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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
Jack the Ripper, Count Dracula, Frankenstein and Sherlock Holmes all in the same story?
Hell yes. Gimme gimme.
Hell yes. Gimme gimme.
dark
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Masterpiece from one of the greatest. Playful, riveting, haunting... Maybe his best. 10/10, will re-read again for the seventh time.
While the writing was engaging, the plot felt elusive and underwhelming.
It's an almost perfect fiction of it's sort. I can only say that reading this was like eating a mango - a really enjoyable experience.
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
No spoiler review:
I really, REALLY wanted to like this book. I’ve heard so much about it, most people loved it, that is amazing to read in October and on and on…
What happened to me was: about 90% of the book I am the John Travolta gif in Pulp Fiction: wtf is happening. The book is too hard to follow, with so many characters and no descriptions - which I get can be good bc we can use our imagination and all, but with the many things I dislike in this book, this became one of them - and at the same time, we keep reading and not knowing what’s going on till the end - which if you’re not a fan of open and ambiguous endings, this is a pass.
After 50% of the read, I was really fighting with myself to not DNF this book. I only continued because of the book club we have and I wanted to see what the people thought of it, also I had this book on my TBR list since 2021, so I might as well give it a chance (but I mean, it was HARD to finish)
That is it for the nonspoiler part, I don’t see myself trying this cup of tea again, since I didn’t fit in it. But I would encourage everyone to read it and get their own conclusions.
SPOILER REVIEW~
With all I said above, now I enter the intricate parts that I had more problems with.
Starting with the “things” creatures - they were so poorly explained, we knew that something would be made of their uses in the ritual… but that was all. After the fight, we ended up not only knowing anything about them but also what was their purpose in the end. This got me feeling like these creatures were something that could be ripped out of the book, they added nothing in the end.
After I finished, I saw that the characters all were supposed to be some famous ones, which I got Jack the reaper, and Count - Dracula… but since I’m from a part of the world where those fictional characters are not a thing, it became harder to understand more than the book said - which was bare information.
The Dreamland part was confusing, boring, and reeeeeeeally slow. Too much information that was of no use, it was a part that I started to skim over it because it felt like it went on forever - then again, to add nothing.
Then the big Ceremony came, and I thought “finally I’m going to begin to understand all, and the book will wrap up and give me all the info I was missing” - ehh, nope! It was all so confusing, i guess because of all the lack of info of all during the book, the ceremony was a part i was putting all my expectations in, and it simply didn’t deliver. For me, the only nice part was that the Count was still alive and was a closer (whatever this means - because here, i still didn’t get what was going on). The other thing i enjoyed was the role Bobo the rat had, not being a player but being able to fit in all and even mess with it, but that wasn’t enough of a twist to save the book for me.
Finishing with an ambiguous end was awful and frustrating… left me with so many questions
- what was the purpose of all?
- what did the ritual was supposed to do?
- is the Count alive?
- what happened after the ritual?
- are Jack and Jill alive? what about their familiars?
The few things I enjoyed were the relationship between Graymalk and Snuff and their respective owners, but I felt like it could be done so much more, maybe a romantic thing with them.. I don’t know. I also started the reading enjoying the mystery vibe the book had - but that became a problem not much after 30% of the book, since we continued to know nothing till the end.
I really, REALLY wanted to like this book. I’ve heard so much about it, most people loved it, that is amazing to read in October and on and on…
What happened to me was: about 90% of the book I am the John Travolta gif in Pulp Fiction: wtf is happening. The book is too hard to follow, with so many characters and no descriptions - which I get can be good bc we can use our imagination and all, but with the many things I dislike in this book, this became one of them - and at the same time, we keep reading and not knowing what’s going on till the end - which if you’re not a fan of open and ambiguous endings, this is a pass.
After 50% of the read, I was really fighting with myself to not DNF this book. I only continued because of the book club we have and I wanted to see what the people thought of it, also I had this book on my TBR list since 2021, so I might as well give it a chance (but I mean, it was HARD to finish)
That is it for the nonspoiler part, I don’t see myself trying this cup of tea again, since I didn’t fit in it. But I would encourage everyone to read it and get their own conclusions.
SPOILER REVIEW~
With all I said above, now I enter the intricate parts that I had more problems with.
Starting with the “things” creatures - they were so poorly explained, we knew that something would be made of their uses in the ritual… but that was all. After the fight, we ended up not only knowing anything about them but also what was their purpose in the end. This got me feeling like these creatures were something that could be ripped out of the book, they added nothing in the end.
After I finished, I saw that the characters all were supposed to be some famous ones, which I got Jack the reaper, and Count - Dracula… but since I’m from a part of the world where those fictional characters are not a thing, it became harder to understand more than the book said - which was bare information.
The Dreamland part was confusing, boring, and reeeeeeeally slow. Too much information that was of no use, it was a part that I started to skim over it because it felt like it went on forever - then again, to add nothing.
Then the big Ceremony came, and I thought “finally I’m going to begin to understand all, and the book will wrap up and give me all the info I was missing” - ehh, nope! It was all so confusing, i guess because of all the lack of info of all during the book, the ceremony was a part i was putting all my expectations in, and it simply didn’t deliver. For me, the only nice part was that the Count was still alive and was a closer (whatever this means - because here, i still didn’t get what was going on). The other thing i enjoyed was the role Bobo the rat had, not being a player but being able to fit in all and even mess with it, but that wasn’t enough of a twist to save the book for me.
Finishing with an ambiguous end was awful and frustrating… left me with so many questions
- what was the purpose of all?
- what did the ritual was supposed to do?
- is the Count alive?
- what happened after the ritual?
- are Jack and Jill alive? what about their familiars?
The few things I enjoyed were the relationship between Graymalk and Snuff and their respective owners, but I felt like it could be done so much more, maybe a romantic thing with them.. I don’t know. I also started the reading enjoying the mystery vibe the book had - but that became a problem not much after 30% of the book, since we continued to know nothing till the end.
This book is so good - the vibes are immaculate. What if Monster Mash was a book?? Here it is