Literally Dead Book Club discussion

Since this book is pretty short, I am just splitting the discussion in half.
This is for the final 100 pages, days 5 & 6 at the park, and the book as a whole.

Did your feeling change about the pace or characters as the book progressed?
What were your main takeaways?
Do you think the reveals were done well?
Did it keep you interested?

Tell us about your rating, if you would read from this author again, and how you feel about it being a book club selection. What discussions do you hope to see in the liveshow?

The first half of the book was great, I loved it however, it wrapped up a bit to quickly for me. I would have like 100 more pages to to really see the story arc through.

I gave it a 2.5. (EDIT. I Liked it Less after thinking it over).

I feel like the pace was a little too slow and I didn't feel any real attachment to any of the characters (Except Ava 1). It was two short and there were to many characters with pretty standard back stories. I feel like because we bounced around so much I didn't really care if they died and it took away from any tension.

That being said I still read it pretty quick, I figured out what was going on about half way through and the twist with the town and the families felt pretty standard. I liked that it had to be family that was sacrificed.

I like the open ending and the gays survived which is always a bonus.

But I think a little longer and fewer perspectives would have been nice.

It was fine. I would consider reading this author again.

I actually really enjoyed this book, which I feel like is NOT the popular opinion (which doesn't feel great coming on the heels of not liking last month's selection and the majority of the readers and the hosts seeming to love it). I will say that when you have 14 characters, it seems wildly unnecessary to name two of them Ava...

Maybe it was that I was totally onboard with the supernatural element from page one (and was expecting it from hints in the description and other people's reviews), or the emotional connection I felt with some of the characters.

I was even okay with the whole book essentially being an allegory for generational wealth and the sacrifices expected of current generations. It comes down to White's dedication on the book's final page:
"To the youngest generations we've tasked with saving us all:
You shouldn't have to. I'm so sorry"
Any maybe it's world events in recent weeks. Maybe this theme is just hitting closer to home than usual. But I was kind of totally on board with the survivors setting fire to it all and walking away.

*sigh* I wrote out a detailed comment and it was deleted...

I really enjoyed this book (gave it a 4.25 on story graph), though I am new to thrillers which could contribute to my enjoyment. (Also, the book I read before was In the Miso Soup, which received a resounding 2 star rating and a great deal of disappointment.) Some of the twists were new to me, but I did expect some sort of play on the Minotaur given the overt Greek references - the name of the town, the maze, and the Greek architecture. That being said, as another commenter mentioned, I did enjoy the extra layer of family relation the author added atop the classic Minotaur story.

The class dynamics within the story were not lost on me. Though they were a bit basic, I found the author's musing relatable and enjoyable. Further, I appreciated how the story flipped the idea of the "Eat the Rich" on its head at the beginning, (facilitating the evilness of the plot and the greed and entitlement of the family) then ultimately revived the adage in the resolution by the "rich", presumably, being eaten.

I agree that 14 characters was quite a lot, but I found the author' ability to change tones between characters to be convincing and interesting. I was surprised I was able to remember them all, most likely due to the author writing in reminders and characters dedicated to learning names. That being said, I wish some of the characters were more fleshed out, and not used simply as mechanisms to facilitate the other characters' awareness of the plot (Isabella, Logan, Roisee). Really, the book only dealt with ~5 characters within the park.

Finally, upon reflection it seems to me Mack's character is a bit flat (though I recognize the development at the end)-- she is her trauma and little else. While I understand the magnitude of what happened to her, I wish we learned more about her life between the life-changing event and the game. Also, I wish we were given some insight into how the beast came to be; what exactly did the families do besides sacrifice themselves? If the reader could figure that out, so too might the characters. Then, they would be able to actually put an end to the constant cycle of death instead of just releasing the evil into the world...

Somehow, writing this I think my rating might have lowered a bit lol. That being said, I found the book hard to put down, and when things slowed, I was sucked back in by the escape plot.

Contains spoilers.

Overall I thought this book was pretty good, I would say it was 4 stars for me. Brandon and LeGrand were easily my favourite characters and I think their potential post-game friendship was emotionally hardest to see go. The Mack/Ava romance was an unnecessary plot point and was too instalovey for me, like the book is only told over a week please slow your roll. Also, Ava came off much older than Mack which I don’t think was intentional? I think they’re all meant to be teens but she gives me mid 20s vibes minimum. I appreciate that the queer characters made it to the end but I just didn’t really care about them that much. I think it’s the romance that also gave me YA vibes even with this being her adult debut.

I like the theme of the book, it’s a theme I’ve seen before but always enjoy, and the open ending was welcome. This is an author I would read from again if the topic sounds interesting.

I swung between 4 and 5 stars for most of this, but the last page dedication hit me in the gut and I ended up giving it 5 (probably closer to 4.5 tbh). I really loved Mack and Ava, I know their relationship was a little instalove-y but it made sense to me and it felt right. I didn't know about the fantasy element so I was totally caught off guard by it -- in a good way!

I gave it 3stars. It was fine, and I had a good time right up until the end. The ending felt rushed to me, and I liked her overall allegory until she started really pushing the point at the end. That’s a personal style preference, though—I like the metaphor, but “saying it out loud” so to speak just pulls me out of the story, and in this case didn’t feel necessary. I think she was making her point just fine without making SURE the reader got the memo. The direction she went with the paranormal element was fun. Creatures tend to be dangerous but not particularly spooky, but fun overall.

This is the worst book I have read this year. Nothing seemed fully formed especially the game which is why I was so excited for this book. Its hard for me to appreciate themes when the book is so bad.

Sarah wrote: "I gave it 3stars. It was fine, and I had a good time right up until the end. The ending felt rushed to me, and I liked her overall allegory until she started really pushing the point at the end. Th..."

I did notice this was kind of heavy-handed toward the end and I have to wonder if it's because this is the author's first (I think?) adult novel, so she's very used to writing YA and perhaps drawing more connections for the reader.

3 stars. I don’t really think this should be classified as horror at all, I feel like it’s barely a thriller. Nothing about it felt thrilling but I did enjoy the “main” characters and I was very pleased that it ended up involving a sapphic romance (happy pride month!)

I definitely feel like it could have been more horrifying if it was longer and had some more detail. It seemed a little rushed to me and all of the info was sort of handed to me.

This was a 1 star for me. Honestly probably one of my least favorite books I’ve ever read🫣 It wasn’t thrilling. It wasn’t scary. It read a little bit YA to me and I was bored from the first page to the last. The pace was very strange to me. The first half was very slow but not slow in a creating tension, slow build up sort of way.

4 stars for me. I liked it, nothing about it was scary for me. I liked the relationships and the old journals. The only contestant I even felt bad for was Brandon. I kept thinking about Shirley Jackson's The Lottery the whole time.

Lisa wrote: "4 stars for me. I liked it, nothing about it was scary for me. I liked the relationships and the old journals. The only contestant I even felt bad for was Brandon. I kept thinking about Shirley Jac..."

I also thought of the lottery while reading this, along with an episode of supernatural that has a very similar plot

I enjoyed the book a lot a decent 5 stars for me. Kiersten and I are both from Utah so it was a fun little reveal for me when I realized that Legrand was part of a fundamentalist Mormon cult. I know people think the plot is a little fast, but I really did not mind that. I would rather a book be a little short than to long. I also think the reason I enjoyed it where others didn't was because I essentially knew where the book was going from the start and I did not really care that I was not particularly shocked when there was not a big twist. I guess my major takeaway would be that what I look for in books is writing I enjoy and tropes I find fun.

i gave the book 5 stars, I really enjoyed it and finished it in 2 sittings. I was constantly intrigued enough to keep on reading. SPOILERS:
I liked the ending that they unleashed the monster upon those families. The part where Brandon sacrifices himself really hit me in the feels and that made this book a 5 star read for me. I didn't think the book was scary but I am also not easily scared. I liked the build up and unfolding the mystery and how it was tied to those 7 families. The book was short but that also made it for me that the story didn't drag on so to speak. In the beginning it was a bit confusing with so many POV's but after a few pages I got used to it and then the story really became more interesting. This was a fun and quick read and had characters I liked and characters I disliked (but they ended up dead so some retribution I guess haha). And I absolutely loved the map!
I would absolutely read other books by Kiersten White. And I think this is a great book club selection because there is a lot to talk about; the characters, setting, reveals, ending. Especially since there are many different opinions from what I read here!

I enjoyed the beginning, but the last two chapter (or days) were just missing something for me. I gave this book 3 stars. I would definitely read from this author again.

I loved Mack as a character and loved her backstory and finding out little tid bits of what happened to their family. I liked how each character had their own troubles or trauma and how everyone was connected. Ava was a close second favourite, I thought she was just a total bada$$ haha. Also the journal entries were a nice touch!

I hated this. I haven't read from this author before and won't be reading anything else from her in the future. This is being marketed as an adult debut but this is written like a YA book in every sense. All of these adult characters felt 15 years old. I hated the dialogue and the relationships formed. The plot wasn't complex enough.

If this was just a dumb summertime slasher I would've enjoyed it, but it's making a half-assed attempt at being something bigger than that and failing. I kept thinking that the author watched the movie Cabin in the Woods and tried to emulate it but missed out on what made it good.

I hate rating books low so probably should just be a 2 but I bumped to a 3. It was a short book and easy to get through. Even though it is entirely flawed I wasn't bored.

There wasn't enough of the hide and seek. It seemed like there was a little hiding and then a snippet of one character being discovered. Way to much time spent on the time before and after.

I like the idea of adults playing a game of hide and seek unfortunately the author was unable to write adult characters. I would have placed everyone in there early or mid teens. If I had gone in with that expectation it might have been better but I expected more from them.

When I read what the monster was and its purpose I was a confused. I kept thinking I wasn't understanding but in the end I think it was just nonsense. I think the author was trying to make point about privilege, luck and maybe race but it didn't work for me.

The premise was really great and it was so short it seems like with time and the right editor it might have been what I wanted.

I've been pondering this for a couple days. It felt like it was a teen trying to write adult characters. The characters were flat. I get that the first couple to die wouldn't be as developed since they weren't in the story long but I didn't feel like the rest didn't seem much better.

I'm not a big reader of horror anymore but I didn't feel like I really understood the creature's existence either. I may have overlooked it's backstory because I wasn't really into the book.

Social commentary in the form of a labyrinth of Crete type horror book? Amazing. 5 stars.

I would have liked this a lot more if I hadn’t already seen the movie Ready or Not. It’s the same thing except it takes place in a mansion as opposed to an abounded theme park. But because I HAVE seen Ready or Not, the twist was boring (and they revealed it WAAAY too early!)

I would like to Hide from this book. ⭐️

Characters - they were all flat for me. The author was really heavy handed with her real world references. It felt like she was trying to be cool, but tried way too hard. Rulon being the name of LeGrand’s religious compound cult father’s name was my final eye roll on that.

I never understood the instant love connection between Mack and Ava. I did like Ava even up to the end, but Mack’s story and trauma never really felt all that “real.” It was a distraction from the plot.

The letters - they felt like the author saying, “I don’t know how to show you back story in a good way, so I’m just going to dump it all in letters in a journal that they will find. Good enough.”

The social commentary - eye roll hard. In no way do I feel like this was an allegory for school shootings. The hide and seek elements, sure. But if that was the case, why wasn’t this game targeted at young children? How old were these people supposed to be? None of their ages matched with their personality.

I also find it ironic that in a book that is meant to be a scream for guns, there are guns used as a tool to get them out of their situation.

1 Star.

2 stars, the phrase "Come out, come out, wherever you are!" was the scariest and most fun part of this book, that says it all.

2 stars for me. It was confusing having the abrupt point of view changes. The ending felt a little flat for me. It felt like a worse version of The Cabin in the Woods, which sucks because I love that movie 😂

I think this is a 2 star for me. It wasn't awful, but it wasn't that great either.
It read very much like a YA book to me. Nothing about it was scary. None of the characters were likeable and I really didn't care who died and who lived.

The end felt like it happened way too quickly. This book should have been much longer and way more fleshed out.

I honestly don't even have any takeaways other than disappointment. If the book was trying to tell me anything it didn't tell me anything well because all I know is that once again making a deal with a demon of sorts is going to end badly.

I don't even know if the reveals were done well since I knew going in that something or someone was not going to let these characters get out alive so there really wasn't much room for reveals.

Through all this I was interested, the premise is SO GOOD. It was just so poorly executed. 2 stars.

It wasn’t enough…I gave it a 3 stars

For a adult horror/paranormal I thought it was going to terrify me. I liked the presence of the game but I thought there should of been more backstory especially for Mack. Her history was scary! That’s the premise for the movie “Prom Night” where the girl gets hunted in her own house and hides under her bed. Mack’s trauma fleshed out would definitely be scary and I feel like add to the book but you saw more of the guilt for her sister

For me the secret books journal entries were a bust and I didn’t like reading them. I wish there was a POV other than Linda from the families that thought the competition was wrong. I also wish there was more story on when the amusement park was open to the public and the little girl got ate that would be scary! All you hear about is her shoe.

There were too many characters. I basically had no idea who Sydney/Logan and Ian were. In my opinion she could have gotten away with 7 competitors. I also didn’t like when the main group knew people were dying instead of ‘getting out’ they were still basically like “oh well” Justice for Brandon, a hero. A true selfless friend.

Imo I didn’t like the monster was a creature and not more paranormal entity and it made no sense it had its eyes removed but still ate the families offspring when people who weren’t family offspring couldn’t see it physically.

I appreciate LGBT representation but Mack and Ava wasn’t it. Ava was too clingy and pushy “I’m not gonna let you go” and Mack didn’t want to be invested.

I did like the social commentary on class. I did like the insert of the killer clowns that would hide in wooded areas. *What a scary time to be alive*. I did like the atmosphere (decrepit themepark) them getting lost was a bit much…but overall I think if it was longer it would of been better.

There are entirely too many characters and it somehow feels too long and too short at the same time, but I loved this. Could not stop reading once I got about halfway through. Probably somewhere around 4 stars for me, though I’m considering bumping it up.

This was terrible. The only reason it got 2 stars from me is because I don't care enough to hate it. One of the worst books I've read all year.

Edit: I've decided to lower my rating from two stars to 1.5 stars, rounded down to 1 star.

I have thoughts that I’m still trying to process lol

But in the meantime, I think I missed something potentially important - who is Keck and what is his connection?

ok, I do understand the disappointment and I feel it. I have read White before (Frankenstein) and really enjoyed it so I'm at least a little bit familiar with her YA writing. This definitely leans more YA which makes sense given that's what she's written. Imo, she may never have intended this to be an adult novel and the publisher pushed it that way. Who knows. Anyway, I thought the concept was cool, obviously wish it would have gone darker, but it kept me entertained and I read it pretty quickly once I got into it. 3.5 stars for me.

I get the comment that this may have originally been targeted for YA. I felt like it fell into a 3 category for me, maybe 2.75. I enjoyed it, and I felt like it had an interesting (if predictable) premise. I don't think it did anything very new for me and I felt the love interest angle was pretty abrupt and unrealistic, especially for someone as deliberately isolated and closed off as Mack. I did think Mack was an interesting character, and I would have liked the opportunity to get to know her better. I felt like there were missed opportunities in the storytelling that would have made me like it better.

This was two stars for me and only because I actually really enjoyed the first half of the book. I felt like the beginning set up so well for some crazy stuff that just was never delivered. I found the second half of the book to be very slow, very dull, and very predictable. Nothing was explained well enough for me and it just fell flat. I’ve never read anything by White prior to this and how sort after Hide I probably won’t read anything else. I agree that this reads more YA and don’t really understand why it’s being marketed as adult horror. I don’t read a lot of YA these days, so this was a bummer for me.

I gave this book 3 stars. I found like the beginning dragged a bit and the end moved a bit too fast (I also would have liked a bit more from the ending but that's just me). However I did really enjoy the characters (although sometimes I thought the characters' internal learning got a bit heavy-handed). I also LOVED the creature and the information we got about it and how it came about. I wanted to know more about that tbh.

I enjoyed the message of the story that I think the author was getting at. Also, did anyone else find it very similar to the story of the Minotaur? The maze, the creature hunting for people, those brought in for the mistakes of the past, the fact that there's 14... I thought there were a lot of clear pulls from that myth, but I don't know if I'm the only one.

Overall, I enjoyed but think it could have been done a bit better to really wow me.

I actually really enjoyed this book and until my favourite character died (plus the ending a bit), this book was well on it’s way to being my first 5 star of the year. I ended up rating it a 4. I think maybe the reason I enjoyed the book so much as a) I have never read from this author before (but some how own every book from one of her series lol funny how that happens) and b) I hate reading horror books (which is ironic as I’m part of this book club lol). So because of that, I actually really enjoyed the direction the book took and I loved how the different characters were intertwined throughout the book. I agree with some of these comments though, I feel like I could have used a bit more for the ending. Maybe not 100 pages more, but even 30-50 more would have been nice!

It's never been so painful for me to finish such a short book. I'm going to keep this brief since I ranted in part 1 discussion and I'm forming thoughts for a full review buttttt.....2 stars. I am glad I finished it and picked it up after DNFing but it was disappointing.

I gave this 5 stars I loooved it. It reminded me of Cabin in the Woods which is easily one of my favourite movies

This book was a total page turner, but I wouldn't say I loved it.

I guess I just wish it might have had more clues about its paranormal aspects early on? I felt like there was a slight disconnect in premise and execution. Once I realised it was an allegory for school schooling's I was like ohh.. okay cool but.. that still didn't quite make it for me.

Maybe fewer characters would have helped as well? There was really not a lot of character building, and the alternative POVs would have made me think I need to care more about these people, but I just didn't know anything about them? Like what are their motivations. Brandon on the surface was a lovely character, but why was he so nice? He wasn't presented as an outright Himbo but he kind of acted like one?

I feel like I would have liked this more if there were fewer characters and a punchier backstory. Even after all of the journal entries, everything was "just because" I really wanted a bit of a bigger picture or a deeper history.

Still all that said, it was definitely a page turner, and I plowed through the whole thing in barely a few hours. I'd definitely be open to reading more work from the author.

It was fine. 3 stars. I liked the premise, but I wanted more backstory. How did the original families learn about and decide on their sacrifice? We got some background from the Nicely journal. The Callas book was found, but we never got to learn what it said. I wasn’t a fan of the ending, but I think the book could be a fantastic movie.

Overall, the entire pace of the book was a little too slow for me. I felt like there was too much detail on things that didn't seem to matter much and not enough on things that seemed to matter more. My opinions on the characters remained the same throughout the book (team Brandon!).

As for takeaways, there isn't much to talk about. The book left me wanting more but also feeling happy it ended. This book didn't make me feel anything that stayed with me when the book was done.

Somehow, the way things were revealed in the book annoyed me. For example, when Brandon figured out the connections between the participants of the game and the families running it. It was revealed to us subtlety, but he didn't tell the rest of the participants? Nothing was surprising or intense in the reveals, they gave me more of an "oh okay, that's interesting I guess" kind of reaction.

I did stay interested in the book until the end, just because I wanted to know who got out alive. I also wished that we could have had some kind of epilogue. I ended up caring about these characters and how their relationships develop after the game but didn't get that satisfaction.

I rated this book 2 stars. It kept me interested but in the end, I was let down by the lack of detail in the important parts of the story. I probably will not read this author again unless I hear a lot of hype about another one of their books.

As for the discussion:
I would love some commentary on the subtle (not so subtle? Idk) homophobia throughout the book. I'm not sure if I am just sensitive or if some of this was done poorly. The homophobia was never really addressed as wrong in the book as wrong or problematic, but maybe I am overreacting?

Also, is anyone else pissed that we never got more detail on the book that was hidden in the park that Ava later found? I was hoping that 1) It would be revealed to Linda as she was dying (so the last thing the b*tch sees is the book she spent forever looking for has been found and she'll never get to read it), and 2)Maybe the Ava, Mack, and Legrand could have found the solution to end the curse (pretty sure that was mentioned somewhere in the book?) I feel like the book was somewhat pointless. Sure, it could be argued that it gave information on the history of the game but I feel like this information could be found elsewhere? Anyway, that's my rant about the book lol.

DNFed at page 134
It felt like work to push on and my mind would wander, because I was so bored. I'm not invested in either the story or characters which is a shame since it's such a cool concept.
Just not for me, I suppose.

I felt like the reveal was very info-dumpy (both times) and also that we got the reveal much too early. I feel like I spent pretty much the entire last half of the book waiting for another reveal or some other twist to explain why we got the reveal about the true nature of the game so early.

I also feel like the ending was way too open ended and left basically nothing resolved. I wanted just a few more pages to fully wrap everything up cause I was left feeling like 'oh that's it?'

Personally, I didn't mind the social justice commentary throughout the book but I could see how it might get on some people's nerves as it could be heavy handed and over the top at points.

I think the pace got faster in the last half & things started to be reveled as the days went on.
I like the development of the characters but I wish more had survived. RIP Brandon :(
I do think that Mack, Lebrant, & Ava were a great combo for the end.

It was kind of wild to find out about the sacrifice & how that town had protection from the creature. It was a bit confusing so I didn't fully get it. I like how the journals from Thomas & Linda/her mom helped explain some things that the characters wouldn't have known about. I thought the social commentary on classism & the focus on upper movement (Seen alot in the usa) was a good addition.

I like the book & gave it a 4 star. It isn't my favorite but it was really different from what I usually read. I do agree that some things could've been better explained.


In the live show: It would be nice to see how we all reacted to the reveal of the truth behind the "game". Was it a cult or weird generational sacrifice?

I really enjoyed this book. This is the first horror book I have ever read, since I previously was way too scared to read something like this.

For me the pace was nice, because it built a lot of suspense and mysterie in the beginning. but the last chapter was a bit quick and was not completely satisfying.

Quite early in the book I thought that the murders would be committed by a minotaur like creature, since from greek mythology (the story of Theseus) the minotaurs name was Asterion, there was an obvious maze and there were 14 victims (every 7 years). This feeling was reinforced when Mack was describing the sounds as being more animal than human. So for me the plot twist was not a surprise. This might have made the book not as scary for me, which was not a bad thing as a first time horror reader.

I think the reveals were done quite well, because you got small tidbits that would keep you guessing. And it definitely kept my interest.

The ending was a bit disappointing because the problem is not solved. Now the beast can roam free through the world and technically Mack and LeGrande are still not safe.

I really hated this book. I was so bored for 90% of it.
Hide and seek is not a spectator sport for a reason.
I did not care about any of the characters and I only gave it 2 stars for the concept of demon sacrifices.

I would have loved it if we were focusing on the people running the game and the game’s history. or maybe if we just stuck to 1 or 2 POV

I gave this a 1 star.
The concept of this book really intrigued me and I had it marked as a most anticipated! I avoided anything said about this book and went in with based on the synopsis and it was nothing like I was expect in the worst way.
I was expecting first person pov from Mack, the third person pov following over five characters done nothing for me with the book being so short. I had no investment in them or care for their back stories because it read really formulated and gave very little when it did reveal something about them.
I didn’t mind the supernatural element but I wish it was more delved in to and we got more flash backs. I wanted more of the world building, more of how this ‘curse/gift’ worked. We are meant to believe the sacrifices meant the families lived successful lives but everyone at the park where relatives down on their luck. Also with their family/back stories it doesn’t look like the generation before them prospered. So who really benefits?
Don’t even get me started on having two Ava’s in the story there was one moment they had conversation and I had no idea which Ava was saying what and that because unfortunately they weren’t distinct enough voices at that point to know.
The pacing felt off with the first half of the book not giving much away, the middle giving everything and the end giving nothing. Even the middle giving things away I would have loved to know what the towns people are thinking, how is it controlled and if so how do the families get a whole town to keep this secret, aren’t they scared if it doesn’t eat they will get eaten?
Just to many unanswered questions that would have made the story more enjoyable if added in.
I didn’t have a problem with the actual writing, I think the synopsis giving me a different vibe than the actual story, the shortness of the book and the lack of world building or character intrigue just made for a poor experience for me.
I’d be interested in reading something else from this author to see if it’s just this story that I didn’t like as this is their first foray into horror.
I’m not a huge fan of open ended books if they are done well great but this just left everything in the air for me.
Overall this book put me in a slump, it took me 2 weeks to read this book and considering it’s so short that something.

I just finished the book and I give it a 4. It held my attention but it was much too info-dumpy. The suspense was good for the first part but it started to lag in the second part.

This was a 1-star for me.

All the characters read like teenagers. I was truly surprised when Brandon was 30 something because he read like a 15-year-old.
Love the rep, but it was kinda insta-lovey to me.

Honestly pretty disappointed because I was looking forward to some good haunted carnival/amusement park vibes, but that really didn't come through at all and it was just a lot of info dump. I feel like we got the best description of the park at the beginning of the last chapter.

There were some great lines, but overall, nothing was mysterious for me and nothing was scary. The one detail I really like about the monster was the stars behind its maw.