*A FEW SPOILERS*
This book is a contemporary horror story where a teen prank goes very wrong and all hell breaks loose: is there a supernatural cause, a psychopath on the loose, or both?
Sawyer is very resolute in his thoughts that Manny the mannequin has come to life and is now hell bent on killing them all. I have to say his reasonings behind it was quite weak and the fact that he is so almost eagerly willing to murder the rest of his friends just to spare the rest of their families gives me that hero complex vibe. I don’t know how he gets away with each of them as he doesn’t really think through each little detail of the murders and executes them pretty much out in the open with a lot of witnesses.
I feel like this is basically about Sawyer not willing to grow apart from his friends and how fixated he is on trying to maintain their connection through Manny. They used to be so close and would pull all these pranks and hang out all the time and gradually that has stopped to the point where Manny has been sitting in his garage for years. Even the reoccurring theme of the super hero movie throughout the plot he uses as a way to reinforce the validity of his thought process.
One thing about Stephen Graham Jones’ books is he kind of throws you straight into the story. I just always feel a bit disoriented when I start like I missed an introduction somewhere, it’s quite strange. You definitely have to suspend a bit of belief when reading this book but it was definitely weird yet entertaining.
⭐️3/5 stars this was a wild ride!
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