Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Denton Little's Deathdate by Lance Rubin

1 review

impeachnixon's review

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adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

Didn't love it. Didn't completely hate it. The story itself was very interesting, although I wish that the book didn't advertise a sequel called "Denton Little's Still Not Dead" so heavily, which gave the ending away before I even started the book. The sequel being advertised on the back of the book genuinely ruined the whole reading experience for me, because the entire time you know that he won't die. Really makes it hard to sit through, like, the tenth time he gets in a car accident (although the idea that he was supposed to die in a car accident is cool, but, like, seriously. Stop advertising the sequel so prominently. It's blatantly obvious that the book is setting you up for a sequel, if I really cared I'd google it later.). While the whole deathdate thing was cool, I hated Denton himself. He cheated on his girlfriend and then the narrative treats her so horribly, focusing on how vain and self-absorbed she was when DENTON cheated on HER. That's not to say that the character wasn't vain or self-absorbed, but rather she came off as so cartoonishly uncaring that it genuinely made me have to put down the book sometimes because no one acts like that!! I don't even remember the girlfriend's name (Taryn?? I think?? That sounds right?), though, that's how quickly this book forgets about her until it wants to complain women some more. And as for the girl he cheated with, Veronica, I have no clue what she saw in him since he spent half the book just staring at her ass. It's not just his girlfriend, though, because every character who wasn't Denton or Paolo was just there to be made fun of in a way that feels more reminiscent of a shitty 80's movie about how high school sucks than anything reminiscent of real life. The entire book was just Denton making rude comments about his shitty classmates who read like they're written by someone with a vendetta against all teenagers and then excusing his own actions when he, like, cheats on his girlfriend and is rude to everyone all the time and is just so. Fucking. Pretentious. It read like every character who wasn't Denton just existed to make Denton seem better in comparison. I probably wouldn't have finished the book if it wasn't really easy to read. That being said, it was difficult to put down-- the idea of knowing when you're going to die is interesting, and the plot is exciting enough that I ended up finishing it relatively quickly. I liked the development of his relationship with his brother and dad-- it was probably the only relationships in the book that felt relatable in any way, shape or form since his family was bad and unsupportive in a way that's grounded and relatable, and it was touching to see his relationship develop and strengthen with his family. Paolo was fun, most of the time.
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