Reviews with content warning for Gore - Five Nights at Freddy's, Book 2: The Twisted Ones

Like the first book in this series I think it’s definitely a book for the fans and may not be as appreciated by a general audience. As a fnaf fan I loved some lore reveals and the exploration of Charlie’s character with parallels to Henry Emily’s character. I don't know if the book would do well with a general audience especially since it delves further into how the animators work. If you enjoyed The Silver Eyes this will be a fulfilling second novel for the trilogy. I think the lore is heavier in this novel and the plot was not as enjoyable for me as the first of the trilogy but the character exploration and themes of obsession and creation were stronger.

Writing Style: 2.5/5

The writing I think was better than the first of the series but still definitely had some dry parts that were either dialogue heavy or a bit confusing to follow. However, the impact of the spooky scenes was still present.

Plot: 3/5

This plot was pretty unexpected for me but I do appreciate the exploration of how aftons animatronics work which I think ties in well particularly with the fnaf 4 game theories. There were some parts that felt either unnecessarily descriptive or confusing but I can understand the choices made. Some reveals were pretty well executed and the spooky scenes did achieve this especially the buried alive and swallowing scene.

World building: 2.5/5

Hurricane felt less prominent within this novel but I think Henry Emily’s and Clay’s houses and Jessica and Charlie’s shared dorm had the essence of the characters well reflected in their descriptions.

MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE REST OF THE REVIEW BELOW

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The ending restaurant was a bit of a fever dream which is understandable with some of it being an illusion so I’m a bit so so on whether I liked how it was described.

Messages and Themes: 3/5

Not too many worldly themes but I will say as a sucker for Frankenstein the themes of obsession and creation were strong in this. Charlie’s pursuit of robotics and the surrounding characters’ concerns was a cool dynamic especially when comparing her to her fathers character.

Characters: ⅘

As I mentioned above the parallels between Charlie and Henry I loved because it felt very fnaf. Similarly afton’s transformation into springtrap followed the obsession with creation that the series seems to be leaning into. Clay too started to become enamored with Freddy’s and obsessed over their creation to the point of “divorce” which was well done in my eyes. The other characters again I didn’t feel well connected to but I’ll excuse it because I loved the either ones lol.

Emotional Impact 3.5/5

The most emotionally impactful scenes I think were definitely the spookier scenes rather than emotional connections between characters. The buried alive scene had that sense of panic in the writing but the most u nerving scene was definitely when Charlie was sealed by the twisted Freddy.

Content Warnings

andmingmingtoo's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

The mystery and adventure were very fun in this one, but the way some of the characters behaved (mostly charlie and clay) lowkey drove me nuts at times

Content Warnings

abrokenmirror's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Content Warnings

draven_deathcrush's review against another edition

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dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

i liked the first one way more. hopefully the last book will be better. this was just kinda boring, but it wasn't terrible. i mean, it's a fnaf book, so it's not going to be amazing, but it was still enjoyable for what it was.

Content Warnings

nate_the_great2009's review against another edition

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dark tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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