters was too many. I feel that there could have been only five, that Mark and Jack were very similar and not fleshed out enough to be two separate characters. In addition, the “game” that they actually play does include dares and consequences, but the actual dice/cards/cups gameplay is confusing.

In addition, Jolyon’s perspective was muddled and confusing. He leaves notes and creates mnemonic devices for himself. We see him fourteen years later, but he acts as if he is a completely different character. The Jolyon we loved and admired is now a shell of the person he was. I understand that the events of the book have changed him, however, there isn’t a glimmer of the character we loved, so it’s hard to sympathize with him later down the line. We’re supposed to care about this poor man, but we don’t. He’s just a weird, old man. We eventually find out why, but it’s past the point of no return, where we don’t feel badly that we don’t sympathize with him.

Lastly, the game of dares is supposed to be scary, embarrassing, and overwhelming, but we hardly read about any of the dares that were completed. We mostly heard the characters talk them after the fact.

I did thoroughly enjoy this, it just seemed less exciting and thrilling than I hoped it to be. It was a bit slow, but it was well written. I would recommend it, but I just don’t want anyone getting their hopes up that this is as good as the next Stephen King bestseller or the next “Gone Girl”. It’s thrilling, but only about a quarter of the time.