Reviews

The Chalk Man by C.J. Tudor

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ssshenberger's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

m3ow's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.0

erimybearimy's review against another edition

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4.0

Jeez louise, this was a ride!

Thanks to netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

4 stars even.

Lemme break it down for you:

PROS:
- Creepy fun! Little chalk stick figures pop up all over a tiny UK town... Who draws them? Dunno. But lots of people are getting hurt....
- Compelling character work. It has a bit of a Stranger Things vibe, with every other chapter following a close-knit gang of kids in the '80s. The grown-up versions of the kids are also pretty real. Consequences, consequences... alcoholism, disability, being stuck in your hometown (even your parents' old houses!)-- very realistic. But not a bummer. Just, like... Oh yeah. Shit'll happen when you experience trauma as a child.

CONS:
- I mean..... things don't all come together as much as you'd like them to. You're left with a lot of holes to fill in yourself. And you can fill them in. But.
- Imma put this behind a spoiler curtain, but you can probably read it without being too spoiled about anything:

Spoiler

Everyone is guilty of something. No one, not even the MC or the victims, is totally innocent. This could be read as realistic.... or fatalistic. Total depravity and all that. I like that everyone has their flaws, but does everyone have to be so full-on?

There's also a Trigger Warning or two I'd like to raise, but I'll put them behind a spoiler curtain... but in case you're sensitive to certain issues and want to be prepared, click away:

Spoiler

TW: dog death, alcoholism, pedophilia, abortion, violence against women (obviously)

Overall, my impression:

am_paro's review against another edition

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3.0

I really liked the pace of this story and the wide cast of pretty well-developed characters - definitely not the usual pulpy sort of thriller. The horror part of the story was interesting, though occasionally gory or gross to the point of feeling gratuitous. But it was so hard to like the narrator that I couldn't get engrossed in the story.

msintrepid1's review against another edition

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5.0

Excellent read! After the halfway point I found it hard to put down. It had me guessing right to the end.

namita101's review against another edition

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4.0

The Chalk Man is an impressive ,gripping psychological debut thriller by C.J. Tudor

12 year old Eddie , Hoppo , Fat Gav, Metal Mickey and Nicky were enjoying a lazy summer when Eddie meets the Chalk Man for the first time while saving a teenage girl. The Chalk Man gives Eddie an idea about creating a secret code among friends using chalk where each friend has a special color chalk so that everybody knows who the message is from. This creates a lot of fun until the chalk symbols lead them to find a dismembered body. Now 30 years later when Eddie receives another letter with a stick figure drawn in chalk , he realizes the deadly game has started all over again.

Powerful writing , interesting characters , intriguing suspense , lots of twists and turns makes this book a compelling read . I cannot recommend it enough .

Many thanks to Crown Publishing & NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest and fair review.

This and more reviews at https://chloesbooksblog.wordpress.com/