Reviews

The Devil's Alphabet by Daryl Gregory

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deanna_rigney's review against another edition

2.0

The idea was intriguing but the actual story left me cold. A mysterious disease that transforms the inhabitants of a small town; family angst and lost friendships; an in-depth evaluation of the meaning of humanity – what’s not to love?! Unfortunately I found myself bored throughout most of it. The author has been compared to Stephen King for his in-depth characters, but I found the people of Switchcreek weak and one dimensional. This had good elements but the author never pulls them together to make a cohesive whole.

aylith's review against another edition

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I kept waiting for it to say something, and it wasn't and I just wasnt invested in where the story or characters were going

cathybruce208's review against another edition

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4.0

This was a strange book, but I'm glad I read it. Paxton, the protagonist is difficult to love, although it's easy to understand why he is flawed. Pax flees his hometown after a terrible plague strikes. The disease kills half the inhabitants and changes most of the other ones. Pax returns to attend the funeral of a female friend, who has apparently committed suicide.

The provides a credible imagining of what would happen to a small town struck by such an unthinkable event. Some have compared it to "Lord of the Flies", but I think that misses the point. These people are trying to stay civilized and rebuild their world on their own terms. I recommend this book to anyone who likes realistic science fiction.

pyrona's review against another edition

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challenging tense medium-paced

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

3.0

suebee135's review against another edition

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3.0

Paxton Martin, a preacher’s son, is returning to his hometown of Switchcreek, TN, for the funeral of a childhood friend. Pax left Switchcreek 12 years ago, soon after an outbreak of Transcription Divergence Syndrome devastated the population of the small town. TDS, or The Changes, killed a third of the people living in Switchcreek and caused three different mutations in most of the people left alive. The victims of TDS-A, or Argos, became gray-skinned and grew to abnormal heights. TDS-B victims, or Betas, became hairless and seal-like, and TDS-C victims, or Charlies, became grotesquely obese. A few residents, Paxton included, were unaffected and remained unchanged. When Paxton returns for the funeral, he finds that there are many unanswered questions surrounding the suicide of JoLynn, and with the help of his friend Deke he tries to unravel the mystery of her death.
I would not describe myself as a science fiction fan, but I really enjoyed this one. It had great characters, bits of mystery and humor, and a few parts that rated about a 9.5 on my ickiness scale.

apatofuture's review

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4.0

I love stories in which something very very weird has become everyday life for people, and this book definitely scratches that itch. The ending was a bit anticlimatic, but no enough to spoil the overall good impression the book left.

emjay24's review against another edition

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3.0

This book started out great, then fizzled towards the end. The main guy, Pax, comes back to his hometown at the death of his childhood best friend, who has apparently hung herself, but he doesn't believe it. While there he sort of reconnects with his other old best friend, and a whole complicated relationship with his estranged father. Pax left the town when he was about 14 because the town mysteriously went through changes, where a third of the town died, and most of the rest, except for Pax and a few other people, turned into different species alltogether. These are three other distinct species that are like aliens, except they are still the actual people. Many didn't survive these changes. Why did it happen? There is one half-hearted theory but they never really resolve it. I was really interested in learning about that, and the changes in the people, and the changes in their children, the first true generation of their species. The whole town is run by the mayor Rhonda, who is a "Charlie" woman, one of the three subsets, that makes you really large. I totally pictured Kathy Bates as Rhonda the entire book they just acted the same. I was so interested in this book..why is Pax's reaction to the "vintage" different than other humans? What will become of these new types of people? What are their new cultures? How could he just leave the murder of his best friend Jo alone & accept the reason as a good one? But nothing was ever gotten into deep enough. It was interesting that Pax is not straight, but this isn't super emphasized in the book, just another fact, and that one of the reasons his dad sent him away at 14 was because he caught him with his two best friends, one another boy. This book had so much potential.. maybe it could spawn a whole series?

jva1229's review

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3.0

While Daryl Gregory’s books are typically pretty out there and strange, this one takes the cake. Very weird without much wrapped up at the end honestly.

helpfulsnowman's review against another edition

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3.0

I’m convinced this story came from going home to a small town for Thanksgiving. Your friends are different, your dad is weird and emotional, and everyone is tall, pregnant, or fatter.

seagullsaga's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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