**Contains a few spoilers***I was looking forward to this. The first book had more than a few cheesy moments, stereotypes and hinted social propaganda, but the matrix of the story and the characters made up for those grievances.....I was hoping this one would be even better.

But alas, yet again, a modern book falls victim to over modernization, trying extremely too hard to push the woke agenda. The small town that needed big city outsiders to "fix" it....the female Sheriff.... the"redneck" conspiracy theorist.... the gay love triangle....the never before mentioned character of undistinguishable gender, whom was supposedly involved in the cornfield massacres...the entitled attitude of the main female protagonist, Quinn.....I'm all for most of these things, but this went too far to be believable, it just felt like the writer was attempting to be trendy.

Cole and Rust, a gay couple, are my favorite characters, I really like their relationship, why not keep it wholesome?? Why must all relationships be sabotaged in new entertainment?? Do these writers really think every human being is deplorable and without morals?? Being a YA book, I really felt like Cesare missed an opportunity to set good examples here.

The cheesy vigilante ending is a bit ridiculous.

Sadly, this wasn't even close to being as good as the first one. ( )

Clown in a Cornfield 2: Frendo Lives definitely had an interesting premise. Famous from the attack the year before, Quinn, Cole, and Rust want only for life to return to normal so they can continue on with their lives and try to heal from the horrifying events through which they survived. However, social media attacks have turned people against them, manipulating the information and creating chaos. And while I loved the ideas and definitely believed there is some truth to it in our current world situation, I did feel like this book suffered a bit compared to the previous one in that the tension and suspense just wasn't there and that crazy action that was in the first book was also missing.

Quinn is one of my favourite characters in this book; she is tough, devious, and just a lot of fun to read about. Her father is now the town mayor and spends the majority of his time trying to get the town back to normalcy, despite its growing attraction for those tourists searching for all things macabre and horrifying, wanting to see where all the killing occurred. Naturally, some members of the town obliged by creating a tourist attraction for those to purchase tickets and visit the cornfield where the 'event' happened a year before, to the disgust of some of the other townspeople, setting up an interesting scenario of us against them making the reader wonder how all of this was going to reach a boiling point and spill over.

When attacks started happening all over the place, Quinn, Rust, and Cole were forced to head back to Kettle Springs. This was a bit predictable as naturally, the three would need to be back in the same town in order for them to face down the cyberattackers who were actually heading to their town to take matters into their own hands. This is also where things gets a bit muddled. I really enjoyed the first half of the book, the setup, the attacks, and wondered how the author was going to set them up again for some disaster. Unfortunately, I felt like all three of these characters changed and I was left trying to figure out what had happened, when suddenly the action started. For whatever reason, I found it a bit more difficult to connect with the characters and believe me, with Cole behaving the way he did, I was rooting for Rust to find someone who was worthy of him. It was interesting to learn the perspectives of a couple of other characters and what they thought about the events the previous year and how it affected their lives, something I wished the author would delve into a bit more deeply. So, while the author did try to examine the affects of a community shattered by loss, I don't think he went far enough or deep enough into the psychological effects and consequences of such an occurrence.

Verdict
Clown in a Cornfield 2: Frendo Lives was a solid book, with an interesting group of characters at its core, although I would like to see more character development within those characters. I did like how the author tried to use social media as an explosive tool for creating chaos as I think it's definitely relevant in our day and age. There was a bit of an exploration about ethics and morals for some of those wearing clown suits and how they regretted their actions, but I am begging the author not to go down that route. They brutally killed teenagers with machetes, etc..., should there be a redemption arc? Hell, no!! And this is where I absolutely loved the end of this book, the best chapter if you ask me, which makes me hopeful that book three will be a beautiful chaotic mess. I can't wait!! ( )

This novel was equally as excited at the first! The final three--the saviors and survivors--of of the previous year's massacre in the corn maze are back for more shenanigans. Quinn, Cole, and Rust are the main survivors of the Frendo the Clown Massacre. For the last year they have been healing, surviving, and planning for the next massacre. The crazed mob is back in town, looking to take down the final three.

This story picked up from book one, but was it's own story. There was a different cast of villains, who had their on motivations for storming the small town and causing mayhem. It was exciting, thrilling and kept me guessing as to what would happen next. There were a few twist and turns, which made this such a great read. I almost want another sequel, but too much of a good thing and all that.

Highly recommend! ( )

This was a good second book. I loved yhe first book more. The POV changes through me throughout. I would like another book based solely on the Final Chapter: Clown in a Cornfield 3: Revenge. Lol ( )

This was one of my most anticipated reads this year. I am happy to say I was not disappointed. The three who survived last year are back. And we add a 4th that was unexpected. Frendo is back as well. In all honestly, that was expected. Our main girl, Quinn has gone off to school, but everyone knows who she is, and she just wants to be left alone. The boys, both rich guy and farmers boy survived, but didn’t leave town. One is trying to rebuild town, and the other is just trying to recover and prep for next time.

These three have become a product of fake news. There are people that believe them and believe what happened, but others who think they are the killers and they faked everything else. And these people who don’t believe that the kids are the victims, they want their revenge. They usual social media to heat each other up, and eventually let loose.

What I like most about this book, is that it seems semi-plausible. In our society we have seen what internet rumors about real places and events can do. There are people who do not believe in the holocaust, our nation had a mass shotting in a pizza parlor because or “pizza-gate”, and there are still many who believe our government is running a secret underground child sex trafficking cabal. So.. yeah, parts of this are plausible. Loosely.

This story was a ride. It had it predictable moments. And in the first book where everyone and anyone could die, there seems to be an invisible shield over some characters. It seems like they should have dies but keep escaping. So that is a bit annoying.

Is this book as good as the last book. No. However, I wouldn’t expect it to be. I enjoyed the ride, the further adventures. Yes, I did have some eye roll moments at the predictability of somethings, but overall, I was happy with what I was given. The author mentions briefly in his note at the end that maybe he should write a 3rd. Could it be done? Humm. Yes. And actually, I would love to see what the survivors do after that last scene on the last page. Those are the adventures I want next. Bring it on. ( )