Book: No Filter
By: Kelley Skovron
Published: Scholastic Inc.
Genre: Middle Grade Horror
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About No Filter
No Filter is a middle-grade horror novel about a young girl who just lost her father not that long ago. Now she is living with her aunt. She’s great to live with, but Jinx feels like she’s a burden to her. Her aunt doesn’t have any kids of her own and never really wanted them. But she quickly took Jinx in when her father died, and now all she does is work to keep them afloat. That’s why Jinx tries to keep herself out of trouble by doing what she loves and going around, and taking pictures of things for local businesses.
It’s not until her camera starts acting up that things start to change. At first, it starts as just a smudge on a few of the pictures. Then it leads to it completely taking over most of her pictures. What is going on with her camera? Will she be able to fix it and overcome what has been going on with her?
What I thought
So, I kind of have mixed feelings about No Filter. For starters, I hated the therapist. I feel like if this were a real therapist with a real patient, then things would have gone really south and probably would have made the patient spiral. To me, that was the main downside to the story.
I have to admit that the main reason I picked up No Filter because it reminded me of Say Cheese and Die by R.L. Stine. I loved Say Cheese and Die. Now this one is close to the same vibe as that.
One thing that I wish I could change is the description of her father’s death. If this were a YA book or an adult book, I wouldn’t bat an eye. But this is a middle-grade horror. To me, most of the kids out there probably aren’t ready for a scene as graphic as this one.
Other than that, I found the story pretty interesting. It’s a fast-paced book that really grasps your attention and keeps it there. There are parts of the story that make me a little sad, and I hate that the main character had to go through a lot of these things. Honestly, I wish everyone, young and old, could be sheltered by these things.
Kelley does a great job putting the story together and making a “monster” out of the things that the main character went through. I love reading how things books that talk about mental illness and how they can manifest into something bigger and darker.
However, I feel like the main character’s OCD plays a huge part in this story. I get that OCD plays a major part in people’s lives, but I feel like there were quite a few times where the story seemed more about her OCD than anything else.
To me, the story is a three out of five stars. The story had a great idea, but it just wasn’t done as well as I would have liked.
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