Reading Vicariously

“Four months to the day he first encountered the boy at Walmart, the last of Phil Pendleton’s teeth fell out”

Now that’s how you write an opening hook, folks! Also I don’t think I will ever look at sour candy the same way again…

SUMMARY: At first glance, Phil Pendleton and his son Adam are just an ordinary father and son, no different from any other. They take walks in the park together, visit county fairs, museums, and zoos, and eat together overlooking the lake. Some might say the father is a little too accommodating given the lack of discipline when the child loses his temper in public. Some might say he spoils his son by allowing him to set his own bedtimes and eat candy whenever he wants. Some might say that such leniency is starting to take its toll on the father, given how his health has declined.

What no one knows is that Phil is a prisoner, and that up until a few weeks ago and a chance encounter at a grocery store, he had never seen the child before in his life.

This is a super fun and shocking ride. At just 74 pages I kept wondering if the story would have worked better cut down to short story length, but then I was like “why am I trying to find something wrong with this?”. I loved every page as I was reading and I feel like it has the perfect pacing of events. Slightly slow build up in the first half, and then a flood of weird, unsettling terrors in the second half. It widens to a pretty epic scale by the end and on the whole is full of creepy cult horror shenanigans.

I was truly enraptured as I read. I couldn’t look away. I had to know what was going to happen next to Phil as his life is turned upside down in a most upsetting way. The young boy is seriously creepy, and I was legitimately worried about what was going to happen. And speaking of, there are numerous twists and turns that I did not expect. And that ending…wow. In fact, it’s the type of story that is best read with your expectations at the door. Just buckle in and enjoy the ride!

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️

If you want to buy this book, and also support local bookstores, then click the link below! (*note: this is an affiliate link, meaning I get a small percentage if you buy the book after clicking on it*)

https://bookshop.org/a/10372/9781941918562

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📝Review of 𝕊𝕠𝕦𝕣 ℂ𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕪 +++ “𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘺 𝘢𝘵 𝘞𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘗𝘩𝘪𝘭 𝘗𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘰𝘯'𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘶𝘵” +++ Now that’s how you write an opening hook, folks! Also I don't think I will ever look at sour candy the same way again… What a super fun and shocking ride! At just 74 pages I kept wondering if the story would have worked better cut down to short story length, but then I was like "why am I trying to find something wrong with this?". This is a perfect little novella. I loved every page as I was reading and I feel like it has the perfect pacing of events. Slightly slow build up in the first half, and then a flood of weird, unsettling terrors in the second half. It widens to a pretty epic scale by the end and on the whole is full of creepy cult horror shenanigans I was truly enraptured as I read. I couldn't look away. I had to know what was going to happen next to Phil. The young boy is seriously creepy, and I was legitimately worried about what was going to happen. And speaking of, there are numerous twists and turns that I did not expect. In fact, it's the type of story that is best read with your expectations at the door. Just buckle in and enjoy the ride! This is, admittedly, my first time reading @kealanpatrick (other than his hilarious tweets), and if everything else he does is as good, or close, then I’m a lifelong fan! Can’t wait to read more! Also, can we just stop for a minute and appreciate this cover design from @elderlemon_design? I seriously can’t stop looking at it +++ Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️ . . . . #readingvicariously #booknerd #bookporn #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #booksarelife #booklover #bookworm #book #books #bibliophile #reading #readerlife #bookreview #bookreviewer #sourcandy

A post shared by Ben (@reading.vicariously) on Jul 6, 2020 at 9:31pm PDT