Review of the mushroom farm
6 posts
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "the mushroom farm" by Indigo Swann.]
In the book’s blurb, the author mentions, “…if you walk away wondering what you just read, then I have done my job fully.” Honestly, I can confidently say that they succeeded.
Conner is a fourteen-year-old boy who’s trying to fit in with his older brother Dean and his troublemaking friends. On a night out, Conner and his friends’ recklessness and insecurity get them caught up in the fallout of a terrible decision. What begins as typical teenage stupidity quickly turns into something truly horrifying, with consequences that touch everyone on Earth.
The Mushroom Farm made me feel like I was stepping into another world that was the love child of teen drama and strange metaphysical concepts, similar to when I was watching the TV show Stranger Things, except it was much darker and grittier.
On top of this, the writing of the characters was absolutely well done, and that’s what captured my interest. The profanity-laden locker-room talk, corny insults, edgy racism that teenage boys think is cool, and hormone-fueled decisions all felt extremely believable. The author absolutely captured the essence of teenage boys left to run amok. We’re also introduced to some teen girls, and they’re written just as you’d expect them to be.
From the moment that the consequences of their actions caught up with them, I was constantly surprised by what happened next. “Unpredictable” is an understatement. The story swerved from one lane to the next so quickly that I was shocked by where I ended up.
Certain aspects of the violence genuinely hollowed out my stomach. Even reading the blurb beforehand and knowing that there would be violence, some scenes were still shocking because of the level and type of brutality involved. I think the violence was important for the story, but the author should add specific trigger warnings to help mentally brace readers so they have a better experience.
The story had a great start, but it began to totter downhill when more philosophical elements were introduced. The story moved quickly from teen trauma and violence into exploring reality, consciousness, manifestation, and other metaphysical topics. However, I felt like the author was trying to force profundity into the story instead of telling a story someone would naturally realize was profound.
A lot of the philosophical and supernatural parts of the story happened off-page, so instead of experiencing these events with Conner, I felt like I was just being told about them in the vaguest and most overcomplicated way possible. The concepts themselves were interesting, and I probably would have bought into them more if the book were long enough to properly flesh out the scale of the author’s ideas.
Even outside my issues with the story itself, the number of typos and mistakes noticeably dampened my experience.
I am giving The Mushroom Farm by Indigo Swann 3 out of 5 stars for all the reasons I mentioned above. I liked the realism of the teenagers, the unpredictability, and the creativity of the concepts, which made me have to read the ending multiple times to understand. However, I had to take away a star because there should have been more chapters describing what led Conner to his revelations about reality and consciousness, and another star because of the typos and other mistakes.
Although the story is about teenagers, the book should only be read by adults. I think it would be too traumatic and confusing for most teenagers to read. If you enjoy dark stories, shocking violence, and metaphysical horror, then this is a great book to check out.
******
the mushroom farm
View: on Bookshelves |
In the book’s blurb, the author mentions, “…if you walk away wondering what you just read, then I have done my job fully.” Honestly, I can confidently say that they succeeded.
Conner is a fourteen-year-old boy who’s trying to fit in with his older brother Dean and his troublemaking friends. On a night out, Conner and his friends’ recklessness and insecurity get them caught up in the fallout of a terrible decision. What begins as typical teenage stupidity quickly turns into something truly horrifying, with consequences that touch everyone on Earth.
The Mushroom Farm made me feel like I was stepping into another world that was the love child of teen drama and strange metaphysical concepts, similar to when I was watching the TV show Stranger Things, except it was much darker and grittier.
On top of this, the writing of the characters was absolutely well done, and that’s what captured my interest. The profanity-laden locker-room talk, corny insults, edgy racism that teenage boys think is cool, and hormone-fueled decisions all felt extremely believable. The author absolutely captured the essence of teenage boys left to run amok. We’re also introduced to some teen girls, and they’re written just as you’d expect them to be.
From the moment that the consequences of their actions caught up with them, I was constantly surprised by what happened next. “Unpredictable” is an understatement. The story swerved from one lane to the next so quickly that I was shocked by where I ended up.
Certain aspects of the violence genuinely hollowed out my stomach. Even reading the blurb beforehand and knowing that there would be violence, some scenes were still shocking because of the level and type of brutality involved. I think the violence was important for the story, but the author should add specific trigger warnings to help mentally brace readers so they have a better experience.
The story had a great start, but it began to totter downhill when more philosophical elements were introduced. The story moved quickly from teen trauma and violence into exploring reality, consciousness, manifestation, and other metaphysical topics. However, I felt like the author was trying to force profundity into the story instead of telling a story someone would naturally realize was profound.
A lot of the philosophical and supernatural parts of the story happened off-page, so instead of experiencing these events with Conner, I felt like I was just being told about them in the vaguest and most overcomplicated way possible. The concepts themselves were interesting, and I probably would have bought into them more if the book were long enough to properly flesh out the scale of the author’s ideas.
Even outside my issues with the story itself, the number of typos and mistakes noticeably dampened my experience.
I am giving The Mushroom Farm by Indigo Swann 3 out of 5 stars for all the reasons I mentioned above. I liked the realism of the teenagers, the unpredictability, and the creativity of the concepts, which made me have to read the ending multiple times to understand. However, I had to take away a star because there should have been more chapters describing what led Conner to his revelations about reality and consciousness, and another star because of the typos and other mistakes.
Although the story is about teenagers, the book should only be read by adults. I think it would be too traumatic and confusing for most teenagers to read. If you enjoy dark stories, shocking violence, and metaphysical horror, then this is a great book to check out.
******
the mushroom farm
View: on Bookshelves |
You are not logged in. Please log in or sign up to view members replies, participate in the discussion, and access more features.
