Adam Cesare

In Adam Cesare's terrifying young adult debut, Quinn Maybrook finds herself caught in a battle between old and new, tradition and progress--that just may cost her life. Quinn Maybrook and her father have moved to tiny, boring Kettle Springs, to find a fresh start. But what they don't know is that ever since the Baypen Corn Syrup Factory shut down, Kettle Springs has cracked in half. On one side are the adults, who are desperate to make Kettle Springs great again, and on the other are the kids, who want to have fun, make prank videos, and get out of Kettle Springs as quick as they can. Kettle Springs is caught in a battle between old and new, tradition and progress. It's a fight that looks like it will destroy the town. Until Frendo, the Baypen mascot, a creepy clown in a pork-pie hat, goes homicidal and decides that the only way for Kettle Springs to grow back is to cull the rotten crop of kids who live there now.

Clown in a Cornfield

I thought I’d like this but I didn’t expect to love it as much as I did! Actually scary, and up to this point, has to be my favorite horror book I’ve read, surprisingly. Some dialogue at the end kinda threatened the rating a bit, but the rest of it was so good that I’m just gonna roll with it. 

Adam Cesare is awesome & I can’t wait to read the rest.

Jessie!

Biggest surprise of 2024

I thought I’d like this but I didn’t expect to love it as much as I did! Actually scary, and up to this point, has to be my favorite horror book I’ve read, surprisingly. Some dialogue at the end kinda threatened the rating a bit, but the rest of it was so good that I’m just gonna roll with it. 

Adam Cesare is awesome & I can’t wait to read the rest.

Ryan Mateyk

kelsey

a slow start but rly good once you get to the gore

cloud

way gorier than most adult books i’ve been reading. had a blast reading this and i loved all the characters that were meant to be loved and loathed all the ones meant to be loathed. can’t wait to read the second and third one!

Daniel Spruill

The bones of a really solid slasher exist in this book, but it was so poorly written that it was a chore to get through— the horrendous narration didn’t help.

I did enjoy a lot of the action set pieces, but not a single character in this book resembled an actual human being. All of them were extremist caricatures and stereotypes and spoke like Twitter bots. Coupled with a ham-fisted political ‘motive’ that had absolutely no nuance and only made me hate them even more.

A character in this book actually says, “Make Kettle Springs Great Again.” To that I would say, haven’t we suffered enough?

That being said, will I watch the movie adaption? You bet your ass.

second half of the book was just killing 

chloe

Briar's Reviews

Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare has been a book I've been yearning for since I heard it came out. The title alone is intriguing - clowns are creepy and now they are in a cornfield? That's an absolute nightmare! Throw in this is a YA novel with LGBTQ+ representation all mixed in with an epic thrill ride of a plot that throws horrific clowns at us? I AM IN.

This book was a fast paced book that brought some giggles and lots of 'Oh' faces as the horror went down. Quinn Maybrook and her Father, Dr. Maybrook move to the itsy, bitsy town of Kettle Springs for a fresh start. The town has been rotting away since the Baypen Corn Syrup Factory shut down with the teens running wild and enjoying their youth and the adults blaming the teens for the horrible town. After a tragic death of a local teen, things just seem to get worse... until Frendo, the Baypen creepy clown mascot shows up and starts a killing spree.

Ohhhhh boy. If you want an R rated gore fest with creepy clowns, this book is for you. There's a serial killer going around in a small town knocking people off and there's clearly some dark stuff going down too. Oh, and teenagers. You know horror + teenagers is always a bad mix. 

I thoroughly enjoy how fast paced this book was and how it really packs a punch. The ending was hinted at along the way, but you'll only get it if you really pay attention. I'm a little disappointed in myself that I didn't guess the complete ending, but I did get about 75% of it right as I was theorizing what was going on. Definitely a must read for horror fans! What an easy but brutal read.

Five out of five stars.

Joey Baker

This might be more of a 2.5 or a 2 star. IDK. I did enjoy it somewhat. It's at least straightforward and legible, unlike StEphEn JoNEs. 
Was bothered by the unnecessary references to MAGA and shit. Then at the end when it reveals the whole fucking allegory is "Le evil right wing boomers are so deranged they want to kill the generation of kids for looking at their phones too much", I felt tricked. Of course no one can succeed in modern horror, unless it's some kind of gay, ham-fisted political message. 
You know what, fuck it. I'm dropping this to 2 stars. The overall book wasn't that bad, but God does that shit annoy me. 
I even considered paying full price for the sequel the other day, but now for sure I'll just wait 'til I can get it from libby. 

Also what are the qualifiers for being YA? How is this YA? Just because it was Teen-centric?

What a wild ride this was. I had heard this read like a slasher movie, so I knew I had to pick it up. I was entertained the entire time. Was it a perfect book? Not by any means. But was it fun? Absolutely. It was so fast-paced, and the slasher elements were a lot better than I was expecting. There were times I thought the writing skewed a little too YA for my tastes (I think it's so lame when characters use internet lingo in actual conversations), and the characters did come off as way too childish. You could tell quite quickly who was responsible for the murders, but there was one twist I wasn't anticipating, which I thought was a nice touch. If you're a fan of '90s campy horror movies, then I recommend checking this out, and I'm excited to pick up the next book.

Heather Harrington

Raquel 

** spoiler alert **
           I LOVED THIS BOOK!
I simply couldn't put it down, I loved Quinn so much and the entire group, I mean, yes they sucked (some more than the others if ya know what I mean) but I still liked the entire aspect of the dysfunctional and crazy group of kids. 😅

When I started reading it I was expecting A LOT of scary and gore scenes but this wasn't even a tiny bit scary even tho I am terrified of clowns, aaaaand the gore was kinda acceptable, but if I'm being completely honest I think it could've had a little more of gore! 

Some parts of the book were kinda predictable but when I reached the end OMG I was not expecting half of what happened, that plot twist *chefs kiss*. And don’t even get me started on the fact that I thought Cole and Quinn would end up being the only ones that end alive and get together because I thought sparks were flying between them, AND THEN THAT happens, I mean... I was even more excited about what happen than if he did in fact get together with Quinn! 😂

So, I'm super happy that I went out of my comfort zone and read this because I loved it! (I've never read a horror book, but I think I'm obsessed now ???). I was about to give this 4.5 stars only because its a horror book but it wasn't that scary and a little predictable, but I gotta go with 5 stars because IT'S JUST THAT GOOD, in the end, I had a hell of a good time and a lot of fun reading this! 

Oh, and don't forget, a little drop of baypen makes everything better! 😉

Jade Iveson

Ryan LaFerney

A group of teens find themselves under siege by killer clowns in a tiny Midwestern town. What starts as a very retro 80s slasher throwback (Ceasare clearly wants to remind you about the satantic panic of the 80s) becomes sometime even more sinister, more nowish. This is a story of the real life fears teens have to contend with - from gun violence to the insidious “Make __ Great Again” groupthink. It's true adults just don't understand teens but in this case, they want to wipe the teens out, so the teens can't change the town and the country.

YA horror is having a moment and Ceasare certainly pushes the boundaries of YA with the brutal novel that is not for the faint of heart. This is a brutal horror novel that just happens to feature a group of teens as the protagonists. Clown in a Cornfield perfectly encapsulates the generational and ideological divide currently shaping today’s politics. It's horrifying.

This book was a perfect Halloween read! The story was unique and twisted with perfect horror vibes. It definitely creeped me out but didn’t full out scare me. 

Anna Bush

Morgan Sain

Wow! What a gripping read. I read it one day because I could not put down. My only qualm is that this is rated 12+ but there is no way I would put this on my classroom bookshelf….
As for adults, I recommend this!

Charlotte J. Ruth

kendall p

This books was perfect for October. It was like I was in the middle of a fast paced slasher movie. I loved the characters, I became completely attached to all of them! Adam nailed the portrayal of a small town. The sheriff, the parade, the town mascot, EVERYTHING. It truly felt like a small town while I was reading. The premise was SO interesting. It's the main thing that pulled me into the book, and I'm glad it did. I really enjoyed this book and if you're looking for a good horror book, or looking to start diving into horror then I recommend this book!!

Opening prologue let's the reader know that this takes place in more modern times, with livestreaming being quite a popular thing, but it sure didn't end well and with that we kick off this novel.

We follow Quinn and her father, having just moved to Kettle Springs. Starting fresh, something Quinn is very glad for.

There seems to be a huge divide in the adults and the teens. They seem to have a disdain for them, thinking the teens are just a huge problem, or as one teacher put it, a blight on the town.

Quinn finds herself with friends right away, having all been sent to ISS together when their teacher sort of went off the rails. The group seems to be quite the troublemakers however.

Good shock and awe as we get our first two deaths in this novel. They were quick and dirty and I liked it. A lot more deaths happen as we reach our main plot; the high-school party held out in a cornfield. Frendo is taking out teenagers left and right. The deaths very shocking and sudden.

There is a pretty good twist involving the clown that is attacking these high school students, and I wont say much more than that. This is a book that should be picked up and read by any fan of horror.

Sasha Mann

Opening prologue let's the reader know that this takes place in more modern times, with livestreaming being quite a popular thing, but it sure didn't end well and with that we kick off this novel.
We follow Quinn and her father, having just moved to Kettle Springs. Starting fresh, something Quinn is very glad for.
There seems to be a huge divide in the adults and the teens. They seem to have a disdain for them, thinking the teens are just a huge problem, or as one teacher put it, a blight on the town.
Quinn finds herself with friends right away, having all been sent to ISS together when their teacher sort of went off the rails. The group seems to be quite the troublemakers however.
Good shock and awe as we get our first two deaths in this novel. They were quick and dirty and I liked it. A lot more deaths happen as we reach our main plot; the high-school party held out in a cornfield. Frendo is taking out teenagers left and right. The deaths very shocking and sudden.
There is a pretty good twist involving the clown that is attacking these high school students, and I wont say much more than that. This is a book that should be picked up and read by any fan of horror.

Kaitlyn Grooms

This is the best slasher book I’ve read so far. I needed a good horror book and I admit I was skeptical of this book , I felt like it was going to be so cheesy and I’m a way it was but it the perfect amount of it. I enjoyed the gore and the fact that I was kept guessing. The betrayal I sort of saw coming and sort of didn’t if that makes sense. I enjoyed this and recommend this to anyone starting out with horror. It doesn’t just throw you in and you get overwhelmed it builds up and I love that.

stephanie archer 

this had a much deeper meaning than i expected it to, especially for like a slasher book that i picked up for the classic cheesy horror movie feel and had a lot of that, but there was also the deeper meaning with the boomers vs the gen z and as a gen z,,,i approve 

we would easily fight clowns mainly because of the stupid clown incident in 2016 

i just, 
F U C K M A N 
goddamn that was just,,,,i need a whole book on rust and cole pls 

like i need it in my gremlin hands

I was not a fan of this book at all. I am really unsure of what the generation v generation theme was supposed to do for us, but it felt written by an angry teenager. It didn't have the punch I'm assuming it was supposed to land about the new generation being just as great... it felt like they still came out on the bottom. So maybe written by an angry boomer. I don't know.

I hated all the girls. Seriously? Come on... do better.

Zoe Deckard

The beginning of this book had me unsure of whether or not it would be good. However, the further I got into it the more entertaining it became. This book is very gory and very creepy. It pulls from real sentiments expressed by adults in this world towards teen which makes it even more eerie. I highly recommend the read if you’re a horror fan. It’s almost like reading a teen horror movie.

Carol

What a fun/unsettling read! Very well paced, the second half of the book really got my heart pumping!

Lauren Attaway

Some books are so visual they should really just be movies. Not an insult! I just can't wait to hopefully watch this adaptation. As a person who really loves slasher movies, I was very impressed by the details here. This slasher did what had to do. Clever enough kills and twists to be worth the time. I haven't read any other books by this author (I think), and this was a solid intro that will have me consider picking up more of his work.