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Elle's Reviews > The Bright Lands
The Bright Lands
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Say hello to the Thriller of the Summer!
There’s something terrifying in Bentley, Texas. Or is it something terrorizing Bentley? In this small football town with secrets to spare, there’s just as much menace lurking in the shadows as walking the streets in broad daylight.
After ten years, Joel Whitley has found himself back home at last. Concerned by the panicked messages he received from his younger brother, Dylan, Joel makes his less-than-triumphant return to the place that all but ran him out of town a decade prior. What’s surprising is not how much has changed since then, but how much seems to have remained frozen in time. And when Dylan goes missing shortly after his arrival, Joel will have to confront his own ghosts before trying to understand his brother’s.
This book is a lot, but in the best way. There’s obviously the mystery around Dylan’s disappearance, but that’s only a part of a larger one looming over the entire town. The Bright Lands is a nearly 500 page monster of a book that I absolutely tore through (sorry Nat, couldn’t wait xoxo), and the stakes only increase with every passing chapter. There’s horror and supernatural elements, along with some raunchier stuff that probably won’t make it to cable television. That’s fine, though, I prefer Netflix anyways. 💅🏼
The roving perspectives took me a beat to get a handle on, but it ended up being one of my favorite aspects of the story. Through each (I counted 5?) differing character POVs, the reader is given the opportunity to view the same scenes with new eyes. What’s it like to observe the in-crowd as opposed to being a part of it? How does it feel to be inside a corrupted police force vs being the target of one? I think John Fram balanced a lot of social issues (especially ones that have come up more in recent months) impressively well considering this book was written months to years prior.
(view spoiler)
Anyways this book is not going to be for everyone. There’s gore and spooky shit and it’s hella gay. If that’s not your bag that’s fine, but honestly I think it’ll be your loss. The last quarter or so goes off the rails in exactly the fashion I love, so while there’s a lot of character-driven writing, there’s absolutely no skimping on the action. I don’t know what John Fram is working on next but I’m pretty nosy so I’ll try my best to find out. 🕵️♀️
*Thanks to Jamie for my giveaway copy!
There’s something terrifying in Bentley, Texas. Or is it something terrorizing Bentley? In this small football town with secrets to spare, there’s just as much menace lurking in the shadows as walking the streets in broad daylight.
After ten years, Joel Whitley has found himself back home at last. Concerned by the panicked messages he received from his younger brother, Dylan, Joel makes his less-than-triumphant return to the place that all but ran him out of town a decade prior. What’s surprising is not how much has changed since then, but how much seems to have remained frozen in time. And when Dylan goes missing shortly after his arrival, Joel will have to confront his own ghosts before trying to understand his brother’s.
This book is a lot, but in the best way. There’s obviously the mystery around Dylan’s disappearance, but that’s only a part of a larger one looming over the entire town. The Bright Lands is a nearly 500 page monster of a book that I absolutely tore through (sorry Nat, couldn’t wait xoxo), and the stakes only increase with every passing chapter. There’s horror and supernatural elements, along with some raunchier stuff that probably won’t make it to cable television. That’s fine, though, I prefer Netflix anyways. 💅🏼
The roving perspectives took me a beat to get a handle on, but it ended up being one of my favorite aspects of the story. Through each (I counted 5?) differing character POVs, the reader is given the opportunity to view the same scenes with new eyes. What’s it like to observe the in-crowd as opposed to being a part of it? How does it feel to be inside a corrupted police force vs being the target of one? I think John Fram balanced a lot of social issues (especially ones that have come up more in recent months) impressively well considering this book was written months to years prior.
(view spoiler)
Anyways this book is not going to be for everyone. There’s gore and spooky shit and it’s hella gay. If that’s not your bag that’s fine, but honestly I think it’ll be your loss. The last quarter or so goes off the rails in exactly the fashion I love, so while there’s a lot of character-driven writing, there’s absolutely no skimping on the action. I don’t know what John Fram is working on next but I’m pretty nosy so I’ll try my best to find out. 🕵️♀️
*Thanks to Jamie for my giveaway copy!
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Reading Progress
July 9, 2020
– Shelved
July 9, 2020
– Shelved as:
to-read
July 9, 2020
– Shelved as:
2020
July 9, 2020
– Shelved as:
author-is-nice
July 18, 2020
–
Started Reading
July 22, 2020
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-17 of 17 (17 new)
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message 1:
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Natalie
(new)
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rated it 5 stars
Jul 09, 2020 01:35PM
Same, we dumb.
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Natalie wrote: "Same, we dumb."That’s it, we’re banned from Bookstagram. 😭
It would be too normal without us, they need us and our weirdness
Excellent review Elle! I can only see it in hardback, but I've definitely added it to my watch list! 👀This sounds like something I would love, thanks for bringing it to my attention! 😊
preoccupiedbybooks wrote: "Excellent review Elle! I can only see it in hardback, but I've definitely added it to my watch list! 👀This sounds like something I would love, thanks for bringing it to my attention! 😊"You’re welcome and I’m glad to hear that! I‘ll be looking for your thoughts once you’ve had a chance to read it
Excellent review Elle. Do not generally read much spooky content, but this looks interesting!
Bharath wrote: "Excellent review Elle. Do not generally read much spooky content, but this looks interesting!"Thanks Bharath! I don’t really do a lot of scary stuff, but this isn’t exactly a ‘horror’ novel as much as it has some super-natural elements mixed in.
Wow, such an amazing review! I'll definitely pick it up now.
Kulwinder wrote: "Wow, such an amazing review! I'll definitely pick it up now."Awesome, I hope you enjoy it!!
ewww chewwing pills of any kind. they taste so bad. that's why you chug water with them
Tucker wrote: "ewww chewwing pills of any kind. they taste so bad. that's why you chug water with them"OKAY IT’S NOT JUST ME THEN!!
Lots of addicts believe chewing the XR version intensifies the affects.
Interesting, but the only XRs I’ve seen come in capsules so there’s nothing to chew, really. Unless you mean IRs?
I literally thought the same thing about the Adderall LOL
Emily wrote: "I literally thought the same thing about the Adderall LOL"It was the one thing that was bugging me the whole time!!
I have difficulty swallowing any pill so if it doesn't come in a capsule I can break apart then I'm forced to chew it. Yes, it's as nasty as it sounds but I gotta do what I gotta do
Bradley wrote: "I have difficulty swallowing any pill so if it doesn't come in a capsule I can break apart then I'm forced to chew it. Yes, it's as nasty as it sounds but I gotta do what I gotta do"That’s totally understandable!! But how someone could do it recreationally (like in this book) just blows my mind!!
