Well, well, well…
Look who’s back with another one! Another book review that is. Since I don’t do these much anymore for the shift in focus, these may just occasionally pop up when the opportunity arises! I am still on my book journey (I’ve read The Only Good Indians, Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird, Jurassic Park, The Dark Tower, Lovecraft Country, Slaughterhouse Five, Vampires of El Norte and quite a few more) and today, we’re going talk about a book that was sent to me to read and I had to sandwich it between the current TBR of The Women Could Fly (finished) and Animal Farm (next/currently reading).
Oh gosh I’m slightly overwhelmed.
I am going to share my notes and thoughts on Cedar Mills by Dylan James.
First off, I want to say that I did enjoy the story and my reading experience. It was a different change of pace from what I’ve been reading off and on (since I’ve expanded my reading genres) so this was quite enjoyable. I loved little nods here and there of the Midwest, living in the Midwest (as do I) and even seeing the grocery store Kroger grabbed my attention. Also, my own birthday being a date on the first page (different year) was an out of body experience.
Second, I enjoyed the rollercoaster of where the story was going. I do not want to spoil it but the story takes place in a small town with very deadly secrets and we have a teamup of teenagers and a detective trying to uncover the dark truth about their town and the occurrences that have taken place. I wasn’t expecting for the story to go into an interesting sci-fi direction which I was pleasantly surprised. When we say sci-fi, it can go in SO MANY directions.
Third, I definitely have my favorite characters, least favorite, and the only thing I didn’t jive with was the treatment of some characters. I wished some stayed longer to the end and I did clap when a couple of characters met a demise which is when great writing is established to make you hate (or dislike) a character and their actions and sweet sweet karma returns. Being successful at writing despicable characters is a true talent. Either you’re good at making us readers hate them or love them. And this is a great example of writing characters, getting to know them just enough where we are either for them or against them.
It reminds me a lot of Jurassic Park in that manner. If you know, you know.
If you are interested in creature features, sci-fi horror like Alien and small town horror (Twin Peaks, Clown in a Cornfield, The Mist/Children of the Corn/Salem’s Lot aka Stephen King settings), I think you would enjoy Cedar Mills.
You can check out Dylan James here for all information, contact, etc.
Here are SOME of my crazy written notes as I read day to day (no spoilers?)…
– Chapter 1: October 14th… that’s my birthday!
– I appreciate the atmosphere and tension
– Unexpectedly graphic!
– Oh Sheldon
– Alexis and Paige, I feel like I’m going to confuse them. Also I think of Degrassi?
– Kroger = MIDWEST also it was mentioned Ohio.
– What are katydids? UPDATE: they are bush crickets!
– I wish I had this kind of ambition to go after a dream, a story, people
– VIOLENT
– Is _____ going to sacrifice himself? He seems like he would.
– I AM SO SICK AND TIRED OF THESE PEOPLE
– Body body body body count everywhere!
There were tons more written down but they were more spoiler heavy and I didn’t want to expose those to anyone who might want to check this book out for themselves. And before closing out, I’d like to say a thank you to Dylan James who messaged me first about reviewing and checking out his work and I appreciate and enjoyed your work. I wish nothing but the best of success and luck on your continued journey as an author.
With that, I’ll see you guys soon for a blog post that was supposed to be this week’s but I am still figuring out the kinks. Peace, love and chicken grease!
Shots of Horror 