Stephen Chbosky penned one of the books that changed me as a teenager. His short novel, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, is one of my favorite books of all time. It had a monumental impact on me when I read it for the first time, and it still does every time I reread it (at least once a year, maybe more). It’s a really important story to me.

So, when I heard that he was coming out with another book after 20 years, I knew I wanted to get my hands on it. I hastily preordered a signed copy and awaited October 1st. But then.

I got an email with an approved digital advanced readers copy! My excitement was so, so high. I truly could not believe I’d been approved for this one. I started reading it that very same day.

I tell you all of this so you understand how much I anticipated loving this book; so that you know that I went into this with only the intent to love it. This hadn’t been hyped up for me and I skipped my usual activity of reading some reviews before starting so that I wouldn’t no what I was going into. I wanted to give Stephen Chbosky’s new book my undivided attention.

And yet… I didn’t love this.

I’m just going to go ahead and get this statement out of the way: this is just too long. I read an interview with Chbosky where he stated that even though it’s 720 pages, every single page earned its place. And I know that, to him, that is very true. Only he knows the vision he had for this book. But to me? This could’ve been a good 200 pages shorter. Maybe even 300, honestly.

The first 20-30% of the book is all exposition. Now, I love a well developed story… but I felt like even with all of the time the book took to build up what was going on, there was still so much confusion. It’s a horror/mystery book, so obviously the reader can’t be let in on all of the details just yet. But if you spend 200 pages completely in the dark about absolutely everything and get 0 information in the process… it starts to drag a little. As a reader, you’re ready for the action; the climax; the big reveal.

Even when this gets to the big reveal, there is still so much left to this story. It was a good plot twist though, I’ll give it that. Chbosky did not a write a predictable plot (in my opinion). I was caught off guard and excited at the new direction the story was going in. But it went there for like… another 200 or so pages.

To be entirely honest, the length of the book was really what took away from some of my enjoyment, because I actually liked everything else for the most part. There were definitely some crude things that I didn’t feel like added to the story or the development (like the constant use of a mean nickname for one of the children who has a learning disability) that I could’ve gone without, though.

The story follows an assortment of characters, all in the same town, and all effected by the imaginary world in some way. It wasn’t always very clear how they all tied together until much later, but I enjoyed getting to read what was going on with people other than just Christopher. He’s the central part of the story, yes, but there are a lot of other key players in this book.

I also really enjoyed the spooky factor in this. It wasn’t so intense that it gave me nightmares but it was sufficiently creepy enough to have me looking over my shoulder while reading. I think that, for the most part, the plot came together at the end, but there were a couple things that I felt like could’ve been explained a little bit better.

Symbolism is a huge part of this story and Chbosky did a pretty good job working it all into the plot without giving everything away. There were some things I started to notice as I read, but I still couldn’t figure out what was going on. It was just obvious that there were specific things that readers are supposed to pay special attention to.

I wasn’t expecting any of the religious stuff that was tied into this story but I didn’t mind it. I honestly didn’t know that supernatural elements would play such a big part in this so I was definitely caught by surprise even from the first page. This is more supernatural than it is anything else. With that being said, I maintained my suspension of disbelief throughout the whole story, which I think is very noteworthy and worth appraisal to an author in books like this.

Another thing that I really want to say about this book is that it is absolutely nothing like The Perks of Being a Wallflower and that is OK! Since finishing this, I have read so many reviews who gave this a low rating with statements like, “I don’t normally like horror stories but I love Chbosky so I wanted to try this anyways”. I totally get why so many people wanted to read his new book even though they are not interested in the genre, but it kind of upsets me that they went into it comparing it to TPOBAW. The plot is very clearly so different, and the writing was absolutely nothing like his prose in TPOBAW.

I didn’t love this book. I liked it and I enjoyed the plot, but this was definitely not a new favorite. However, I came to this conclusion based entirely on only this reading experience. If I were to go into this expecting a story like TPOBAW, this would’ve been a monumental let down. But instead, I went into it expecting an adult horror book from an author who wrote a book that I love wholeheartedly. I didn’t compare the two, because they are so far from each other that I think it would be unfair. Basically, what I’m saying is, don’t read this expecting it feel like the same experience you had with TPOBAW. It is an entirely different book, in an entirely different genre, with an entirely different writing style. The stories could not be less alike! I love horror books and creepy plots, so that was fine by me. Just keep that in mind if you decide to pick this one up!

In conclusion, this was a pretty average read for me overall. I enjoyed the plot but feel like it would’ve benefited from different pacing. If you’re a Stephen King fan, and you like horror stories or even just supernatural stories, this could be a really good read for you. It’s very Stephen King-esque.

Overall I would give this book 4 stars. Early on in the book, it was scary and page turning. I just couldn’t put it down. As the story progresses though, I felt the descriptions in many of the scenes were a bit wordy and unnecessary. It really seemed to bog the book down a bit. I do feel that this was an enjoyable read with enough spook factor that at times I was a little afraid to read it at night for fear of having nightmares. I do look forward to reading this again and will recommend this to other readers.

I received a complimentary advanced digital galley of IMAGINARY FRIEND. Thank you to Netgalley and Grand Central Publishing for the chance to read and provide an honest review!

I only very recently read and reviewed PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER, so it was very much in my head when I saw that Stephen Chbosky had a new book coming out. While I knew that this was an abrupt departure from the author's first book, I was thrilled to get approved on Netgalley for the digital ARC as this book sounded right up my alley.

In IMAGINARY FRIEND, the central character is Christopher. He and his mother have just moved into Mill Grove, leaving behind his mother's abusive boyfriend. It seems like an ideal location to settle down until Christopher disappears for six days. When he returns he seems to be unharmed, but he is definitely not the same. Christopher is compelled by a voice in his head to build a tree house in the woods and it all must be done by Christmas Day or something terrible will happen.

This is a very difficult review to write because there is so much I would like to say that crosses over into the territory of spoilers. I was very happy that I was reading this along with a great buddy read group on Instagram because this is a book with a lot going on and a lot to unpack and discuss. This is a great pick for book clubs and buddy reads!

The book started off very strong for me. While it is a 700+ page tome, it read very quickly especially in the beginning. Chbosky does an amazing job of building the eerie suspense. This is a novel that caries with it a lot of IT vibes for me, kids going up against an evil that they are singularly capable of fighting against and seeing things that are unknown to the adult world around them. There are many mysteries going on which leave you flipping pages to find out what is going on.

This book gets a lot of credit for me for providing the creeps and chills I was looking for, but there were some things that I didn't care for. I didn't go into this book expecting the book to be so heavily religious. Also, the ending felt a bit drawn out and it left me a little underwhelmed as well.

I really am glad that I was able to read this book and I do recommend it if you are looking for a chilling fall read. It definitely gives a different spin on the countdown to Christmas, so it's perfect for the fall and the end of the year!

This review will be posted as follows (links to be provided once posts go live):

Blog - dgreads.home.blog on 10/1/2019 with a link posted simultaneously to Twitter (@dg90247)

Instagram - an abbreviated version will also be posted to Instagram on 10/1/2019

Amazon & Barnes&Noble reviews will be posted upon publication.

I'm not typically a horror reader, so I wanted to read this purely based on Chbosky's name recognition. This book grabbed me and sucked me in immediately, and I read the 720 page tome in three days. I needed to know what was happening to these characters. I was invested in the protagonist Christopher and his mother, and I enjoyed exploring the various characters in the town. I sped through the first 75% of this book, which is around the time Chbosky drops the most significant plot twist. There were some hints dropped here and there about what was coming, but I was hoping that I was wrong and Chbosky was going to surprise me. I think religious themes can be used really well in horror when they help create feelings of fear and unease. However, the "imaginary world is Hell" reveal was just too easy. After this point, I was far less interested, and I found myself speed reading the rest of the book. When Chbosky revealed what was going on in the town, he over-explained it, and then the horror element was lost, and the book started to feel too much like Christian fiction. The ending dragged on for too long. It could have easily been pared down to fifty pages instead of two hundred. Overall, it was a solid read, despite the disappointing ending.

I'm just going to start this review off saying that I'm not your usual horror/thriller reader. In fact, I've only recently started reading more thrillers. I've never really read horror before. These books just scare me so I would stray away from them. I've been picking up more and more Gillian Flynn and loving them so I decided that maybe I should give more horrors and thrillers a chance. So, what perfect timing! It's the spooky season and Stephen Chbosky is releasing his second novel, Imaginary Friend.

I'm not going to lie, this book is a bit daunting. It's a horror novel (something I don't read often like I said) and it's around 700 pages. Any 700 page novel is daunting to me but a horror novel?! I could never. But, HERE I AM. And I loved every bit of it. The main reason I decided to request this arc is because I am a huge fan of Perks of Being a Wallflower. I know, this book doesn't seem anything like that but hear me out. I'm also quite the reader so I'm not afraid of reading things that make me uncomfortable and I'm also aware that an author's writings aren't going to be the same. I knew this whenever I requested Imaginary Friend that this isn't my type of book but I trust this author so I'm going to read it anyway.

If you're worried about this book due to the genre, the fact he only has one other novel that's entirely different, or the size -- That's okay! Don't give up on this book, though. I'm about to write an entire review about why I think it's worth it and why I, someone who doesn't even read horror novels, loved it.

If you don't know what this book is about, the description probably won't help you either. I think it's best you go into this novel basically knowing nothing. It's way more exciting that way. I realized after I had finish it that even though I did read the description, I still wasn't expecting what I got. This isn't a bad thing, though. I loved not knowing what was going to happen next. It's 100% a page turner. The chapters are incredibly short and usually end with that sentence that leaves you shocked and wanting more. You'll end up flipping through the entire book not even knowing how close you are to the end.

It's a haunting story of Good vs. Evil, a story full of biblical references, and a story that really makes you THINK. There was a point in this novel that I got out a pen and paper to jot down notes and letters that ended up making a key sentence to the story. Once you read it, this will make sense. I also noticed while reading how EVERYTHING in this novel is important, even the time stamps because they relate to the story. I haven't had this much fun reading a book in so long. I'm usually the type to figure out what's going to happen next but once I finished this book, I couldn't believe the amount of things I missed. I understand why it took so long for this book to eventually be finished. It's genius. Stephen Chbosky's writing style works seamlessly with a horror/thriller. The amount of foreshadowing and connections I didn't realize at first blows my mind. It's definitely a book I'll pick up to re-read once it's actually published.

There's so many different characters within this novel but their storylines all intertwine and connect throughout the book and it was so satisfying to watch that happen. The cast of characters in this book kind of remind me of those in Stranger Things. I think this is the only reason this book reminds me of Stranger Things is because of the young cast of characters, the sheriff who plays a major role, and the mother being a main character as well. I also think this book reminds me of Neil Gaiman's storytelling but Stephen King's writing style. I can't really explain why but isn't that enough to make you want to pick it up?

I also want to quickly talk about why I think this book is still fitting to those who want to explore more of Stephen Chbosky's writing after loving Perks of Being a Wallflower. While this is a horror novel, I would definitely call it a psychological thriller as well. This book portrays raw human emotion and sometimes, that can be scary. The amount of intellectual depth in this novel astonishes me. It's a horror novel that feels so real because the role emotion plays and how it talks so openly about both love and fear. I think that's why most Perks fans would love this. Also, it's just a great story so technically, if you like good books, you'll like this one.

I really can't say much without spoiling this novel and trust me, I want to ramble on about this book with someone who's read it. Jenna at @JennaClarek was actually reading it at the same time and it was SO fun to send each other reactions. We also had so many different realizations after this novel which is why it would make a great re-read. I can't wait to get my hands on the physical copy so I can annotate the heck out of it.

Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky is an absolute page-turner, a complex and captivating novel at it's best. If you're looking for a spooky book to read this season, I HIGHLY recommend this one!

Imaginary Friend is Stephen Chbosky’s long awaited second novel. If his name sound familiar to you, it’s because he wrote The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Imaginary Friend was definitely a book that was out of my typical reading genre, but I’m glad that I gave it a chance. This horror book gave me Stranger Things vibes all the way and I loved how unique and intriguing the storyline was. I was immediately captured with the story and its characters from page 1. However, there were some instances in the story that lowered my overall rating of the book. First and foremost, the book felt like it was way too long (over 700 pages) and I thought it could have been culled down to under 500 or so. I wasn’t a big fan of religion talk or the descriptions of the dark fantasy in the book. There were also too many characters to keep track of and I lost interest in a few of the characters towards 60% of the book. Overall, if you like thriller or horror books, I would recommend picking this one up.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley for a fair review. Maybe it's an honest review. Either way.

This book was awesome. I loved this author's other book but this is something entirely different. It is a horror / thriller centering around a 7 year old boy and his imaginary friend. The friend convinces the little boy to build a tree house. Then the little boy must save the entire town. Or not. You'll have to read it. I thought it was exceptional. I had a hard time putting it down. Which is saying a lot since it is also pretty long. If you like a good Christmas horror story, this is definitely the thing for you. Actually, this is just a really great book regardless of your preferences.

I picked up Imaginary Friend looking to get into the spooky mood. As we start to get into fall, I'm ready for some creepy reads. Unfortunately, this one didn't work for me - but if you are interested, you may want to stop reading and just go into it without reading any reviews.

A brief synopsis: Single mother Kate has just moved with her 7 year old son to get a fresh start. One day Christopher disappears into the woods and no one sees him for 6 days. When he comes back - he seems to be unharmed...but is also different than he was before in ways that aren't so easily seen.

The things I loved about it:
- the audiobook production for Imaginary Friend was INCREDIBLE. I alternated between listening and reading but listened to a majority of it because it was so incredibly well done!
- the first half of the book was utterly compelling for me. I got a lot of old school Stephen King vibes and was totally here for it!

The things I didn't love about it:
- after the halfway point, it started to feel long to me. There were parts that felt very repetitive.
- the resolution was not what I was expecting. There were some twists that I thought were interesting, but the ultimate ending of the book didn't work for me. It's impossible to say more without spoilers but it wasn't for me.

Thank you to Netgalley, Librofm and Grand Central Publishing for the advance reading and listening copies to review.

Kate has finally escaped the abusive man she was dating. She snuck out during the night with her son Christopher. They find a small town where she thinks they will be safe. Until Christopher vanishes. He is gone for 6 days and comes back in perfect health, but nobody can see the changes inside his head. Christopher has a mission. One he must complete by Christmas Day. The next few weeks will lead Christopher and Kate to a fight for their lives, and those they have grown to love.

All I could think while reading this book was “is this really the same author as The Perks Of Being A Wallflower?” This book was so different. It’s kind of hard to actually give a full review on this one because it is so different from anything else I have ever read. It’s definitely weird, but also kept me wondering what was happening. I would say overall I really enjoyed the reading experience but I still can’t decide how I feel about the story. It’s a long book at over 700 pages, but it did not feel that way at all while reading. I flew through this one. I would recommend this book just for the aspect of stepping outside the box and reading something so different from what is out there. This book is certainly unique.

This is about as far away from The Perks of Being a Wallflower as you can get! This creepy little novel will keep you reading late into the nigh, if you can. I was totally freaked out reading this one. I am awfully glad that I did it while I was not home alone. It is the classic battle of good versus evil but with a big twist. I will never look at needle and thread the same way. (Or a treehouse)

Thanks to Netgalley for an advance copy of this book.

To my great dismay, I had to put this one down on the Did Not Finish shelf. I loved Perks and while I knew Imaginary Friend was going to be very different, I did think I would like it. The premise is not bad and Christopher is a sweet and endearing character but the book is a struggle to read. It's dragged out far more than is necessary and there are chapters that could be cut entirely without it making a difference to the overall story. Chbosky's writing is still enjoyable, but well done prose doesn't save this one for me.

This book as a little too dark and twisty for my tastes and while I finished it, it was a struggle. I wouldn’t say it was bad but it was just way out there in left field and I guess just not my flavor.

Full review to come closer to release. If you like scary things then be sure to pre-order this. It definitely gave me the creeps! Be aware: This is absolutely not The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

DNF at 30%. Oh, how I wanted to love this novel. I'm a huge fan of Chbosky, books, and films and wanted this to be my favorite horror novel of the year. But sadly, I could not get into this novel and could not make it through 800 pages of it.

Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky is a trippy horror novel that features a young boy and his imaginary friend.

Christopher is 7-year-old boy who lives a life of struggle. He gets bullied at school because he can’t read and his pants are too short. While his single mother, Kate, is exceptionally loving, she also has little money to spend on extras like clothing and nutritious food.

Christopher’s life changes when he starts seeing an imaginary friend. This imaginary friend leads him to the woods near his school where strange things happen and not everything makes sense.

This voice bids him to do things, though the most important mission Christopher has been given is to build a tree house. Christopher must build a tree house in the middle of the woods for his imaginary friend before Christmas. Or else.

Christopher works on the tree house day and night, sneaking out of his house in order to complete this task. He even manages to rope a few friends into helping him.

Life continues to get stranger and stranger for Christopher and the town as imagination and reality become hopelessly entangled.

I really wanted to like Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky, but the more I read, the more I disliked it. I typically enjoy unusual books, but this one was so far out in left field, that I’m not even sure what I read.

So what didn’t I like? The deranged deer and the amount of peeing was a bit much. Seriously. So many deer. So much peeing.

The book was redundant. At a whopping 720 pages, this book could have easily been trimmed to 300 pages. The same events kept happening over and over again with small changes that didn’t do much to advance the storyline.

I don’t really understand what I read. What was real? What wasn’t? And that ending left me totally baffled. After reading the last page, I literally said “Uhm . . . what?” out loud. Baffling.

While I didn’t enjoy this book, there’s a book for everyone. If you want to take a walk on the wild side and look at deer in a whole new light, Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky might be for you.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing the Kindle version of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I can't believe I didn't DNF this one. It was over 700 pages, and at least half of that could have been edited out to tighten up the plot and get to the action faster. There was a lot of repetition, and seriously, there were multiple climax points of the story. The "big final battle" happened three or four times. Much of the story never made sense, and if it was allegorical, well, it didn't really do well on that front either.

Overall, I was invested in a handful of the characters, so I stuck it out for them, but I didn't much enjoy the book. It was a rambling, poorly plotted, "trying too hard to write a Stephen King-esque epic horror fantasy and not succeeding," confusing mess of a book.

I hate giving poor reviews of novels, but alas, I promised honesty. I can't really say I recommend this one much at all.

Thank you Gallery Books for the opportunity to read and review Imaginary Friend! Stephen Chbosky has been instrumental in my life since The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and this book did not disappoint! Full review will be posted closer to release.

Kate Reese and her 7-year old son, Christopher, are on the run. After fleeing her abusive boyfriend in the middle of the night, the pair end up as far off the beaten path as they could find: Mill Grove, Pennsylvania. At first, everything seems to be going well, then Christopher vanishes for six days and emerges from the woods seemingly unharmed, but he soon finds not completely unchanged.

Christopher has no recollection of the days he spent lost in the woods. He has no idea how he got there, but he knows that a "nice man" helped him get out. After the local sheriff and police force scour the woods and find no trace of anyone, Christopher's claims are brushed aside as a hallucination. But someone did help Christopher, it's the same voice that's now in his head pushing him to complete a mission only he can pull off: Build a tree house in the woods by Christmas or else his mother, and the entire town, will never be the same again.

This was...ambitious. The whole premise was definitely intriguing, but it's a bit hard to stay suspenseful at over 700 pages. I felt like it could've easily been at least 300 pages shorter and the story would've been way more effective. I didn't fully feel the horror aspects that I was expecting, but it was still eerie at times. I also didn't realize how big of a part religion would have in this. Overall, I thought it was just okay.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower deserves all the acclaim it has received. Between that and my love of the horror genre, I was really excited when Imaginary Friend was announced. My excitement went even higher when I found out that Chbosky's first book in 20 years was being touted as a literary horror novel. All of these things should have combined into a fantastic reading experience. Unfortunately, it's didn't. At all. As some would say, I just can't even with this book.

The first 50 pages or so were actually quite good and interesting. So, if you've seen the reviews from notable authors, Joe Hill didn't lie. But you may have also noticed that Hill specifically spoke just about the first 50 pages. Want to know why? Because the story veers hard after that, and not in a good way. If I was reviewing just the first 50 pages, this would be a 5-star book. The rest of it plummets it hard to 1-star territory, though.

We spend the next 650 pages inside a Christian story that's so on the nose that it's actually overly kind to call any of it an allegory. After all, by the end there's absolutely no hidden meanings inside Imaginary Friend. And that's one of the most disappointing things of all because the term literary horror typically denotes a much more deeply layered experience that requires contemplation. There's nothing to contemplate here other than Chbosky's apparently skewed view of women, along with the question of why he felt the need to spend 650 pages basically preaching and moralizing.

If you're not into Christian horror dressed up as horror, this book probably won't be for you. Even if you are into Christian horror, this book still might not be for you because it contains a lot of profanity and sexual content that seems to be turning off many reviewers who should have been the book's primary target audience. For the record, I have no issues with the profanity and sexual content, although it sure would have been nice if women weren't portrayed as corrupt entities unable to control their sexuality. There's actually a scene where a virgin teen's sex drive causes her to "corrupt" her Christian, virgin boyfriend by giving him oral sex. ::rolls eyes::

The constant biblical references quickly became annoying and repetitious, as did the rest of the story. Everything was tied into the bible after the first 50 pages or so, and I mean everything. In one section, Chobsky writes that "the children scattered like the parting of the Red Sea" (or something to that effect). This is a prime example of everything being a biblical reference, and these things happen again and again and again, ad nauseam.

I'm pretty sure Chbosky has never met any 7-year-old kids based on the way he portrays them. And it's quite frankly disgusting that he insisted on writing the bully's nickname of one character, "Special Ed," almost every single time the character came up throughout the entire book. And it's not like that was just when people were taunting him. Nope. It comes up when people think about him, when the character is talking ("blah, blah, blah," Special Ed said), etc.

SPOILER ALERT
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Okay, here's the thing -- this book pretends to be something else for a long time, but it's nothing more than the typical good vs. evil, heaven vs. hell story that's been told and retold for centuries. Chobsky does mess with Christian mythology a lot to create his own version of Hell, so at least there's a bit of originality there. But the idea of the Devil trying to escape Hell (every 50 years, apparently... sigh... can we please cancel the trope of 'X bad thing happens every X years?') by finding a dyslexic child and making him smart (as if dyslexia means you're automatically unintelligent) was just ridiculous. Oh, and of course the Devil chooses a kid who has been maligned by society because they basically have to choose whether or not to become Jesus by taking tons of abuse and then dying for everyone else's sins. ::rolls eyes yet again::

The imaginary world is Hell. The hissing lady who is portrayed as the bad guy is actually Eve, and she needs to keep the Devil in Hell. Because, as always, women are punished for their "sins" and are also tasked with keeping men in line. Here's an idea, hissing lady Eve -- instead of scaring kids half to death and tormenting them, how about revealing what's actually happening to get them on your side? Ugh.

I had to force myself to keep reading. Many times, I stopped and thought, "I just can't". And you probably shouldn't either.

Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky is a bit hard to explain. It’s bitterly cynical and disturbing yet “fun” is the word that comes foremost to mind in explaining my time with it. I was always engaged and enjoyed nearly every page. Yet, nearly every page has some aspect that seems rough and not well thought out. Next, this book is too long, bloated, and filled with repeated lines. Yet somehow, I would also describe the overall flow as fast-moving, exciting, and rarely boring. So it’s hard to make sense of how to even sum up this one- which is fitting! Since the last 200 pages or so are best described as chaotic and equally vexing. That said, I really enjoyed my time with it.

Lets start with the good.

- The protagonist, Christopher, is endearing. He is likable and easy to support, so when things get horribly dangerous for him (which is often) the tension was effective.
- A spooky, haunted environment. In this case, a forest full of secrets and an alternate world with surreal horror imagery.
- The family bond. Aside from Chris I also adore his mom. They struggle so much and I was ready to riot in the streets if they didn’t end up okay. There are a couple pages toward the end that really tear at the heartstrings. I can’t remotely relate to a mother-son bond yet was touched by this aspect
- Cerebral horror instead of gory horror. There are some gross passages but the horror is by and large surreal, psychological, or just spooky/creepy and makes thoughtful references to past traumas of the characters.
- The storyline is reminiscent of other horror series/stand-alones I’ve liked. Some horror properties come to mind like Stephen King’s It with the endearing kids, Nightmare On Elm Street with the constant and horrible nightmare sequences, and mystery/horror series about towns that gradually succumb to hostile forces like Twin Peaks, Stranger Things, The Tommyknockers. The concept of peacefully productive days and terrifying nights is also a theme. Basically, this book tries it all which is good considering the length.
- There are a handful of tense chase scenes that are well done. I had the urge to skim them because of the tension.
- The description calls this literary horror and the narrative does seem concerned with delving into the psyche of the characters.
- Christopher, Ambrose, and Chris’s mom Kate are fantastic characters. There was a section of the book where I was all but screaming that nothing better happen to Kate, she is everything.

Now for the drawbacks.

- This book is too long. I can imagine this being a DNF for many people. The length does not feel justified, and I really think this book could have been better if a lot of aspects were re-thought, truncated, or removed altogether.
- There are repetitive moments used for artistic effect that came off as awkward rather than insightful. The typographical eccentricities just come off as silly. The writing in general veers from well done to questionable.
- There are some deeply unlikable side characters along the way. Too many of them, so many that I barely cared what was going to happen to the town at large. There are some good reasons why the side characters act the way they do but it can be unpleasant to read about their behavior. The occasional shifts to other points of view frequently doesn’t serve a marked purpose aside from adding to the bloat.
- The female characters are often poorly written (minus Kate) honestly, I think having only Christopher’s POV would have been better. There were some scenes having to do with Mary Catherine that were laughably unconvincing for a teenage girl.
- There is a thick atmosphere of depression that permeates this story. Plus a cynicism to the writing that just had me convinced all things would end badly.

So long story short, I recommend proceeding with caution on this one and there are definitely some bones to pick. But I rate based off of enjoyment and it’s undeniable how persistently readable this ended up being. Messy, but engaging. There was no point where I wanted to DNF and honestly, as aforementioned, every bit was fun albeit in a morbid way.

Why You Should Check It Out – Spooky, lengthy horror. A haunted forest and alternate worlds, horrifying dream sequences, and a likable mother-son team. The pacing was good enough to make this one engrossing despite several flaws. The likable characters, while few, really captured my attention.

Why You Might Not Like It – The writing style makes use of repeated lines and weird typography that is more silly than insightful. Too many deeply unlikable side characters. Needlessly long. There is a grandiosity to the scope of the mystery (this is a good thing) but whether it is followed through with properly will be up to individual readers, I found it messily handled but still worthwhile.

Note : I received an e-ARC of this book from Netgalley for the purpose of review.