I stopped reading this for my own sanity and the sanity of my boyfriend. I kept scoffing and sighing and let-me-just-read-you-this-ridiculous-part-ing. I really did not like this. I’ve really enjoyed what I’ve seen so far. They’re doing something very original and great. It did chill my blood bit when I first heard the premise, which made me worry that someone might be doing my idea much better. it's told as a series of interviews from survivors, rescuers, people evacuated before it all went down, lawyers, the park's owner, etc. collected by a man writing a book on the incident, so it has the same general shape as World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, but on a smaller scale, where you get a piece of the puzzle; one perspective of the horror, before moving on to the next fresh hell. it's vivid, wonderfully gory, and as absurd as it seems on the surface - that people would deteriorate into Lord of the Flies lawlessness in under a month - given the circumstances, the participants, the escalation, the book does a good job making it seem like something that could totally happen. there's an afterword that's a little weak - some sort of too little, too late attempt to guilt the reader into a self-examination of why we are so entertained by violence that has been done, and much more elegantly, by so many others. this is not a book that should be trying to stimulate moral unrest in the reader - this should just be a straight-up romp of blood and brain matter.

I love books that switch perspectives from chapter to chapter, and this one does it in spades. Daniels and Dawe do phenomenal voice work here -- each of the characters had a unique voice and and they were just so darn real! Two: It’s a bunch of teenagers and young adults with no cell phones, social media or adult supervision. Hello teenage angst and hormonal, raging monster kids! Told through a series of interviews after the tragedy, FANTASTICLAND tells the tragic story of what happened to a bunch of internet dependant teens and young adults, when the amusement park at which they were employed, is flooded and isolated after a huge hurricane. After weeks spent on their own and unconnected, these kids turned to...other things for their entertainment. Many people did not make it out alive.MB: I’m sure you’ve run across situations where the sources for a report have completely conflicting viewpoints on something. When we don’t have the basic facts in the same place, how are we supposed to draw any sort of conclusion?

yeah, five stars, what of it? i was ready to give this one five stars just on premise alone: a massive hurricane in florida isolates an amusement park full of workers entrusted with keeping an eye on things after the customers have been evacuated, and despite having plenty of food, water, medical supplies and shelter, once they are rescued by the national guard a month later, the place is destroyed, many have died, the survivors are injured, and on top of the staggering property damage, there are also corpses hanging from wires, heads on spikes, tales of spectacle-murders, cannibalism, and the warriors-style themed-gang affiliations and epic battles that led to all this violent devastation.The violence was insane, but as soon as it was told by someone who experienced it first-hand it suddenly seemed more tame, or more reasonable. I LOVED that aspect. Some of it was chilling, but more was just terrifyingly understandable. Dirty Coward: Sam Garliek, first shift manager, was a weasel with no leadership skills who spent the entire time after leaving the shelter in hiding. When the National Guard finally came, he had been hiding in an office and didn't leave for two straight weeks.