Hi Readers!

I hope you’re having a lovely start to the weekend. I’m back with another book review!

This time I read Parachute by Holly Rae Garcia.

This was an impulse buy during my birthday month, which is something I usually don’t do. I’ve never read anything by this author, but the cover just screamed of horror and nostalgia, two things I love. How could I say no?

Also, this is a buddy read with Iseult Murphy. That means this post is my individual review, then it’ll be followed up with a fun buddy read and rant conversation with Iseult. Sound good?

Alright, let’s get right into the book review!

Blurb

Angela Rodriguez and her friends aren’t sure what they want out of life now that they’ve graduated high school, but they think there is plenty of time to figure it all out. When a trip to an abandoned elementary school leads to a break-in, they discover an old gym parachute.

Raising the fabric above their heads, the group expects it to balloon out around them like it did when they were younger. But instead, the parachute reveals alternate universes and terrifying worlds.

There’s only one rule…

DON’T LET GO

GoodReads

Amazon

***Brief disclosure***

I am an Amazon affiliate and earn a tiny commission for purchases made through the Amazon links in this post at no cost to you. It’s a great way to help me keep things running on my blog if you’re already intrigued enough to make a purchase. 

The Review

This is my first time reading a book by this author, and while I had fun, it was something of a mixed bag for me.

Alright, so this novella is all about Angela and her friends. They’ve just graduated high school and their next phase in life is just around the corner. To celebrate before moving on to this next chapter, she gets together with her friends at an abandoned school where they find a big old gym parachute. But when they use it, surreal bizarre things start to happen. Can they figure out what’s behind this strange item from the past, or should they just run for the hills?

There were several things I really enjoyed about this book.

First off, the characters. Angela felt real and I enjoyed the interaction with her family at the beginning. It felt similar to some conversations I’ve had with family in the past and believable. I also liked her romantic predicament. I’ve been in that situation around her age, and I understood where she was coming from.

The other characters were cool too and I especially appreciated the LGBT representation in Eric and Shawn.

I really liked when things hit the fan and the action started happening. I’m not going to give away the terrors that Garcia has conjured, but they are unique and worthy of some serious nightmares. Major kudos there.

My main issue with this book was that is felt incomplete. I got the really good buildup (perhaps a smidgen long), and when the plot picked up things got really interesting, but we never quite got that resolution that comes with horror.

I felt that some of the details could clog up certain chapters, and after some of the events that occurred, I had a hard time believing certain characters would have been so foolhardy to make the decisions that they did.

All this being said, I’m definitely not giving up on this author. There’s some serious promise here, and I can’t wait to see what nightmares she’s going to cook up for us readers next!

That’s A Wrap!

Well that’s it for this book review. I hope you enjoyed it!

Have you read this book? Are there other similar books you’ve read that you simply have to gush about? Feel free to leave a comment. I’d love to start a conversation!

Have a great day!

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