I wanted to like this book. I really did. I enjoyed 'One Of Us Is Lying' despite my reservations about it being overly American and 'teen boppy' and I figured this second book would be the same- it was not. This is pure American Teen Fiction.
The setting is as cheesy as 'Echo Ridge' makes it sound. The book is predominately set in the 'Fright Farm' fairground and it reads like a 90s Goosebumps television episode (no shade being thrown at Goosebumps books, I loved them but focus on the TV show, the leering jack in the box, the hysterically laughing clowns and the distorted halls of mirrors and you'll be somewhere close to imagining Fright Farm). It just felt a bit of a dated, unrealistic atmosphere.
The characters felt like they were straight out of a low budget teen movie. There was the rich girl and her Daddy, the skulking bad boy that wasn't really bad and the good girl next door. It was all very cliched in a way that the first book had managed to avoid.
In terms of the plot, it sounded better than it played out. It lacked a sense of jeopardy and the overall conclusion was a bit 'meh'. I didn't find myself eager to get to bed to find out what happened next. I just ambled along waiting for it to end. Overall this book has left me in a neutral position regarding Karen McManus work. I enjoyed her first one but found this one like nails on a chalkboard. I suppose I'll have to read another one to draw a more accurate conclusion of her work but for this particular novel, it's a no from me.
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