A Lonely Broadcast
A Lonely Broadcast
by: Kel Byron
*HEAVY SPOILER WARNINGS*
Overall: 6/10
Creepyness: 3/10
Characters: 5/10
Plot/ Story: 5/10
Concept: 9/10
I’m an absolute sucker for Gravity Falls, and A Lonely Broadcast gave me so much Mystery Shack vibes that I decided I couldn’t resist the call.
Summary:
Evelyn, unfortunately, has found herself at rock bottom, and the only lifeline that's been thrown to her is a moldy and unraveling one. However, with the small hope that she can drag herself up and out, she takes it. The job is a straightforward one - manage a standalone broadcast station in the middle of the woods for the small town of Pinehaven. But there is much more to this position than Evelyn ever imagined, some of it out of her wildest nightmares. Worse yet, it knows her.
Concept:
I can not tell you how much I enjoyed the foundation of this story - a little radio station being the only thing standing between a town and the horrors that lie in the woods. It had a beautiful framework for something wonderfully terrifying. Evelyn’s mysterious connection to the broadcast. Horrifying creatures. Paranormal happenings. A ragtag group of people falling into a situation they didn’t ask for. The underlying mystery of it all. I practically giggled with anticipation.
Byron paints an absolutely stunning picture of the surrounding woods and the eerie world we’ve just dropped into. The suffocating isolation is palpable throughout the first half of the book, putting not only Evelyn but the reader on edge. So while I never felt truly scared throughout the story, the creepiness was there and enjoyable.
Characters:
Unfortunately, that same giddiness slowly turned to frustration as we neared the halfway point. If character depth is an important feature for you in a story, I might suggest searching for another.
Evelyn is our main protagonist, yet I struggled to feel anything for her but annoyance. Many times, I caught myself thinking that Evelyn was nothing more than a puddle, a shallow caricature of a person created for the plot instead of a portrayal of a living, breathing human dropped into a very unfortunate situation. Her actions were questionable, her backstory felt lackluster, and the story never gave enough downtime with the character to explore who Evelyn was. Ticks? Quirks? Likes? Dislikes?
For example, we discover, at one point, that she went to school as a journalist, but the information seemed to come out of left field. There is never a sliver of buildup to this reveal. A moment of downtime to “see” her making notes - investigating - making observations would have played into the characteristics of someone who pursued such a degree. It would have made her feel dimensional to me - human. I wanted to connect with her, but never once did.
Daniel, however, saved the day for me many a number of times. He was well-rounded and fun. Where Evelyn and the other characters lacked personalities, Daniel made up for it in spades. He literally was the only saving grace character-wise in this book.
Plot:
However, I could have handled the character issues if the plot itself had held together.
Overall, it felt like the author played the story very safe. The story ultimately never felt like it got to the root of anything; none of the mysteries are truly explored, and the book leaves behind a trail of plot holes, unanswered questions, and crumbs of clues that lead us nowhere. I can’t tell you how deflating it is to paint a beautiful tapestry inside your head of plot points, and clues, and a red thread connecting little details and plot lines, only to get to the end of the story and realize nothing actually connected or had any significance or impact on anyone or anything.
That’s not to say it wasn’t a fun ride overall. This might be a nice starting read for someone looking to dip their toes into the horror genre. Unfortunately, the concept and Daniel are not enough of a saving grace to make me want to pick up the second book.