I liked enough about ​One Word Kill that it gets a high 3. I didn’t hate it at all—there is a lot of cool stuff going on, and the story has promise. But I didn't love it, and with a description like "Ready Player One meets Stranger Things," I really wanted to love it. The writing is good, the characters interesting and believable.

​But it lacked energy, for some reason. It never went beneath the surface, really, so we don’t have much reason to actually CARE about Nick and his friends or what happens to them. So, while we might be interested in the story, we’re not necessarily invested in it. And it’s annoying, because I really liked what the author was setting up.

Okay, so I sort of have a rule about not posting negative book reports, because—really—who am I to judge? Just because I didn't like a book doesn't mean I'm suddenly qualified to rant about my problems with it, and anyway, someone else may love the book for the same reasons I disliked it. 

BUT....but. This book is complicated, because I loved The Haunted​ for a bit and then I didn't like it all. So it deserves a book report either way, and I think I can explain my feelings minus the usual slander and trash-talking one finds in popular reviews these days (ahem—I'm looking at you, Goodreads).