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this was an enjoyable and easy read with a lot of good vocabulary. i think the author loves the word “prepossessing” a little too much though lol.

the worldbuilding fascinated me and i loved the relationships between the characters. i thought the plot was well-paced until it got to the ending; the resolution felt very abrupt and too convenient so i was a little disappointed by that.

despite its flaws, i still had plenty of fun so i will be checking out the sequel.

the book is funny and has an intriguing premise which i appreciated, but the ending felt very rushed and left a lot of threads untied for me. the villains felt two-dimensional, like they were just villains for the sake of the plot. then again, maybe i’m expecting too much from a book that’s targeted at younger readers.

i’m also disappointed with the portrayal of the secondary antagonists as uncivilised, barbarian cannibals. that blatantly colonialist rhetoric felt very out of place in a book with generally progressive, anti-fascist themes.

the book also could’ve used better editing. i noticed that characters had names swapped or changed out midway and there were quite a few punctuation errors.

what an incredibly heartbreaking family tragedy story. i liked the mystery and the story was paced well, but i found the prose to be a little stilted.

this was so good what the hell!!!!! i was expecting a lot of cosmic horror and dread and what i got instead was maybe 20% that and 80% gay yearning and romance. the romantic parts were so beautiful and soft and sweet. we gotta bring back love letters, y’all.

i also like that finch is hearing-impaired, uses hearing aids, and has ADHD—just like me hehe

this book is an exercise in suspending one’s disbelief. the whole book is just the author and his acquaintances speculating and running wild with theories they came up on their own with zero proof most of the time. it’s very much all tell and not show.

i wasn’t all that impressed by the author’s previous books either but he (or his fictionalised self) is particularly dislikable in this one. he approaches the survivors for interviews while lying about his intentions just to satiate his curiosity, often without any consideration for the victims. in a way he’s also profiting off of their traumas, since he published a book about all these cases.

u know what, i’ve never thought of that before