by Jeremey Robert Johnson
Turner Falls is a small tourist town nestled in the hills of western Oregon, the kind of town you escape to for a vacation. When an inexplicable outbreak rapidly develops, this idyllic town becomes the epicenter of an epidemic of violence as the teenaged children of several executives from the local biotech firm become ill and aggressively murderous. Suddenly the town is on edge, and Lucy and her friends must do everything it takes just to fight through the night.
Summary copied from Goodreads
| Tigger Warning: pretty much everything there is. Sexism, racism, mental health, blood, violence, vulgar humor/language (aka not a kids book), etc. Disclaimer: I listened to this audiobook with my husband in the car on a road trip. Therefore, there are many parts that I completely missed while caring for a baby and dog who were not so fond of the car ride. What I did get out of this book is what I’ll be reviewing. |
Lucy is adopted from Peru with some PTSD from her past and is now living in a tiny town in Oregon. Her best friend, Bucket, is also of color in this predominantly white town. We see a lot of discrimination these two suffer at school. An early scene shows her in school and a classmate, the known bully, becoming violent in an unusual way, ultimately killing their teacher. Later they go to a party, getting a ride from a friend of Bucket’s, Brewer. Some crazy things happen and the main plot starts to unfold and everything hits the fan. The rest of the book is fast paced with a sci-fi, conspiracy violence. Lucy is much stronger and colder than she ever knew she could be.
This book is very much how its described- Stranger Things meets World War Z. We have biotech zombies essentially. The lab messes up and they aren’t really cleaning it up, but observing. At least, that’s what I took from what bits I was able to hear. I did enjoy it for the most part. It could have been better. My husband pointed out, and I fully agree, that it would make a really good tv show, maybe a mini series.
I think Lucy was a good character. She felt complex and well developed. I was rooting for her to get the boy, even when said boy was possibly, maybe, hopefully not dead for a few chapters. The suspense and the feeling of urgency was executed well. The prose felt realistic instead of artistic, which in this kind of situation felt right.
All in all, not too shabby. I rated it a 3, however. It wasn’t my type of genre. Lots of cringing horror. By cringy I mean that I cringed in sympathy to the pain I imagined while listening to heads being mooshed with rocks. OOooo, that’s gross and had to hurt.
I still have no idea why it’s called The Loop…
Rachels Books 