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novellearts's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This starts off pretty action-packed and immediately the concept gripped me. If you didn’t pick up on the not-so-subtle hints, this book is a political satire on MAGA and Fox News. I thought this aspect was great, I loved the absurdity of the brainwashing and insanity that overtook these characters. I’m also sure that if the audience that this book is written about reads this, they are going to absolutely hate this book.
The main reason I knocked off points for this book was that it felt incredibly repetitive and almost became tedious in the middle chunk of this story. The first part was fantastic, I was completely zoned into the story, but once I got to the middle, I found my mind wandering because I just didn’t feel as though I was reading anything ground-breaking. The story felt like it stalled for me. The ending did pick back up a bit but it wasn’t as strong as the start.
I did enjoy the humor in this too and there were certainly a good amount of “WTF” moments and gore. I think this is probably a book that a lot of people would want to check the trigger warnings for. For example, there is a family dog in this book. The dog does
There’s also some pretty graphic scenes about child deaths and school shootings.
I do think this book was worth reading even though it lost some of its appeal to me in the middle.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Incest, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
ajslifelibrary's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.5
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Biphobia, Cursing, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Incest, Racial slurs, Racism, Vomit, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Colonisation
2ratsinacoat's review
- 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
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.
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Blood, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, and Murder
Moderate: Animal death
tessameh's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Body horror, Incest, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Suicide
Minor: Animal death
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