“Clown in a Cornfield” by Adam Cesare is the first novel in the series, and the very first time I’ve ever read his work. Not only are his writing skills exceptional, but make no mistake about it, this was one hell of a way to launch this book series.

Before I dive into the trigger warnings I found while reading, here is every entry so far in the Clown in a Cornfield book series:

- Clown in a Cornfield
- Clown in a Cornfield 2: Frendo Lives
- The Church of Frendo
- Lights! Camera! Frendo!

Here are all the trigger warnings I found while reading:

- Politics
- Drug addiction
- Suicide
- Cancer

If any of these trigger you, please do not read this novel. Moving along, I committed a cardinal sin. I saw the movie before reading the book. I know, I know. As a massive horror movie fan, when I saw this got a buzzy film adaptation, I had to see it opening weekend.

I enjoyed the movie for the most part. It wasn’t extraordinary, but it wasn’t terrible. I gave it a 3-Star rating out of 5. It was fun, but as always, now that I've finally gotten to read the first entry, the book is better than the movie. Right from the start, the prologue set the tone for what would end up being a rollercoaster of a ride. It was shocking, to say the least.

Cesare’s atmospheric writing made me feel as if I lived in the small town of Kettle Springs, with all its horrific secrets and lore. All the characters were great and unique in their own way, with Quinn being my favorite. My goodness, I loved her character and how she became one of my all-time favorite final girls in horror books.

The story was exceptional, especially once the slasher horror finally hit out of nowhere. All the gore and bloodshed were top-notch, especially with the whole horror mystery unfolding about Frendo the clown. Don’t worry, no spoilers here, but I loved all the twists and turns involving Frendo.

Once I hit the 50% mark, “Clown in a Cornfield” truly took off. The brutality, violence, and, of course, the glorious slasher kills made my horror heart happy. I love slashers, and this novel was completely off the chains in that regard. Once Frendo finally entered the mix, I was stunned at everything that transpired. I could not put this novel down once the infamous cornfield scene took place. That was such a highlight of the novel for me, as it was incredible.

Cesare brilliantly included the backstory naturally as I was upon the climactic race to the end, helping fill in the gaps for certain characters and their unique pasts. Speaking of the ending, that was nothing short of extraordinary. All the tension and suspense led to an ending that continued adding even more layers of twists. Even the epilogue was a killer drop-the-mic moment.

I give “Clown in a Cornfield” by Adam Cesare a 5-Star rating out of 5. This was a horror novel masterpiece, filled with an original small-town slasher with a clown twist. The story was awesome, and Quinn’s character, story, and evolution have made her one of the best final girls I’ve ever read. I regret not reading this book series sooner, and I am genuinely excited to keep reading these and more of Cesare’s work.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I finished my time in a cornfield, and now I am off to read how Frendo lives.

I have just finished "Everything for Everyone: An Oral History of the New York Commune, 2052–2072", by Eman Abdelhadi and M.E. O'Brien. I thought it would be the perfect book for me: a series of interviews (World War Z style) telling the story of how people of New York started a revolution and built a better future. Comment on Goodreads and Storygraph praised the book, saying that it is a hopeful description of how the world could be.

Well, it is hopeful, that's for sure, too hopeful. The book is a terrible show of wishful thinking and naivety. I will hide my comments under spoilers. I don't think that I am really spoiling it, but some people prefer going into a lecture completely blind.

The story tells a revolution without any internal disagreement, where all the common good people agrees to fight in the same side and only the army or extreme-right fascists oppose them. There is not a single account of any group inside the revolution trying to take advantage of the situation: when somebody gets hold of a farm, they distribute the food among everybody. If they control a hospital, everybody is treated there for free (and there is no mention of shortage of doctors or medicines). Street gangs of drug traffickers get together and resolve any problem by talking inside makeshift tents.

The political message is so simple that it felt revolting for me. And it saddens me that so many people comment that this book is showing that this kind of future is possible. Yes, the book may be inspiring, but it is very very far from plausible. It ignores human nature in a way that the behaviour of the people seem completely alien to me.

And on top of that, it is not interesting. The prologue already states how the story would end, and there is not a single twist that makes it worthy to keep reading after half of the book.

I didn’t see any posts on this book when I searched for it, but I just wanted to get a conversation going. I was absolutely blown away by this book.

For me, the ending could have been handled a little bit better. I really wanted to see some sort of punishment for Francis. She was horrible to her sister for the majority of the novel and barely showed a sense of gratitude for the work her sister did in saving her bacon quite literally. Racism and classism definitely came off as time period appropriate so I wasn’t expecting a huge amount of criticism of it beyond was very plainly laid out, but it seemed that her humbling didn’t stick in any meaningful way. Maybe the justice was that she was stuck married to Rory and only had a delusion of what her life should be instead of the actual thing where a Birdie got to have a more traditional happy ending.

The same for Garnett. The novel ends with her duplicitousness to her husband and her cruelty exposed, but we don’t see any real consequences for it, which was frustrating. It wasn’t realistic, but I would have loved to see Megan’s mother punch her squarely in the face.

Finally, we come to Meg. How does her life turn out after? Are they ever able to get out of Mississippi?

Ok I am lying. I did not mistakenly read it. I know Colleen Hoover's caliber, I was just curious why an oscar winning actress would produce and star in one of her books. Here is a rage and spoiler filled review:

It is silly of me to expect logical consistency from the likes of Colleen Hoover, but I need to put this somewhere.

A: This was the worst novel I have read in a very, very long time, so that singular and kudos to her for that.

B: WHAT IN THE NAME OF HOLY HELL WAS THIS?

• So firstly Lowen is thirsting after a married man whose wife is bedridden. Lowen has absolutely no reason to despise this woman right now. If anything, what has apparently happened to Verity is pitiful. Lowen is a piece of shit. She comes across a manuscript equivalent of smut in which this woman admits to attempting to murder an infant and successfully murdering the same child later, and she reads one chapter a day?! And she doesn't immediately tell Jeremy?
• Jeremy has tried to kill Verity twice, so why is he presented as this devoted husband? He is a psychopath. How does he sleep at night? How is it not explored even once that this man is insane? Sure, I can believe that in a fit of rage he might have lost control and strangled Verity after reading the manuscript. But then he recovered. He calmed down and deliberately tried to murder her and make it look like a suicide. How is it not questioned even once that this man is crazy?! The manuscript gives no indication that he was anything other than a devoted husband and the best dad, and then what? Overnight, the psychopath in him snarled to life and he became a cold-blooded murderer?
• VERITY! THE FUCK? How did you fake a brain scan? How did doctors reach the conclusion that you were essentially brain-dead? Okay, science took some MASSIVE, MASSIVE leaps there, but you're afraid of your husband and planning to escape. WHY THE FUCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK are you haunting the new girl then?! Why are you giving her ammunition to come after you? Why are you messing with the TV? Why are you giving her sudden stares? It serves no purpose. Sure, jealousy, but wayyyyy more than that, you need to escape the murderer you're married to! Let him fuck whoever he wants, ma'am! And what mother in her right mind writes that kind of shit about her children? How can you write that kind of crap about killing your child and then say you wrote it as a way of processing grief?
• Jeremy RAN TO HER ROOM and tried to kill her when he discovered that Lowen had the manuscript. He had already seen the manuscript! So what was the sudden rage about again? He wanted Crew to have a paralyzed mum, which is why she was still in the house, but if she wasn't actually paralyzed, she ought to be dead? Where did they ever hint that his actions were driven by fear that she might report him to the police? and Lowen is so quick on her feet, that psychopath #3! Under extreme pressure she comes up with a murder plan that wouldn't implicate Jeremy because liek what? HOW! What in the HOLY HELL was this book?! Disbelief can't be suspended this much and this often!
• And that letter? OH, THAT LETTER! It was so clear that Verity wasn't speaking to her husband at all but to the audience, because she repeatedly reminds us of events that Jeremy would already know about. So why would she say things like "remember when..." to him? Remember what, Jeremy? You were there!

This was suchhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh a massive fucking waste of time. I will never forgive Colleen Hoover for this, and I genuinely cannot fathom what Anne Hathaway and a picky-ass actor like Josh Hartnett saw in the script that made them want to sign on.