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rockyc5's review
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
JUST WATCH THE MOVIE. Scott Smith also worked on it and the plot is just better.
It's well and tightly written, defines Midwestern Noir, but for me this book SUCKS! I couldnt put it down but I also had to keep looking away! The guy is horrible about his brother and brother's dog. The story leaves you cold. The whole thing feels purposeless and meaningless. Bad choices all around.
It's well and tightly written, defines Midwestern Noir, but for me this book SUCKS! I couldnt put it down but I also had to keep looking away! The guy is horrible about his brother and brother's dog. The story leaves you cold. The whole thing feels purposeless and meaningless. Bad choices all around.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Animal death, Fatphobia, and Animal cruelty
Moderate: Gun violence and Pregnancy
Minor: Injury/Injury detail and Medical content
meganrae047's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Gore, Murder, Death, Animal death, Body shaming, and Fatphobia
Moderate: Animal cruelty and Death of parent
Minor: Kidnapping and Pregnancy
powerpuffgoat's review against another edition
dark
tense
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? Yes
1.0
Where do I start? Reading this book was frustrating as hell. It dives into action fairly quickly, and the premise was interesting. However, the stuff that followed was a mess.
The characters are so mind-numbingly stupid, it's astonishing. Every person, from core characters to barely-there characters just acts careless or irrational at one point or another.
And sure, it appears that Lou and Jacob were stupid by design. Unfortunately, that did not make it any less frustrating to read.
Hank, who refers to himself as "normal" at least twice, is completely off the rails. The risks he takes are entirely improportional, yet every time he thinks of a new plan, he pats himself on the back. The plans are always completely batshit, by the way, but end up working out, which only assures him he is clever enough.
Sarah, who at the start of the book seems like the sensible one, quickly breaks that illusion by coming up with a couple of idiotic plans of her own. The whole "get Lou to pretend he's Hank and confess so that you have a recording of it" plan? How did that work? In what world? Honourable mentions go to playing monopoly with stolen money and pretty much giggling with joy about the money while on the phone with Hank who is at the police precinct.
Minor characters are guilty of it, too. Carl the local sheriff doesn't check an FBI agent for ID, just lends Hank a gun, and generally chews up and shallows everything he is told. The FBI agents nonchalantly share confidential information with a random witness. The strangely Christian store clerk insists on fighting Hank, and the female customer pitches a Karen fit and goes into the back of the liquor store to hold a stepladder instead of just asking for a bottle from the back, or having something other than red wine?
Not only did it leave me frustrated, but I failed to sympathise with a single character in this book, unless you count the dog.
The dog is severely mistreated, and the main character likes to justify the mistreatment because the dog misbehaved. Of course it's going to! Y'all are clearly neglecting the poor animal! If you like dogs, you will probably want to skip some pages. Or the whole book. It wouldn't be a big loss.
I also want to address the way female characters are presented in this book. Firstly, there are very few, and the majority are reduced to being someone's wife or girlfriend. Out of the two that weren't, one was a minor character who acts entitled, and the other was was Sarah, narrator Hank's wife.
Sarah is pregnant, and subsequently gives birth. Don't worry, that has nothing to do with the plot. But the author made some very deliberate choices to talk about Sarah's body, the baby growing inside, the breastfeeding etc. And I just want to know why. Did he think people would relate to viewing a pregnant woman or a nursing mother the way he does? Did he think focusing on Sarah's nipples was instrumental to the book? I was truly perplexed by this element because it has zero bearing on the plot.
Once the baby is born, the main character doesn't appear to be interested in taking care of, or even spending time with his child. There is one scene where we witness him taking care of the baby, and that left a sour taste in my mouth because in the moment, Hankfantasised about how easy it would be to murder his wife and child. Wtf.
And if this made you feel bad for Sarah, it won't last. Sarah is possibly the most callous character in the book.
Lastly, the writing was simply frustrating. Half of the dialogue is people answering a question with a question.
"I think he might be dead."
"Dead?"
"Can I borrow a gun?"
"A gun?"
"Does that bother you?"
"Bother me?"
To me, this book was an amalgamation of bad writing, unsympathetic characters, nonsense plot, violence that comes seemingly out of nowhere, unnecessary animal cruelty and blatant misogyny. Do with that what you will, but I am unlikely to pick up a book by this author ever again.
The characters are so mind-numbingly stupid, it's astonishing. Every person, from core characters to barely-there characters just acts careless or irrational at one point or another.
Hank, who refers to himself as "normal" at least twice, is completely off the rails. The risks he takes are entirely improportional, yet every time he thinks of a new plan, he pats himself on the back. The plans are always completely batshit, by the way, but end up working out, which only assures him he is clever enough.
Sarah, who at the start of the book seems like the sensible one, quickly breaks that illusion by coming up with a couple of idiotic plans of her own. The whole "get Lou to pretend he's Hank and confess so that you have a recording of it" plan? How did that work? In what world? Honourable mentions go to playing monopoly with stolen money and pretty much giggling with joy about the money while on the phone with Hank who is at the police precinct.
Minor characters are guilty of it, too. Carl the local sheriff doesn't check an FBI agent for ID, just lends Hank a gun, and generally chews up and shallows everything he is told. The FBI agents nonchalantly share confidential information with a random witness. The strangely Christian store clerk insists on fighting Hank, and the female customer pitches a Karen fit and goes into the back of the liquor store to hold a stepladder instead of just asking for a bottle from the back, or having something other than red wine?
Not only did it leave me frustrated, but I failed to sympathise with a single character in this book, unless you count the dog.
The dog is severely mistreated, and the main character likes to justify the mistreatment because the dog misbehaved. Of course it's going to! Y'all are clearly neglecting the poor animal! If you like dogs, you will probably want to skip some pages. Or the whole book. It wouldn't be a big loss.
I also want to address the way female characters are presented in this book. Firstly, there are very few, and the majority are reduced to being someone's wife or girlfriend. Out of the two that weren't, one was a minor character who acts entitled, and the other was was Sarah, narrator Hank's wife.
Sarah is pregnant, and subsequently gives birth. Don't worry, that has nothing to do with the plot. But the author made some very deliberate choices to talk about Sarah's body, the baby growing inside, the breastfeeding etc. And I just want to know why. Did he think people would relate to viewing a pregnant woman or a nursing mother the way he does? Did he think focusing on Sarah's nipples was instrumental to the book? I was truly perplexed by this element because it has zero bearing on the plot.
Once the baby is born, the main character doesn't appear to be interested in taking care of, or even spending time with his child. There is one scene where we witness him taking care of the baby, and that left a sour taste in my mouth because in the moment, Hank
And if this made you feel bad for Sarah, it won't last. Sarah is possibly the most callous character in the book.
Lastly, the writing was simply frustrating. Half of the dialogue is people answering a question with a question.
"I think he might be dead."
"Dead?"
"Can I borrow a gun?"
"A gun?"
"Does that bother you?"
"Bother me?"
To me, this book was an amalgamation of bad writing, unsympathetic characters, nonsense plot, violence that comes seemingly out of nowhere, unnecessary animal cruelty and blatant misogyny. Do with that what you will, but I am unlikely to pick up a book by this author ever again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Animal cruelty
Minor: Pregnancy
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