First, it would be remiss for me not to mention how amazing FantasticLand is as an audiobook. The production team did an excellent job bringing out the nuances of each of the characters participating in the mock interviews. The narrative grabbed my attention, but the narration kept me glued to my headphones. I don't think I would have finished this book so fast if the audiobook had not been so well done.
The story itself is a retelling of Lord of the Flies by William Golding. It's framed around a series of interviews of individuals close to the disaster, including testimonials from the victims and perpetrators themselves. It's mostly in chronological order, starting with the formation of the hurricane and ending with the events that occurred months (or even years) after the tragedy. It had some surprising moments sprinkled throughout the story. Every time someone was mentioned, but not included in the interview sessions, you would natural assume they had died. However, it kept me guessing since this assumption was not always true - many people did die, but others declined being interviewed too.
The ending was disappointing as there were not definitive resolutions to some of the character's stories. It didn't detract from my enjoyment of the story overall, but I wish it had been more fleshed out. That said, I enjoyed the hell out of this book. It was an interesting, horrifying, intense, and action-packed survival of the fittest story. It scratched all my itches, and I'm excited to see how this author follow up in the future.
Read if you like: 🔪 Survival horror | 🔊 Multicast audiobooks | 📚 Retelling of a classic
Add your comment