Penpal - Dathan Auerbach
I liked how it’s written starting as fun facts about his childhood etc. It makes it very unsettling cuz you know something bad is going to happen and you’re on edge waiting for it and it happens. I didn't expect it to feel as eerie, nostalgic, ominous and overall... sad. In a way, the only thing that didn't work for me was how each chapter was so very much "Reddit thread coded", with a plot-twist right at the very end to catch our attention and keep us waiting for the next instalment. Regardless, these kept me reading. I don’t like how it is told and how every chapter is at a different time but still close to the rest it’s kind of confusing but that’s just a me thing I have trouble placing things in a timeline without help
The writing is really interesting to me, and I felt like the re-telling of the MCs thoughts as a child really worked. I get the single mother's motivation to drop everything and run, just protect her child and leave everything else behind, but I feel like she should have had a better motivation for not confiding in Josh's parents. I think it was slightly unrealistic; why wouldn't she have other children's best interests in mind? The ending was also a little too cheesy for me, with Josh's father mistakenly burying his son alive. Just... not what I expected.
The pacing, the overall writing, the setting and the atmosphere gave me goosebumps, and somehow gave me :Sparkles: the feels :Sparkles: . I really respect that. The fact we went back and forth in time as things came to mind was also dope. Also also, a few quotes that I found really quotable and just got me thinking "damn that's cool":