Mike Lucas

Representation: It's complicated...
Trigger warnings: Death of a child in the past, fire, persecution, war themes, World War Two, blood depiction
This review can also be found on The StoryGraph.
Score: Four and a half points out of ten.
I think I got triggered when I saw a body of a dead child...

After reading Completely Normal by Biffy James, I was hoping that I would enjoy this as well, but after seeing the negative ratings and reviews, I had a feeling I would not enjoy this; sadly, I was right since I found this as nothing more than a tedious slog to read and I'm not sure if I want to read from this author again. I still have one more book I must read from the 2023 Children's Book Council of Australia Shortlist for Older Readers called The Other Side of Tomorrow, so I'll get to that if I can. I don't think this deserves to be shortlisted, but at least Completely Normal was great, but this was not... That being said, it starts with the main characters, Shell, Gray, Charlie and Sam, who live their lives in the 1970s of all periods, and initially, nothing much happens until they stumble upon, guess what, a corpse of a child who died for some reason and that is next level messed up, but then again this is billed as a horror book so there's that. Afterwards, there was another plot point about a prisoner of war whose name I forgot, and soon enough, there were flashbacks to an earlier time, making this book temporarily non-linear, which I found jarring to read, but, soon enough, that didn't get anywhere. Not long after, I found myself amid a hundred pages of nothing. Literal. Nothing. The book left several more questions unanswered, like how the child died and why the kids went to the burnt mansion to meet another character. Why is Hags Drop called Hags Drop? However, the witchcraft accusation parts were alright and reminded me of Hexenhaus by Nikki McWaters. The book is so repetitive, and I couldn't connect to the characters, which only added to the confusing plot, and the ending was so underwhelming. I am glad to finish this. I don't want to reread this.… (altro)

Ok I read this a while ago so my review here is sketchy but from my memory it reminded me a lot of Stephen King's IT in that it was kids who had done something wrong in the past that were holding on to secrets but there was a supernatural element at work influencing the decisions they had made which partially absolved them from some of their guilt. In 1972 the kids including a girl called Shelly who was blind were playing in the old quarry where they were not supposed to. They climb up a cliff overlooking a steep drop and dare each other to get closer and closer to the edge - and for some reason Shelly moves the closest. The Quarry is also surrounded by myths and legends about bad things that happen there and there are growing tensions in the friendship group that result in something awful happening. The friends then decide to keep a secret that will continue to haunt them as they grow older.… (altro)

Here is a quote from this epic: `Oh there's nothing like the pleasure, Of cruising on the cut, It's the way to spend your leisure, If you're off your bleedin' nut'. This copy accompanied the performance at the Navigation Inn, Buxworth on 22nd June 1976. For more detail on the history of the company that operated on a narowboat performing at pubs and the like along canals: https://www.unfinishedhistories.com/history/companies/mikron-theatre-company/… (altro)