Book Review #140: Clown in a Cornfield 2: Frendo Lives by Adam Cesare

A year after the Kettle Springs massacre, Quinn has left the small town to go to college, somewhere where nightmares of clowns don't plague her. But when she is attacked by a familiar clown, while her dad is attacked by another clown in Kettle Springs, she realises that her nightmare isn't over yet.

The first Clown in a Cornfield book was my favourite book of last year. I reviewed it HERE, and even though I gave it 4/5 stars, I reflected on it throughout the year and it was probably a 5 star. Either way I absolutely loved it, so much that I bought the two sequels this year.

And as I expected, I absolutely loved the second book!

For a start, I loved being back with these characters. After a couple of chapters of being in their heads it's like we never left them.

I sometimes say that I don't love multiple points of view in books, but these books are the exception - I loved it in the first one and I loved it in this one.

Though hearing from some of the new characters really made me miss the ones that didn't make it over from the first book. As much as I liked being introduced to new people and getting to know them, I wish that more of the original characters were still around.

Cesare excels with scary, and when the book gets scary is when things really take off. When the first scary thing happens, maybe a quarter of the way through the book, I then found it impossible to put down.

And speaking of scary, the kills were really great. So imaginative and visceral, you feel like you're watching the events rather than reading about them.

My favourite characters from the first book were Cole and Rust and I really loved the way they developed from the first one to the second. This time around we really get to know them, and it made me love them more than I already did.

Not only could I not put it down, but when I did, I couldn't stop thinking about it. I don't think I've ever been more stressed, or more invested, while reading a book.

What I found really interesting was that, in the first book, the reveal of the clown was the most important thing. In this one, the reveal is the least important thing, which avoids repetition and shows how great the story is. It kind of turns the idea into something different while keeping it really connected to the first one - and just as scary.

Overall, as much as I thought I would love this book, there was a part of me that was worried that it wouldn't be as good as the first. But thankfully it was even better than I could have imagined. There wasn't a thing I would change, and I'd definitely urge any horror fans to pick up both of these books!

5/5