Reviews

This is a pretty good, disturbing book for sure. The scene of Euchrid's mother dying certainly sticks out to me as especially disturbing, but effective. I liked the character of Beth and did really pity her throughout the book. This book really lost me at the end. With the overly-description and well written gore earlier in the book, I was expecting a graphic fight to the death or at least a significant death to take place. It seemed like there was a lot of build up to "The Day" Euchrid was talking about, only for it to be him sneaking into town, stabbing Beth (which was literally written as a single line), and running away. I was expecting the animals to go wreck havoc on the townspeople, him getting revenge on the people that he was treated poorly by, etc. but instead we got none of that. Also, even Euchrid seemingly succumbing to his injuries and poor living conditions in the end instead of the townspeople being able to get their revenge was disappointing. I did like the implication that Euchrid had a child with Beth in the epilogue, however.

marinarm's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

4.0

bianca_howard's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

brandonadaniels's review against another edition

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5.0

One of the greatest Southern Gothic novels I have read. A cross between Flannery O’Connor and Ian Banks The Wasp Factory. Equal parts spiritual and depraved. Something somewhere between Blood Meridian and Squidbillies. A new favorite.

witchqueen5's review against another edition

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2.0

This has probably been one of the most depressing books I've ever read. The beginning wasn't that bad and I breezed through it thinking that maybe it gets less gory and disturbing. However, somewhere along the second part I had to take a break from reading, simply because it felt so heavy and it messed with my mood. I did like the way Nick Cave plays around with words and making certain phrases rather melodious. I would not recommend it to people who get triggered easily or who don't want to get "surrounded" by the dark cloud that is this book.

debonairsaltydog's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

melfurious's review against another edition

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Loveable characters? No

1.0

I struggled hard with this one. The small parts of the story I could follow were filled with things that were highly unpleasant to read, and I didn't enjoy it at all. The ending.... vague for no reason. Maybe it was too poetic for me?

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