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vonya45's review against another edition
Finished part one and decided it was not for me. Some of the humor did make me laugh, but other times it was trying too hard to be edgy. The first time Charlie is described as a Beta Male it was funny to me. I thought it was just a silly, tongue-in-cheek kind of way to say that Charlie is an anxious nerd. Maybe Beta Male is how some people would see him, or how he thinks of himself. But by the ten thousandth time this concept is mentioned it loses its charm. Beyond the gratuitous use of the alpha-beta male philosophy, it's clear from Charlie's memories and outlook that he is just an incel. I really wanted to like him despite the author's descriptions of him, but when his first thought upon meeting his future wife was "let me see if she has a good figure under these baggy clothes" I just got icked. There are a lot of sexual jokes in general which might be fine, but when it's a constant barrage of objectification of women and even sexualizing Charlie's newborn daughter, it gets really off-putting. Then there are all the racist stereotypes and racially-fueled language and dialogue. I was suspicious upon the first descriptions of Mr. Fresh and his tar-black skin. Just seemed like something racist was about to happen. Well, Mr. Fresh as a character isn't the worst stereotype, he seems like a good dude and his own character. Although he does have a silly name and the characters talk about how his mother named him after toothpaste, that was odd. It was also odd how as soon as Mr. Fresh starts using swear words, in the exact same way Charlie has been through the whole book, suddenly Charlie accuses him of "going black". What?
Not to even mention the Chinese and Russian ladies who live in Charlie's building. The Chinese lady being the target of "weird Asians using animals as food" stereotypes, and the Russian lady just talking a lot about bears. I guess this is what humor required back in those days. It's the same brain-dead Boomer jokes over and over.
Anyways, the concept seemed fun at first, but then Mr. Fresh sits Charlie down for a lengthy, boring exposition to explain the whole thing. It was at that moment I stopped caring about what would happen in this book and stopped wanting to slog through the nastiness to find out.
Not to even mention the Chinese and Russian ladies who live in Charlie's building. The Chinese lady being the target of "weird Asians using animals as food" stereotypes, and the Russian lady just talking a lot about bears. I guess this is what humor required back in those days. It's the same brain-dead Boomer jokes over and over.
Anyways, the concept seemed fun at first, but then Mr. Fresh sits Charlie down for a lengthy, boring exposition to explain the whole thing. It was at that moment I stopped caring about what would happen in this book and stopped wanting to slog through the nastiness to find out.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Xenophobia, and Sexism
barbarianmissy's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This was a surreal experience. This book was a dark comedy about an awkward man processing his grief while trying to raise a baby girl as a single parent. However, in the process of it all he somehow becomes a merchant of death and has to deal with the forces of darkness trying to take over San Francisco.
This book was very very funny, and I did really enjoy the absurdity of it all, albeit sometimes the humour wasn’t my particular cup of tea. I also saw the ending coming from a mile away and there was almost too much emphasis on Charlie being a “beta-male”, so therefore my lack of stars. But it was a fun ride overall! I really enjoyed the surrealism and the hell hounds and the squirrel people though!
I would recommend this book as a nice palette cleanser if you’re looking for a fun easy going read!
Good pick, book club!
This book was very very funny, and I did really enjoy the absurdity of it all, albeit sometimes the humour wasn’t my particular cup of tea. I also saw the ending coming from a mile away and there was almost too much emphasis on Charlie being a “beta-male”, so therefore my lack of stars. But it was a fun ride overall! I really enjoyed the surrealism and the hell hounds and the squirrel people though!
I would recommend this book as a nice palette cleanser if you’re looking for a fun easy going read!
Good pick, book club!
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual content, Blood, Gun violence, Racism, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Death of parent, Death, and Grief
yarnmouse's review against another edition
I was a little nervous about what seemed to be silly stereotypes and then there's a scene with a Muslim man where it was so over the top with bigotry that I instantly stopped.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Islamophobia, Cultural appropriation, Death of parent, Death, Xenophobia, and Racism
bean_7088's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? No
1.0
Wow...
Like..
The 1 star is only because the premise is interesting.
I had this book on my shelf for years because it sounded interesting and I'm kind of upset it took up space on my shelf for the that long 🙃
Charlie's only personality trait is incel beta-male. I've never heard the words "beta-male" so much in my life.
The racism, sexism, anti-transness, Islamophobia... it was wild.
Literally referred to a character as a "Fuck Puppet" for several pages.
The amount of creepy breast staring. The sexual advances towards Lily, who had been working at the store since she was like 15... it’s just so much gross.
There are two dogs in story, one named Mohammed. LITERALLY for one scene where the main character and his kid who can kill people are walking and say the dogs name as a Muslim man walks by, gets mad that the dogs name is Mohammed, and spends the rest of his time alive dancing around yelling "INFIDELS!" Until the death baby kills him by calling him Kitty.
The scene where Charlie finds Lily riding Ray, in the store after she offered herself to Charlie. Her saying it's for charity.
There are so many scene like these.
I read the reviews saying how witty and funny it is and I'm baffled! I like dark and weird humor. I am not immune to offensive jokes. I just expect them to be funny.
I'm just glad this was a standalone book.
Like..
The 1 star is only because the premise is interesting.
I had this book on my shelf for years because it sounded interesting and I'm kind of upset it took up space on my shelf for the that long 🙃
Charlie's only personality trait is incel beta-male. I've never heard the words "beta-male" so much in my life.
The racism, sexism, anti-transness, Islamophobia... it was wild.
Literally referred to a character as a "Fuck Puppet" for several pages.
The amount of creepy breast staring. The sexual advances towards Lily, who had been working at the store since she was like 15... it’s just so much gross.
There are two dogs in story, one named Mohammed. LITERALLY for one scene where the main character and his kid who can kill people are walking and say the dogs name as a Muslim man walks by, gets mad that the dogs name is Mohammed, and spends the rest of his time alive dancing around yelling "INFIDELS!" Until the death baby kills him by calling him Kitty.
The scene where Charlie finds Lily riding Ray, in the store after she offered herself to Charlie. Her saying it's for charity.
There are so many scene like these.
I read the reviews saying how witty and funny it is and I'm baffled! I like dark and weird humor. I am not immune to offensive jokes. I just expect them to be funny.
I'm just glad this was a standalone book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Islamophobia, Transphobia, Death of parent, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Death, Antisemitism, and Misogyny
bookedbyme's review against another edition
Between the relentless descriptions of beta males, racist character depictions, and overt sexualization of a 16-year-old…I think I’m good.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism
amkay's review against another edition
The book had a good premise. However it was horribly executed. Firstly the two upstairs neighbors their only personality trait is one is Russian and one Chinese, complete with racist "jokes". There's also a lesbian sister! That's her personalit oh and she's wears suits! Can you belive it? Suits! So I guess the cast is deverse? The main character is a "beta male" which apparently means he's ugly and has no personality. But don't worry partway through the books he gets a completely new personality. Why? No one knows! That's character development right??
Overall between the racism sexism and one deminsional characters I just couldn't finish this book.
Overall between the racism sexism and one deminsional characters I just couldn't finish this book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Violence, Suicide, Misogyny, Lesbophobia, Racism, Body shaming, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexism
foxwithsoxonfortknox's review against another edition
dark
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
1.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Racism, Homophobia, Death of parent, and Death
Moderate: Violence
lex_y's review against another edition
challenging
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Transphobia, Racism, and Misogyny
Racism: it's heavily implied that the Chinese neighbor eats Sophie's dead pets. In the last part of the book, Charlie has listened to a "how to speak jive" book on tape and speaks in an approximation of AAVE. Transphobia: the desperate man looking for love using online dating, specifically Filipina women, has a whole several page scene with a lot of jokes about how one of them "may actually be a man" and have a penis. Misogyny: at one point, attractive women are called "fuck puppets" over and over again, and one of them has her soul stored in her breast implants.
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