• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • About Me
    • Connect With Me
    • Request An Honest Review
    • Beta Reading Requests
    • Testimonials
  • Review Archive
    • Review Archive
    • Audiobook Review Archive
    • Spooky Children’s Book Review Archive
  • Referral Links
  • Podcast Recs
  • Policies
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Bloglovin
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Twitter

Erica Robyn Reads

a horror book review blog

[Book Review] The Loop by Jeremy Robert Johnson

December 30, 2020      Erica Robyn      3 Comments

The Loop by Jeremy Robert Johnson is a brutal tale about a town that has fallen into chaos due to a science experiment gone very, very wrong.

This is a story that you will want to make sure to read well after you’ve eaten…

TW: Child abuse, child murder, dog death, descriptive gore.

Let’s dive in!

My Thoughts on The Loop by Jeremy Robert Johnson

When this story begins, we get a transcription that at first seems like it’s just from a conspiracy theorist nut. He’s talking about a town where a murder suicide has been reported. But was the case really that simple?

From there, we jump to the town mentioned in that news clip where we learn that two high school kids, Lucy and Bucket, are dealing with brutal bullying because they are from other countries. Through the bullying, they have formed a deep friendship to help get them through school and onto whatever comes next. However, it’s not long before the first situation occurs where we see that something is wrong in this town.

As our main character, Lucy, copes with the aftermath, she tries to chalk what she saw up to the trauma of witnessing the event. To get her mind off of it, her and Bucket hang out, visit a record store, and talk about a party that’s coming up.

On the night of the party, Lucy doesn’t think she wants to go but she decides to join them last minute. Of course, this party can’t just happen like a normal party. It’s taking place in underground caves… And as I’m sure many readers would assume, things don’t go as planned. I mean, come on… A bunch of high schoolers with drugs and booze headed underground to light fires when the ground around them is very dangerous? Sounds like a brilliant idea.

When Lucy took her first step on the ladder headed down into the ground, I got a sudden chill like I was the one about to descend. Maybe it was the thought of her being in an underground cave, or maybe it was the darkness that the author included in these scenes, but my goodness was I claustrophobic for the duration of this setting! And that only got much worse during one very specific scene with some graffiti. If you’ve read this already, I’m sure you know exactly what scene I mean.

I do have to say that I really loved Lucy. Her childhood trauma was heartbreaking and I wanted everything to work out for her so badly. I loved that she was best friends with a guy from her class, Bucket. How open they were with one another reminded me of my relationship with my high school best friend!

But speaking of high school, there was a lot this story focused on high school related shenanigans; teenage angst, parties, drugs, sex, bullying, etc. The usual teenage junk.

For me personally, I just don’t have the best relationship with my high school memories and that has been a problem for me recently as I work through stuff in therapy. So some scenes that were very teenage angst filled took me out of the story as I just wanted to get on with things. That is not in any way a knock on Jeremy’s writing! He nailed the high school persona for sure. I think I just picked this up at a rough time and that it usually wouldn’t have bothered me during a normal reading session.

That being said, I absolutely loved the chaos that was going on. I never knew what to expect because there were so many twists and turns! The brutality was insane. The author certainly didn’t shy away from using description for any of the gore filled scenes! It was very vivid, so if you’re a bit squeamish, just tread carefully there! I, of course, loved it (as awful as that always sounds!).

The overall plot kept me hooked! While it was pretty bizarre at times as it centered around science and technology, the explanations of what was happening didn’t go overboard to bog the story down.

One last thing I’ll say before moving on to my favorite passages is that I LOVED the ending.

My Favorite Passages from The Loop

It was a moonless night, and the stars swam in thick drifts across the sky. Lucy looked straight up and breathed deep and wished that something would take hold of her and pull her straight out into space. 
Lucy wondered where she might be at that exact moment if she hadn’t spent so much time trying to be the right version of herself for those around her. 

There was the world behind them, and the world ahead of them, and all of it wanted them dead. 

She figured people were born with a certain amount of mileage their hearts and minds could withstand, and she was running hers down at top speed.

My Final Thoughts on The Loop

Like I said above, I really think that I picked this up at a bad time. However, I’m looking forward to reading this again at a later date already!

If you enjoy tales centered around high school students where every second is tense and there is violence at every turn, then I highly recommend this one to you! It was absolutely brutal!


Snag a copy through Bookshop to help support local indie bookshops:

Shout-out to the Night Worms crew for including this book and for adding a signed bookplate in the October package!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Mogsy @ BiblioSanctum says

    December 31, 2020 at 12:45 am

    Haha, yeah, definitely don’t want to read this one right before you eat…it was gross and kinda wild. It wasn’t the most mind blowing book, but it was fun 🙂

    Reply
    • Erica Robyn says

      December 31, 2020 at 1:48 pm

      LOL! Yeah the gore was VERY descriptive!!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Hello there!

Erica Robyn of Erica Robyn Reads
I run on hot tea, good books, and loud music. She/Her.
 

Search This Blog

Sign Up For Post Notifications


Loading

Recent Popular Posts

  • [Book Review] Home & Other Stories by P.J. Blakey-Novis
  • [Book Review] Four by P.J. Blakey-Novis
  • [Book Review] Ten Years Gone by H.P. Newquist
  • [Book Review] Corpsing by Kayleigh Marie Edwards
  • [Book Review] The Easton Falls Massacre: Bigfoot’s Revenge

An Easy Guide to Locating Horror Reviews Without Losing Your Mind created by Lori of Barks At The Ghouls
Shirley's Book Blogger List

Categories

ericarobynreads

Sickness Is In Season by Aiden Merchant has everyt Sickness Is In Season by Aiden Merchant has everything a horror fan craves! From light and spooky, to full-blown spine-chilling terror, this collection of short stories is a killer mix.

No matter what your personal favorite sub-genre of horror is, you’ll be sure to find something that sinks its teeth into you within this collection!

#supporthorror #promotehorror #sicknessisinseason #aidenmerchant #crossroadspresss #horrorbookrecs #horrorshortstories #horrorbookstagram
My April book haul 😍🖤🙌 My April book haul 😍🖤🙌
NH friends! Don’t miss the book event with @greg NH friends! Don’t miss the book event with @gregorybastianelli.author tonight in Exeter at @waterstreetbooks! 

I’m SO peeved my back pain flared up and I can’t drive out… but I am so excited that Waterstreet Books sent a signed copy my way! 😍

I can’t wait to see photos from the event!!
The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling is a totally The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling is a totally captivating but nerve-wracking tale that is certainly not for those that fear tight spaces… While reading this tale, I felt so horribly claustrophobic. But I couldn’t stop. I had to find out what happened next!

#supporthorror #promotehorror #ladiesofhorrorfiction #horrorbookstagram #horrorbookrecs #theluminousdead #caitlinstarling
The Workshop of Filthy Creation by Richard Gadz is The Workshop of Filthy Creation by Richard Gadz is a chilling gothic horror story about what it means to be human. In these pages, you will see plenty of the darkness that humanity can create, but you will also see the light!

Ready to dive into a dark and dreary tale about gruesome medical practices set in Victorian London? Go pick up The Workshop of Filthy Creation today! I can’t wait for you all to meet Maria!

#supporthorror #promotehorror #gothichorrorreads #horrorbookrecs #theworkshopoffilthycreation #richardgadz #horrorbookstagram
Max is one of the most hilarious people that I fol Max is one of the most hilarious people that I follow on Twitter! I originally learned who he was after seeing him participate in the KillerCon 2020 Virtual Event. I went to follow him and his publishing house, Perpetual Motion Machine (that he runs with Lori Michelle), immediately after his reading.

Within the PMM publishing house, they also have the imprint, Ghoulish Books, which launched in January of 2022. Max’s latest book, Maggots Screaming!, launched today April 12th, 2022 from that imprint. In celebration, I’m so excited to be sharing this interview with Max!

Check out the full interview on my blog today! 

#horrorauthor #horrorauthorinterview #maxboothiii #supporthorror #promotehorror
Diaries of the Damned by Ivan Radev is a collectio Diaries of the Damned by Ivan Radev is a collection of tales that span numerous dark fears. But as always, even in the darkness, there’s a bit of light.

In the foreword, the author warns that this is a book of fears, and boy does he play on fears wonderfully! Each tale is presented to readers in the first person to really get readers in the characters shoes. Please use caution here when you dive in. The author does not shy away from the darkness.

Phew, this read will take readers on quite the journey! It was the perfect read for a dark and rainy spring weekend.

#bookreview #horrorbookreview #horrorbookstagram #diariesofthedamned #IvanRadev #horrorbooks
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Copyright © 2022 Erica Robyn Reads