Review: Fantasticland

3 stars. I have a LOT to say, so let's dive right in.

Fantasticland tells the story of a group of young amusement park employees who, after being trapped in the park by a hurricane, divide into "tribes" and essentially go to war with each other until they are rescued. It's a brutal, outlandish, fantastic premise. Think: heads on spikes. Violence for the sake of it. Tribe "rules"; a twisted Fight Club sense of honor. Girls being taken. Scarcity mindset despite ample resources. Archers. Stabbings. Bystander apathy. Groupthink. 

It's also an epistolary novel - each chapter transcribes an interview with a survivor. So it's vaguely found footage-y and gives us multiple angles from which to examine the tragedy. We hear from park personnel, park guests who escaped in time, the rescuers, the park owner, and ultimately members of each "tribe." Each chapter is a fascinating snack.

I really did enjoy it. It's a must-read for horror fans as it comes across as pretty refreshing and quirky and fucking fun. Some of the details are truly outstanding and make the whole book worthwhile. The ideas behind each "tribe" are super effective, and the nods to pop culture and social media and other famous theme parks are interesting.

I think, though, that this is a case of iffy execution. It sort of felt like the author wrote his central thesis - Lord of the Flies in Disneyworld. Then he did a writing exercise: anticipate every hole a reader could poke in the plausibility of this thesis. Then he spent the entire book attempting - not always successfully - to fill those holes. Some of the details he included, I swear, it was like I could hear a beta reader or an editor asking "but what about phones" and "why would there be tunnels," resulting in explanations that often felt tedious or worth editing. Sometimes you just have to trust that a reader will suspend disbelief and enjoy the ride. So to speak. 

I would also point out that a lot of the character voices were indistinguishable to me. If you're going to write multiple POVs, you'd better lock down - and practice utilizing - clear and distinct features for each one, because throwing in a few slang words, abbreviations, jokes, or curse words won't really cut it. Many of the young people - I really hate to say. this- just didn't sound that young to me.

Finally, I did have to do a lot of referencing back. I dunno if my memory is shot and tired right now or something, but I could not keep track of the names. Many times I felt like I was being thrown an Easter Egg, but I couldn't quite recognize it or piece things together.

I think a lot of this just indicates that it's a story begging for a rework, maybe even an adaptation. The whole thing read like it was sort of ... almost there, adjacent to the real story, but not quite what it could have been. Gaps, weak perspectives, a bland ending, etc. But it really is - truly - a bloody fun time. I would love to see it in film format. Or a miniseries. Or a Last of Us type thing with a different character focus each episode. 

ANYWAY. 

Yes, thank you for asking, I would join the Circus Freaks. Those are my people, without a doubt.

Fantasticland on: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads