I would like to start this review by acknowledging that I am not the target demographic for this book and have tried to keep that in mind when I was reading as well as writing the review.
One of the first things I noticed when reading is that the characters all feel like archetypes. Oli is the joker, Alex is the cool kid, Sophia is the know it all prefect, Mo is coward and Riley is the fearless leader. Although this makes it easy to understand and remember the characters, none of them really get any development past this other than Riley, which leaves the others feeling pretty one dimensional.
Something I liked is that the book does interesting things with format by including news posts, text messages and journal entries which help keep the reader engaged as it breaks up the usual text and adds to the immersion into the story, giving the reader insight into what it may be like to be a citizen of Shiver Point.
I feel that Gabriel Dylan does a good job of capturing the helplessness you could often feel as a child/pre-teen. The Shiver Squad desperately want to help out and do something meaningful but are constantly hit with the usual road blocks that would frustrate you as a child. Adults not believing them is a common theme, adding to the tension and drama of the story. It isolates the main group of characters, forcing them to take problems into their own hands, even if they may be less capable than adults.
For me, I found the story predictable and, although it kept the story moving at a good pace, it could also be quite dull at a lot of points. The ending felt rushed, unsatisfying and honestly didn’t make a lot of sense. I like a lot of the ideas in the book but the execution could use some improvement.
I feel that this book works well as an introduction to the horror genre for younger readers, similar to the likes of Scooby Doo or Goosebumps.
I would definitely say I enjoyed a lot of what I read in this book but recognize it isn’t meant for me. In my own opinion, I gave this book 3/5 stars, but if I was younger and less experienced with the horror genre, I could definitely see myself enjoying it more and, therefore, rating it more highly.
One of the first things I noticed when reading is that the characters all feel like archetypes. Oli is the joker, Alex is the cool kid, Sophia is the know it all prefect, Mo is coward and Riley is the fearless leader. Although this makes it easy to understand and remember the characters, none of them really get any development past this other than Riley, which leaves the others feeling pretty one dimensional.
Something I liked is that the book does interesting things with format by including news posts, text messages and journal entries which help keep the reader engaged as it breaks up the usual text and adds to the immersion into the story, giving the reader insight into what it may be like to be a citizen of Shiver Point.
I feel that Gabriel Dylan does a good job of capturing the helplessness you could often feel as a child/pre-teen. The Shiver Squad desperately want to help out and do something meaningful but are constantly hit with the usual road blocks that would frustrate you as a child. Adults not believing them is a common theme, adding to the tension and drama of the story. It isolates the main group of characters, forcing them to take problems into their own hands, even if they may be less capable than adults.
For me, I found the story predictable and, although it kept the story moving at a good pace, it could also be quite dull at a lot of points. The ending felt rushed, unsatisfying and honestly didn’t make a lot of sense. I like a lot of the ideas in the book but the execution could use some improvement.
I feel that this book works well as an introduction to the horror genre for younger readers, similar to the likes of Scooby Doo or Goosebumps.
I would definitely say I enjoyed a lot of what I read in this book but recognize it isn’t meant for me. In my own opinion, I gave this book 3/5 stars, but if I was younger and less experienced with the horror genre, I could definitely see myself enjoying it more and, therefore, rating it more highly.