Reviews with content warning for Child death - Dead Inside

The main character was such an annoying edgelord, I rolled my eyes so many times. If Morrison did that on purpose in a self-aware way, that's kind of brilliant; but if we're supposed to think the narrator is actually cool and ~dark~ and different, then this book is a massive failure. Very "we live in a society".

The twist at the very end was whatever, but the scene that was supposed to be the most ~shocking and crazy~ has been done before so it didn't end up shocking me.

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kellireadsstuff's review

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challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

This book holds no punches. You are dropped almost immediately into the depravity and it doesn't really let up at all. The characters are deeply flawed and you're just an observer to the deeply disturbing stuff they get up to. 4 stars for great writing, 1 star off because holy heck.

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perpetuallygreads's review

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2.0

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hannah_allen's review

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dark fast-paced

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

2.0

I believe there are two ways to write a disturbing book. The first way is to develop the characters, their personalities, their backgrounds, etc to give the reader full insight into why each character is the way they are; the story calls for dark scenes because the characters have been intentionally created to be dark people. The second way is to say to yourself, “What are the most disgusting/vile/disturbing things people can do? I want to write those things and have my characters do them.”

Unfortunately, this author chose the latter of these options when writing Dead Inside.

The reader receives limited information about the two main characters and their backgrounds. There isn’t a full-fledged story told- we go from one horrific and gruesome situation to the next, until the book eventually ends. And in my opinion, if an author is going to commit to the dark and disturbing parts of the human psyche, then the author has a responsibility to the reader to write a story, not a series of disturbing happenings loosely woven together with necrophilia and cannibalism.

Aside from the author’s descriptions of the books’ settings, the prose is underwhelming, and the dialogue feels forced. The twist is predictable, but is set up very well throughout the book. The author gives the reader a lovely, ironic dichotomy of the two characters’ “final forms” in the last pages that gives some relief from their grotesque tension. I also enjoyed the brief periods of time I found myself “rooting for” the main character; these were also welcomed reprieves from the book’s (at times) unnecessary graphicness.

With all that being said, I *am* sitting here thinking and talking about this book, and this could very well be one of the author’s goals. In that sense, he did what he set out to do. I just think this book could have been written with a clearer point of view. Maybe I’ve interpreted this in a way it’s not meant to be interpreted, but I will not be re-reading this book to parcel that out.

If you want a much darker, shorter, and more disturbing book with the same vibes as Verity by Colleen Hoover, this *might* be a book worth your time. If you absolutely love body-horror movies, this might be a book worth your time. If you’re looking for something purposefully shocking, this also might be a book worth your time.

TRIGGER WARNINGS (graphic descriptions): necrophilia, cannibalism, sexual assault, rape, abortion, infant death.

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