ariel937's reviews
477 reviews

it was....okay. just okay. i thought the prose was beautiful, but even that was put off by how annoying of a character Elizah “I’m Not Like Other Girls” was. i think Spollen’s attempt to write with the voice of a teen girl was definitely a miss. the mood of the story was interesting enough, but the interactions with Nathaniel left much to be desired. i wouldn’t call this story “unique,” just very....”eehhh?” “different?” the slenderness of this book was initially attractive to me but i felt it would have been better if it was longer, if the story and characters were more fleshed out, of the spookiness was....spookier? in any case, Spollen does have a voice for the creeps and I hope she writes again to expand her creepiness. over all, an okay reread from a book i read in high school, but just like my first read through, this book is nothing spectacular or worth keeping.

this was actually a pretty good read. it’s definitely not as creepy as people say it is, and i wish Sager stopped repeating the same information over and over again. like, we get it lol, we’re all on the same page. i also really want Sager to develop ambiance in his writing. the setting for a weird, creepy old hotel with weird, creepy old people would make the ending SO MUCH WORSE.

however, DAT ENDING DOE. that is the kind of “wow this is really fucked up” that i LOVE. Sager certainly could have gone the extra mile with it 100% but the message it ends with is pretty scary and closer to reality than a lot of people think it is.


(MILD SPOILERS if you’ve read “final girls”)
there is also a twist that is uh very similar to Sager’s first book which is like???

this was a really beautiful fairytale. i read it all in one sitting, and i really feel like it's meant to be read that way. it focuses on the characters and magic of this "hallow," but doesn't;t have much of a plot. if you're looking for something whimsical, eerie, and hypnotizing, i recommend it!