DNF’d at 7%. This felt aimless, and pretentious, and I couldn’t’ve possibly dealt with 93% more of it.

DNF’d around chapter 2. I was already a bit wary going into this due to the insanely long character list and glossary provided in the beginning. I was pleasantly surprised by the author’s skill with words, but it sort of felt like the story already had too much going on. I thought the story was set in some kind of new non-existent world, but then there was an Australian character who kept saying “mate” and “crikey” which felt weird. Then, after chapter one, it felt like I’d entered a completely different novel with a weird nerdy girl vs. popular girl cliché? After checking some reviews, it seemed like the constant switching around was going to happen throughout the whole book, so I figured I’d be better off not reading.

Great! Believable relationship, fair plotline, fun world to exist in. I originally didn’t think Mary was as badass as she seemed, which was annoying because her whole thing is being scary and violent and a force to be reckoned with (and I still think her badass-ery could’ve been pushed a bit further), but I was pleasantly surprised by her skills later in the book. It was great seeing the characters from ALMF, but at the same time I deeeply appreciate that this was a true interconnected stand-alone, and that the author didn’t just use this book as an opportunity to continue the previous couple’s story, or overly focus on events from the previous book. I liked that each love interest had their own issues, though I feel like Maxim’s could’ve been explored much more. Mary’s anxiety and PTSD felt well depicted. I actually feel like this book was an improvement from ALMF, which was nice to see. Richards definitely did a better job of showing the progression of the characters’ relationship as opposed to having things happen off-screen (or off-page rather). Overall, I loved this romance!

Full transparency, it’s been a little too long since I read this for me to go in-depth with my review, so I’ll just post the notes I left in my notes app that were SUPPOSED to help jog my memory: Meaningful, beautifully written, good messaging, slow/boring at times, repetitive writing, strong (relatable) likeably unlikeable morally grey main character, interesting character relationship dynamics, would describe as scifi litfic.

So yeah. I really enjoyed it, but it definitely still had some flaws.

DNF’d at 2%. The writing was painfully amateur, like a wattpad story. It felt like the author was DEFINITELY self inserting. Final straw was the FMC having a pet snake named Bakugo. YIKES.

DNF’d at 57%. I honestly just wasn’t invested enough to continue. I was reeeeally enjoying the mixed media/found footage aspect at first, and I think the author had a lot of cool things going on in this book, but it ultimately got old for me. Video description after video description, chat after chat, post after post, it started to feel repetitive. Also, so much of what was going on was just so BLATANTLY horrifying, yet it was all so casual? Everything seemed less severe than it really was due to the lack of reaction and outrage around it. Lastly, I felt zero connection to any of the characters, including the main character, which doesn’t bode well for my willingness to finish their story. Maybe if the author had given the readers a bit more of a look at Storymancer’s life outside of the investigation, or if we got to see him interact with friends or something- idk. I just didn’t really care about him enough to continue or feel invested in his whole missing little brother plotline. Oh, and I was VERY aware of the book being YA, which isn’t always the case when I read YA sooo… yeah.

DNF’d at 13%. The writing style was giving me a headache. Very stream of conciousness-esque. The writer definitely has some skill, but I just don’t like her style. Also absolutely NOTHING was happening plot-wise, so there was nothing to keep me reading.

Specifically Rated 4.8

This book was excellent! Loved it! I loved the nostalgic feel this book brought on. Definitely felt like a love letter to the movie Monster House, but also gave me Goosebumps (the books), and Paranorman vibes too a little. A perfect “Summerween” read, though I’ll probably be rereading it in the fall too. I liked that the FMC was smart and sort of snappy. She felt three dimensional, and like she was taking charge of the story as opposed to the plot being something happening to her, if that makes sense. I hate a character that’s just being knocked around by the book, and she definitely wasn’t that. I also enjoyed the subtle progressive views sprinkled throughout the book, especially because they weren’t so farfetched and blatant that it felt impossible for the time period. The FMC wasn’t a man-hating girlboss feminist queen (which is perfectly fine, just would’ve felt a little out of place given the times and her environment), but she also stuck up for herself and was never a moony eyed simpering sap for her love interest. I also love the way the “romance” worked in this story. It felt realistic, progressed in a believable manner, and fit perfectly in the story, which I was worried it wouldn’t when I first started reading. I wouldn’t say this book was scary, but there were definitely eerie moments, and palpable moments of impending doom. Overall, this was very well crafted and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

DNF’d at 3%. Pacing was weird, there was no draw, like nothing piquing my interest, and and the intro was just disorienting overall. At one point the characters were entering a stairwell, and then in the next sentence, the mmc was popping the trunk on a car that never got mentioned. If things were that bad 3%…

DNF’d at 46%. It was getting wayyy too repetitive for me, both with words and phrasing and just in terms of the plot, and on top of that it was nearly impossible for me to visualize things while the FMC was climbing and maneuvering around. Also, despite being nearly halfway into the book, there wasn’t really any horror yet, just some very slight unease. It’s unfortunate because I was really enjoying other aspects like the characters, the claustrophobia (which was responsible for some of the unease), and I was genuinely curious about what was going to happen, but I was getting too frustrated to continue reading. Even the map provided in the beginning seemed completely inaccurate to events later in the book.

DNF’d at 17%. Ultimately, this book just felt too amateur-ish for me. The writing, the plot and the scenes all just felt too algorithmic, as if the author just finished reading a book called “Horror Novel Structure: What To Know Before Writing!” and then she immediately sat down and wrote this. There were constant awkward similes, overused phrases, and the dialogue felt really stale and robotic. Also, since the book starts off by telling you nearly all the main characters die, and it tells you how they died, there wasn’t a lot of room for tension, or suspense.