Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Wake Up and Open Your Eyes by Clay McLeod Chapman

11 reviews

7_minutes_of_weeping's review

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dark funny tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Wow… what an experience. Have you ever read a book that had you periodically stop and ask, “WTF am I reading?” Well, this book had me do that more than any other book I’ve read, and I’ve read some crazy books.

In this wild social and political horror, there is an epidemic of possessions sweeping the US. The cause? Extreme right-wing media called Fax News and viral internet trends circulating on social media. Noah Fairchild fears his parents have been acting strange and pays them a visit in Virginia. He finds himself far from home when the epidemic grips the nation, and he must do what he can to get back to New York to be with his wife and daughter. 

This book is intense on several levels. It’s bold with how it points a finger at the dangers of excessive media consumption and how easy it is for someone to lose themselves to media manipulation. Chapman isn’t afraid to critique the modern polarization of our political beliefs and, quite literally, shove the toxic effects down our throats. I feel there will be a lot of people offended by these topics, and if these topics bother you, I recommend skipping this one. 

This book is also an extremely gruesome horror book that isn’t shy about delving into very graphic descriptions of disturbing and violent content. Chapman jumps straight into these elements, not even 30 pages into the book, so if you pick it up, please be advised that this book is not for the squeamish. Please read the trigger warnings for this one if you are sensitive to certain horror elements.

Overall, I must commend Chapman for his courage to write a book like this in our current political climate. It does an amazing job of pointing out the flaws of our current views on politics while also calling out the toxic consumption of social media and screen time. If you read the book Earthlings by Sayaka Murata and had a great time, you may enjoy this one 😬

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intention_elle's review

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dark reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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ajslifelibrary's review

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challenging dark reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

2.5


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toddjohnson's review

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dark fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
This is the worst book I've read in a long, long time. Even if you ignore the reductive, idiotic politics of it, the writing is artless and childish. The author is clearly aiming for comparisons to Stephen King but can only ape some of King's most obvious tics, clearly understanding nothing about why and in what capacity they can be effective. Suspension of disbelief is made impossible by several glaring factual inaccuracies and errors. The pacing is all over the place, not in a fun roller-coaster kind of way but in a way that makes it seem like the book was written in a stream-of-consciousness style: no thought seems to have been given in advance to the best way to build and release tension. Things just happen for a while and then they stop happening. I saw a positive review of this book compare it favorably to American Rapture and just, no. That book is lyrical and subtle and draws you in with its compelling, flawed characters. This book is a collection of terrible things done by, and happening to, cyphers. I could not possibly recommend it less.

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aghoststory's review

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dark funny fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5


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2ratsinacoat's review

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challenging dark reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Okay, so. 
I really liked this book. I thought the themes were intriguing and noteworthy, and the ideas were fresh. I do think that having a fresh and unique idea can get you far, but… I think the things were a bit heavy handed. That’s cool, I just was hoping for something a bit more thought provoking. Fair warning, there is a lot, and I mean a lot of gore/sexuality, and not in a fun way. The ending wasn’t my favorite, but I still really liked it! If you don’t like political criticism of either side, then don’t read, but I found it enjoyable.

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funbrarian's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0


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ellereadsalottt's review against another edition

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medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75


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justanotherfinalgirlreview's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

The Devil is in the Fine Print of the Terms and Conditions of Your Social Media Accounts: How obsession with technology and mediated communition can lead to our possession


The US of A is just more fun than hell.  Fact.”

Clay McCleod Chapman’s ‘Wake Up and Open Your Eyes’ examines American oversaturation of media in our daily lives, our obsession and addiction and inability to live without it. It takes the absurdity and horror of real life events and exaggerates them to a point where we can see that not only have we become desensitized to the ridiculousness and horror of real life mediated communication but also that we are not using our own common sense to question the information we receive, nor do we look for secondary sources to make informed judgments. Poking fun at Covid misinformation, political conspiracy to theories, Fox News and their fake news disinformation, the green health/yoga mom lifestyle, baby shark and more. 
Clay seems to have found out why this is all been normalized and what has been happening to our loved ones and wants to warn us about what could happen if we keep turning a blind eye. Demons have infiltrated our media industries at the highest level and have planned an hostile takeover from within. 


“You believe that? Only in motherfucking America . . . These possessed assholes are turning our country into their own personal playground.”


The second half reads like a terrifying choose your own adventure story: survival horror edition starring yourself (the reader) in the main role of Noah, only problem is you have no real choices as fate has already predetermined your path for you. 

“Their chyron flashes BREAKING NEWS, but isn’t news always breaking nowadays? Isn’t the news all broken by now? Smashed to bits?”

Format:
Novel
MultiplePov including 3rd person narration, epistolary transcripts and 2nd person narration 


Genre:
Horror
-survival 
-techno horror
-possession
-comedy horror 
Science Fiction
General Adult Fiction

“She had to find herself again. Reclaim herself. Salvage her inner goddess. Where better to look for spiritual guidance than on Instagram?”

For fans of:
The Cell - Stephen King
Kurt Vonnegut 
Fahrenheit 451 -Ray Bradbury
It- Stephen King

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typedtruths's review against another edition

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dark reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Where better to look for spiritual guidance than on Instagram?

this book was revolting and i need time to process it

BlogTrigger Warning DatabaseStoryGraph

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