This was a really great book. The storyline pulled me in from the start and I found the story and characters well written and developed. The story had me in suspense and I didn’t want to put down. A really great story that I would recommend reading

Ugh, I wanted to love this one! I started this liking Sarah and Frau, and I liked the opening fighting. It was right into the action and made you interested to see where the story was gonna go. Sadly from there it got lackluster. I hit about a quarter of the way through and I just lost interest and even if I still wanted to know what happened to the characters, I just couldn’t finish it. It started off action packed and excited and just kind of, hit a steep from there.

what a weird concept for a book, the characters were good and I could see a Donner Party movie with all kids happening.

I was so excited for this but I can’t even review it.

What the hell did I just read? The description tells you nothing about what you are getting into and the book is so fast paced that you can’t keep up even if you try to re read.

I would give zero stars if I could

A movie is being made on the Donner Party tragedy. Surprisingly, all the actors are children. The director has his own agenda and a different "movie" is happening behind the camera. The description was what drew me to request this book. Because who doesn't like reading a horror story based around a horrific story? (Only me, that's right.)
Plus the cover was stunning!

The story is told from two parallel story lines - one is the movie shoot itself and the other is the voice of the director who is quite...whimsical. He makes the actors do things no person in his sane mind would want to.

However, the writing was quite bizarre and I felt some level of disconnect. I didn't understand why the characters behaved as they did. The ending was a dampener, too.

All in all, not a book that I hated, but not one that I loved either. The story had so much potential but seemed to fall just short of good. Going with 2.5 stars.

Thanks to Epouvantail Books and Netgalley for giving me an ARC.

I had high hopes for this - I love horror, and I love behind-the-scenes filmmaking details. I particularly love metafiction horror films (like Scream 2), where a horror story is being made but there’s also a ‘real’ horror story happening around it. That’s what I was hoping for here - something a little like Kea Wilson’s ‘We Eat Our Own’ (inspired by Cannibal Holocaust), which I loved. Unfortunately I found this somehow frantic and dull at the same time.

I received an E-arc from the publisher through Netgalley all opinions are mine
Unfortunately this was a DNF for me.
The stories structure was unique in the sense that it had movie scenes along with what was going on behind the scenes. But i think that was what didn't work for me. I could not get into it, it felt like a chore to keep reading.

This sounded super interesting, but the writing was bizarre and the children's descriptions vague. I couldn't get into it even though the idea sounded interesting!

I didn’t know what to think of this book, but after sitting on it after reading I’ve decided it just wasn’t my thing. I loves the ending and I’m not sure if it’s because it was slightly satisfying or because the book was over. I expected more considering the premise seemed so interesting, but with dull uninteresting characters it just didn’t pan out. The description of the children and how they acted made no sense and would never fly in the real world and There was no explanation as to their relationship with the oldest actress,m. Whether or Not that was the intention, it just didn’t help.

This was an okay book, but I couldn't get into it. I mostly skimmed through the film chapters and read the behind the scenes chapters. None of the characters are really likeable. From the summary, I expected Lord of the Flies on a film set, but that's not what this book is like.

Black Veil left me confused. On one hand, I liked the idea of the story, on the other, I was somewhat bored.

A movie set, the Donner Party (an all children's cast) and what happens when the two are combined? Tension, murder, and a producer who is lining his pockets with cash.

It's a lot of story - two entire storylines, in fact. I just feel it could have been done a little differently and I would have enjoyed it.

This is my second read by the author. First one, actually, didn’t make that much of an impression, so this one was mainly selected on the plot appeal, there’s just something too intriguingly bizarre about an all children movie version of the Donner party. Plus I do so enjoy books about movies. That’s what the last Jolley’s book I read was about too, maybe that’s all he writes about. Anyway, presumably that plot doesn’t appeal to many, after all I am the very first person reviewing this book, but you have to admit, it’s…different. The actual movie being made is the sequel to The Rascals and it starts off as a high octane high sea action adventure and then slowly morphs into the cannibal thing. The crazy thing is that, of course, none of those themes (especially for how graphically violent it all shoots) are appropriate for children. So it can only really be stomached as a satire of the exploitative nature of movie business. The satire theme is maintained throughout as the entire process is narrated by an avaricious producer, who is skimming and massaging the books to line his private bank account every chance he gets. But really every single person from the kids themselves to (especially) adults on set, director, writer, etc. are pretty morally reprehensible. Not a bright light around. Wherein in View Finder Jolley settled for milquetoast overall mode, here he really ratcheted it up into flat out nastiness. And, actually, it is way more effective this way. Tepid never really works. So this is more or less of a cinematic nightmare and depending on how darkly humorous this strikes you, it’ll read either as a brutal polemic against movie business or very, very black comedy. To be fair, it isn’t ever funny haha, it’s more along the lines of profoundly disturbing and it’s all very very exaggerated for the maximum whomp, but it ended up more compelling of a read than View Finder and actually just more compelling of a read as one might expect from a book with no redeeming characters or values. Apparently the soulless abyss of movie business has that potent of an appeal, whether revered or mocked. Difficult book to recommend for obvious reasons, but interesting enough to merit the time, especially for darkly humored movie buffs. This will also probably appeal to cynics,, misanthropes, anthropophagists, aspiring movie directors and producers and anyone who has ever watched dvd extras or read gossip sites specifically looking for dirt and scum. So yeah, difficult to recommend. Now what you’d consider a likeable or even conventionally enjoyable read. But…it takes all sorts. Thanks Netgalley.

And then there was a film set....
A dark story, the Donner party tale of strive told through a movie set. But life quickly imitates art and the same bickering and squabbles that plagued the original Donner party plagues the set. The cast and crew are at each other’s throats, the book gets hurdles toward an inevitable conclusion while closing the reader in a tightening literary noose. Who will survive?