The blurb on the book said The Loop by Jeremy Robert Johnson was across between Stranger Things and World War Z. That alone was enough for me to request a review copy.

But as I read the book, I realized that wasn't even close to describing the story.

The Loop takes place in the fictional town of Turner Falls, Oregon. Originally a tourist town on the river, a recent influx of tech business has changed the town's focus.

Lucy is a Peruvian teen adopted as a child by a loving middle-class couple in town. Her best friend, Bucket, immigrated with his family from Pakistan to Turner Falls.

This doesn't bode well for either of them in a predominately white town that has a clear class and race hierarchy that put them both at the near-bottom of their about-to-graduate class heavy in jocks, cheerleaders, and popular rich kids.

Just when Lucy thinks life couldn't get worse, a couple of murders happen in town and a few in her class are involved. Then a end-of-school party in nearby caves turns into a slaughter as seemingly-possessed classmates aren't just killing their prey, but torturing and maiming them first.

Something has taken them over and it feeds off the rush of the pain and screams of the victims. An endorphin high is the only thing that will appease the hive-minded entity that has taken over almost everyone at the party.

Something that isn't alien or demonic, but man-made.

The story is original, and there's plenty of killing, maiming, and body horror to appease the gorehounds. As a trigger warning, some of the descriptions are very gruesome, and there are nasty animal deaths.

My main issue with the book is the first quarter of the story is rife with sexually vulgar conversation between the teens, to point it felt very gratuitous, and took away my enjoyment of that part of the story. Some of it connects to a plot point later in the book, but could've been worded a different way and still made a valid connection.

However, if you can get past that, the rest of the book is riveting can't-put-down horror story with strong characters in a horrible non-stop fight for their life.

I have mixed feelings on this book. I liked the beginning of this book and I thought it started out creepy and strong. The chapters with the “info dumps” were hard for me to follow. I’m not sure I fully understood the entire science experiment, and I would have liked to. I did like the twist on the zombie-like things though. Thank you for the ARC!

If you're a fan of apocalyptic horror, this would be right up your alley! It's about utter devastation of humankind, all in a few hours' time. It made me feel grateful that all I have to live through is a pandemic. The story itself is really good, and I genuinely cared about the characters. I felt obligated to finish the book because I requested it from Netgalley, but I cringed and skimmed when page after page was filled with excessive gore, constant profanity, and really raunchy dialogue. If it were a little tamer (say, Hunger Games style) I would even recommend this to the teens in my life. As it is, though, it's too over the top for me.

I DNF'd this one at about 65%. The book started off strong with an interesting premise. Then at about the halfway mark, it spiraled into a mess. I had no idea what was going on. I hated all of the characters. I skipped to the end and was so glad I didn't invest any more time to end up with that ending.

This is a awesome book. It is a great book and will be a nice additions to our collection. When this book was given to me I was not aware I needed to read and review, I thought it was something I could just read at my leisure.

I really did not enjoy this novel. It felt more like fan fiction than a published novel. It was clear the author was highly influenced by the Netflix series, Stranger Things, and was attempting to capture elements of that series in this novel without managing to do so in an original way. The author also attempted to elevate the story by incorporating socioeconomic and racial disparities, but this also felt forced and fell flat for me. Cannot recommend.

"The Loop" takes a familiar premise and definitely tweaks it to go where you wouldn't expect it, too. I thought the main characters (and the rest of the characters) were well-written and there' are some really interesting things going on dealing with trauma, both in the past and in the present. I ended up at 3-stars, which probably has more to do with the fact that I've read a lot from this genre lately that have all been pretty bleak. The author mentions Paul Tremblay in the acknowledgements and I can definitely see how the two authors might appreciate one another. However, I do think if you're a fan of this genre and the summary sounds interesting, then go for it! You certainly won't be bored and I'm definitely curious to check out more from this author. I’m very grateful that I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was one of the most inventive and teeth-grindingly terrifying horror story I've read in quite sometime! I was absolutely attached to the characters, aching when they hurt and wincing as they caused hurt to others! It was super fun read and I'll be shouting about it from the rooftops!

Things go downhill pretty quickly in what can accurately be compared to World War Z meets Pines (Blake Crouch) meets Stanger Things.

Fast past narrative. Plot unravels without much pause and not much time for the characters to catch their breath. Time is of the essence when citizens basically become psychotic and sadistic murderers.

Think the first third got me hooked. The middle section kind of dragged for me. The ending was just right. I did finish reading the book with some questions. Overall I enjoyed it.

Thanks to NetGalley for the copy.

The story, involving viruses and hidden conspiracies in the fictional town of Turner Falls, Oregon, revolves around a group teenagers and their fight for survival as they go up against violent classmates and infected locals.

There’s some interesting juxtaposition here, particularly with the main main protagonist, Lucy. As the contamination spreads throughout the small town she has consistent and alarming flashbacks involving her prior experiences as an orphan in Peru. And that is where an important question comes to mind. Which is worse: corporate America subjection or the hellish lifestyles of the third world. As we’re introduced to Lucy’s fellow classmates, we learn about their subliminal feelings as well, and was wondering if there was going to be any disorder or bedlam in Turner Falls.

A cavernous party ensues, and chaos erupts. Again, things are a little slow at times, but after a dull start, ‘The Loop’ gets its act together as the kids go up against a biotech company.

Thanks to NetGalley for the free ARC.

Really exciting action sequences gives The Loop a major edge over other horror novels being written. While I'm not a fan of the writing for the dialogue or the characters, the more intense chapters were absolutely gripping.

The Loop has a good concept, but its execution started to falter for me when we got to the dialogue. While I'm glad Johnson did decide to add some chapters for character development, the things that they were saying were a little bit forced and cliche. I can guarantee that Young Adult readers would probably appreciate more mature dialogue as well, it just depends how you can blur the line between adult and YA.

A fun and fast read, I was excited to read this from the Goodreads Choice Award nominee list for the horror category.

Something is happening to the teens in the small town of Turner Falls, OR. It all starts when three teenaged children of execs from the local Biotech firm IMTECH flip out and become murderously violent. Our protagonist Lucy, witnesses one of her classmates attacking another student and then their teacher in class. From there, things spin even further out of control as these violent impulses seem to be contagious. We follow Lucy as she tries to avoid being hurt and also tries to figure out what is going on and how to stop it.

This was certainly a thrilling ride and I would classify it as an extreme medical thriller. We have biotech gone wrong. While the main characters are teens this could be equally enjoyed by teens or adults. The book is gory and all that you'd expect in a book where people are overcome with violent impulses. I liked Lucy as a main character. She didn't really know what the hell was going on but still push through her situation.

This book is a whole lot of things rolled into one action packed, alien filled night for a group of people just trying to survive. I loved that it was described as a mix between World War Z and Stranger things, as I'm a big fan of both, but when reading I didn't really get that vibe. The story held my interest throughout, but a lot of the dialogue between the characters made me cringe. It sounded so ridiculous and forced. Besides that, the story was fast paced and absolutely crazy, so for that I'd recommend it to anyone who likes a good alien invasion story.

When I saw that The Loop is like Stranger Things and World War Z, I had an idea what it should be like.

The book turned out to be something else. I honestly cannot see the similarities among these books.

I didn’t like the first couple of chapters, the story felt too slow for me, it felt like nothing happened. But there were some clues that this will change so I kept reading and reading and hoping something exciting happens and then it did. Well wow. Not what I expected. I don’t want to spoil the fun for anyone so I won’t say anything more.

All in all The Loop definitely worth the time it took to read it, it was exciting and sometimes horrifying.

Thank you to NetGalley for my copy.

This story takes place over the course of one night, but I have to say, there is so much action packed into that single night you don't need any more time! Lucy goes out to a party with a couple of friends, more to keep busy and get out of the house than because she's excited about it, and all hell breaks loose. It turns out, the tissue from an alien species has been replicated and implanted into a group of kids in town and has had an unexpected side effect, to say the least. It's supposed to control them but instead turns them into little killing machines with a hive mind. The worst part, which is saying a lot due to the sheer number of awful things that happen on that fateful night, is that the kids need to kill to keep them calm, even while they are salivating over the violence they are inflicting! Crazy, I know!

The book started out at a nice, normal pace, introducing the characters and giving their back stories, and then before you know it, it throws you headlong into the action, and doesn't take its foot off the brake for the rest of the book. Definitely a page turner, with an explosive conclusion.

As mentioned above, the pacing of the plot is very quick, making it near impossible to put the book down as you don't want to miss a thing. The characters are very well written and grow and develop throughout the book, especially our Lucy. I'm still amazed that all this happened in just one night! (Broken record, I know, but still ....)

In summary, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and enthusiastically recommend it to anyone looking for a quirky, unique horror story, that moves at a fast pace without sacrificing character development.

5/5 stars.

I received a copy of this book free of charge through NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Three high stars! This was a lovely beach read for me here in Florida. I enjoyed the Blake Crouch vibes of this one and looking forward to more! Thank you!

Well - yikes - this was pretty scary. It had lots of elements - evil corporations, conspiracies, monsters, zombie-like creations - perhaps too many elements for my poor afraid brain to handle. The protagonists were teenagers, which might make it YA? But only if that young adult (or adult) reader is ok with super gory.
The action was pretty nonstop. The protagonist Lucy was great - she's had a tough life, and never felt like she fit in, but when things start happening, she really steps up! I'd recommend this to people who enjoy gory over-the-top horror.

The Loop was an exciting read for me. I happened to really like the entire set-up and thought that the first part of the book was really clever. I really flew through the book which is a testament to the pacing. Considering there were many hide and seek moments throughout the book, I thought that most of them were interesting and different. I did start to lose interest when Steve was introduced but the ending was fantastic.

I really appreciated Lucy and her character development but there are little parts of her past life that still remain a mystery to me. Is she obsessed with violence or finds comfort in violence and that’s her discovery or her acceptance of her true nature? I’m not sure if I follow that train of thought or I am completely off the mark. I thought the interactions between characters were very natural but I did think that Lucy was the most interesting character of them all.

I did want to make a note of Steve, mostly because I thought the story could have done without. I am not a fan of characters who appear out of nowhere to give an extensive explanation and I feel like that is exactly what Steve does. It is interesting because Emmett comes later and we have at least been introduced to his role in the story right at the beginning. It would have been a more convenient and interesting way to give information about the big bad company.

Finally, I would say that I really appreciated the gore and some of the deaths were pretty intense. Jeremy Robert Johnson did a great job of bringing the horror aspects. I don’t like any incidents with animals, but I understand how you use it to show the inhumanity and lack of control with those who become “infected”. I just want to reiterate that I do not enjoy reading about animals getting hurt or condone it in any way.

To end, I liked it. I thought it was a well done spooky tale with just enough gruesome and insanity to keep it exciting. I would recommend this to a fan of horror, especially those who are fans of slasher movies. Despite the main character being a high schooler, I don’t really see this book as a young adult novel, but my horror-loving husband might disagree.

DNF
Sorry, it was slow, to me, and the depiction of female teens felt off and.. well jeuvenile.

I pushed through best I could but too many other things to read.

people seem to love this. tastes are unique as fingerprints

3.5*
The first half of this book was pretty slow but once I got into it, I was really into it. It had me a little scared, really sad, and very on edge about what was going to happen next.