Scan barcode
justine_ao's review
So I read a little over a third of this before giving up, so I believe I’ve given it a fair chance. I tried to finish it but I just couldn’t bear to continue reading.
This is not a smart political satire, it’s the exact opposite. It is just plain gross and mistakes shock value for plot. I feel that I’m getting absolutely nothing out of reading this and I can’t think of a single person I would recommend it for.
I read a lot of horror, but honestly, this book made me feel gross just reading it, and that is not something that has happened to me often. It isn’t the subject matter that is the problem, it’s the fact that it’s poorly written and has no real thought behind it.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racism, and Sexual violence
aquaphase's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Wake Up and Open Your Eyes did not disappoint in the slightest.
The story opens innocently enough. Noah Fairchild is a liberal family man living in Brooklyn who has distanced himself a bit from his Richmond, Virginia family after their years-long slide into the far-right cable media. When Noah’s mother leaves a voicemail rambling about the “Great Reawakening,” and Noah can’t reach her for clarification; he gets a tad concerned and sets out for Virginia to get to the bottom of this.
What Noah finds is an utter nightmare, that, it turns out, isn’t just confined to his family: people across the country appear to be infected with a media-fueled demonic possession; fueled by exposure to television, apps, and other content.
One of the things I appreciated the most in the presentation of this story was the implied multimedia presentation of the situation. Switching between recounts of TikTok feeds, news reports, personal videos, and other sources, the reader gets a quick snapshot of the insanity that seems to be spreading though the nation. The fever dream inclusion of Anderson Cooper as an imaginary narrator at one point really just drives the insanity aspect of this story home.
As always with Mr. Chapman, Wake Up and Open Your Eyes is very worth picking up. It’ll very much make you question where the “sickness” comes from. Just a bit of FYI, it has absolutely every single content warning that one might be able to think of. Definitely not for the faint of heart.
Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Classism
funbrarian's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
justanotherfinalgirlreview's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic