Hi all!
Welcome back to the bookclub! In October, we read Clown in a Cornfield 2: Frendo Lives by Adam Cesare for The You’ll Read Too Bookclub! This was a double-issue event, so members were also given the option of reading Clown in a Cornfield. If you wish to access all of the latest updates/information, click here. Spoilers ahead!
Quick Reminder: This month we are reading ‘Ghost Eaters’ by Clay McLeod Chapman.
Today I’m going to discuss the book in the same way I normally do my Instagram videos. You can find the recorded talk on my bookclub Instagram page. I’ll give a quick plot summary plus my overall star/scare-factor ratings. Then I will share the discussion topics and trivia questions. Please include all of your answers and opinions down below. I want to know exactly what you thought. I’ll also leave the answers to the trivia questions at the very bottom of the post, so if you wish to guess without being spoiled, do not scroll to the end until you’re ready. Without further ado, let’s get into it!
CLOWN IN A CORNFIELD 2: FRENDO LIVES BY ADAM CESARE – OCTOBER 2022
PLOT SUMMARY
After barely making it out of the Kettle Springs cornfields alive, Quinn’s first year of college back in Philadelphia should be safe and comparatively easy. All Quinn wants is to forget what happened and be normal again. But instead, Quinn finds that her past won’t leave her alone when she becomes the focus of a host of online conspiracy theories that claim to prove the Kettle Springs Massacre never happened. When a murderous clown attacks Quinn at a frat party, she realizes that that the facts alone are never going to save her. Her only option is to go back home, where the nightmare began, to set the record straight the only way she knows how. Because when the truth gets lost in the lies, that’s when real people start to die.
OVERALL STAR RATING
I gave it 2/5 stars. I want to be positive but unfortunately this book really disappointed me. It severely paled in comparison to the first one. The story was all over the place and the ending felt anticlimactic. I didn’t buy Quinn’s new bloodthirsty persona. She killed a few people without any remorse. It didn’t seem like the character we met in the original book. Without spoiling anything, one of the reveals made absolutely no sense. Moreover, Arthur Hill returned only to die not long afterwards. What was the point of that? I think it would have fared better if the author stuck to one POV and followed it. I’m so sorry Adam!
OVERALL SCARE-FACTOR RATING
I gave it a scare-factor rating of 3/5 stars. There were some gory moments and disturbing elements to the story. However, I wanted more. The first book felt like a bonafide slasher. This one was much tamer.
DISCUSSION TOPICS
1.) Did you think the sequel was necessary? Discuss.
I think the answer to this question will depend on whether you enjoyed the sequel or not. I personally don’t believe it was necessary. It didn’t add anything to the story. We already learned who the true villains were in the original. The ending does hint at a third installment in the series but I probably won’t pick it up.
2.) Who did you believe was the real villain in this story?
Is an acceptable answer: all of them and none of them? That’s how it felt reading this book. The good guys did bad things. The bad guys believed they were acting in the name of good. Nothing was clear.
3.) Will there be another book following Quinn’s quest for revenge?
As mentioned above, the ending does allude to a third book. In the final scene, Quinn attacks one of the clowns, declaring that they are just the beginning of a long list of people she plans to kill. I’m not interested in reading more from this perspective. Her character development felt very unnatural and unrealistic to me.
TRIVIA QUESTIONS
Easy: What Halloween costume was Quinn’s roommate wearing?
Medium: Where had Arthur Hill been hiding in Kettle Springs?
Hard: Which clown had an ‘unremarkable’ name?
I hope you enjoyed the book club discussion in this post and on Instagram. As mentioned above, share all of your thoughts in the comments below! If you have any feedback/suggestions to improve the bookclub, please let me know. I look forward to talking to you all next month! Thanks for reading!
Peace & Love xoxo
TRIVIA ANSWERS: Easy: Bee. Medium: Cole’s basement/pool area. Hard: Lawrence.