Cameron

If you love Stranger Things as much as I do, you need to pick up this book!

This middle grade follows Ollie, an eleven year old avid reader who lost her mother after a tragic accident. One day on her way home from school, she sees a seemingly crazy woman attempt to throw a book into the river. Ollie, in an attempt to save a precious book, snatches it and runs. In this book is a story about the Smiling Man who will make a deal with anyone for the right price.

The next day, she is on a field trip to Smoke Hollow, a local farm with a dark history and a creepy, never ending mass of scarecrows. On their way home from the trip, the bus breaks down. Ollie and two of her classmates are the only ones to follow the bus drivers warning and run into the forest. With his one final piece of advice, “Avoid large places. Keep to small,” the kids are swept on a terrifying adventure to steer clear of the scarecrows and find their way back home.

This book was so cute and fun! I loved Ollie's humor and her budding friendship with her two classmates. It also touches on grief and healing.

There was a quick resolution but it's middle grade so it's expected.

Overall, I can't wait to pick up the next few books in this series. They're the perfect mix between spooky without being scary.

Nope. This was not for me.

I am far from the intended audience of this book. I acknowledge the author is an extremely talented writer, but the writing style is not for me.

My classmate said it best so here's a quote from them: “This is just a tour guide through the eyes of a pedophile”

It is not worth the time for me but I see why some enjoy it. I just could not stand the narrator or the authors lack of development for any of the female characters.

If this was my first introduction to thrillers, I'm sure it would have been mind blowing but I just found this to be so... unthrilling.

Synopsis:

Claire's sister went missing 20 years ago and her family never received any answers. Now, another girl disappeared and Claire notices similarities to her sisters case. The more she digs into the case, the more she realizes the situation is far more sinister than she could have ever imagined.

Review:

Was the writing phenomenal? Absolutely. Karin Slaughter is one of the best in the game and has been for years. I won't let this deter me from reading more of her work. I just found the characters in this book and their development to be one dimensional. The “twists” were barely even twists and I thought the ending felt like a cop out. I think because this book was so highly praised, I went in with too high of expectations. I wish there was more to say but I honestly feel like this:

I was completely misled by the book community into thinking this book was a shock-filled thriller. It was not, but I had a hard time putting it down because I was flying through it. So even though it didn't reach my expectations, it was still well done.

The highlight of this book for me was the writing. Lisa Jewell has such a captivation writing style that I love. Once you get past the first few chapters of learning which POV is which, you get sucked in.

Sadly, I wished this book was more thrilling than it was. By the time I got to the ending I was just so confused. I saw the resolution coming, but I was shocked they didn't elaborate more on what happened. There was a character that was giving off such creepy vibes but it was brushed over! I want more of that! I hope the next book in the series follows through with that character because it left me wanting more.

This was a fun, mind-numbing read. I look forward to reading other books by Lisa Jewell in the future.

This is my first read of Kings and I have to say, I understand the appeal. He has a unique writing style and particular attention to detail. However, this was so repetitive that it took me over a month to finish. Every day was the same thing. I was so close to DNFing but pushed through. I'm glad I did and will definitely pick up other Stephen King books, but it felt like some action was missing. Overall a decent read.