Scan barcode
menniemenace's review against another edition
2.0
This was falsely advertised to me. I came for a Cop/Criminal relationship where the cop doesn't know about the criminal. This was bad.
Aldo is mean, he's like all the hateful rap verses in human form. The "Bovine Nurse" thing really annoyed me. He's also not really a criminal... as far as I understood from the story.
The book has some cool lines but no meaning at all. It's pointless.
Aldo is mean, he's like all the hateful rap verses in human form. The "Bovine Nurse" thing really annoyed me. He's also not really a criminal... as far as I understood from the story.
The book has some cool lines but no meaning at all. It's pointless.
millysleep's review against another edition
3.0
So dark and funny and twisted and really very clever but not quite brilliant. It was a bit convoluted and felt long-winded at times. I did enjoy the way he captures the seedier side of Sydney and, however fantastical the book seems at times, the description is detailed and accurate.
snoakes7001's review against another edition
5.0
This is a belter of a book. It's that very rare thing - a book that's described as funny that actually made me laugh. More than once. Out loud.
Incidentally, have you ever wondered why funny books don't win prizes? It's because we can all identify with tragedy, but humour is extremely subjective. Something that reduces you to a quivering giggling heap can leave me cold as a penguin eating a Cornetto. Plus by its very definition, it isn't serious whereas in some circles, the more miserable something is, the more it is lauded. But I digress...
This book has a lot of humour - very very dark humour. If that's your thing then you may well love it. It is mine - I wanted to quote chunks of it at people. It's the story of two friends - Liam and Aldo. Aldo is a wonderful tragi-comic creation. I won't try to describe him - I'll leave that to Liam: "Always the wrong guy with the wrong outfit saying the wrong thing in the wrong tone of voice in the wrong place at the wrong time to the wrong person or persons, always oozing fallibility, who is also my friend".
I was given a copy of this in a Twitter competition - I'd never heard of Steve Toltz before, but I'm off to put A Fraction of the Whole onto my wishlist. Fabulous.
Incidentally, have you ever wondered why funny books don't win prizes? It's because we can all identify with tragedy, but humour is extremely subjective. Something that reduces you to a quivering giggling heap can leave me cold as a penguin eating a Cornetto. Plus by its very definition, it isn't serious whereas in some circles, the more miserable something is, the more it is lauded. But I digress...
This book has a lot of humour - very very dark humour. If that's your thing then you may well love it. It is mine - I wanted to quote chunks of it at people. It's the story of two friends - Liam and Aldo. Aldo is a wonderful tragi-comic creation. I won't try to describe him - I'll leave that to Liam: "Always the wrong guy with the wrong outfit saying the wrong thing in the wrong tone of voice in the wrong place at the wrong time to the wrong person or persons, always oozing fallibility, who is also my friend".
I was given a copy of this in a Twitter competition - I'd never heard of Steve Toltz before, but I'm off to put A Fraction of the Whole onto my wishlist. Fabulous.
emoryscott's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
I was interested in this book based on the cover and the inner-jacket summary. For about 50 pages, I was really intrigued and excited to see how the story would play out. Toltz's writing is reminiscent of Vonnegut, and at the beginning of the novel, I found the dialogue very insightful and thought-provoking.
However, this book ultimately felt flat. As other reviewers have mentioned here and on Goodreads, this book could have been 100 pages shorter. It felt as though this was the first "brain-dump draft" where the author was just focused on getting everything out onto the page and then forgot that one of the most important things about writing a readable book is to say less, not more. The author has an incredible talent with words and crafts very thought-provoking ideas, but after I struggled through yet another page-long run-on sentence, I became irritated. I ended up finishing the book, but only out of a desire to give this book a fair shot through the end. The characters are offensive and the comedy is dark to the point of being inappropriate. Reading this book made me uncomfortable, and I probably won't be reading A Fraction of the Whole, despite it's good reviews. I just don't know if Toltz is for me.
Also, MAJOR TW for r*pe and s*icide throughout. Very detailed description of r*pe in prison and the entire book is basically about the main character trying to kill himself. The themes dealt with in this book are likely to be triggering for many readers. There are just so many heavy topics discussed, page after page. Kind of exhausting.
However, this book ultimately felt flat. As other reviewers have mentioned here and on Goodreads, this book could have been 100 pages shorter. It felt as though this was the first "brain-dump draft" where the author was just focused on getting everything out onto the page and then forgot that one of the most important things about writing a readable book is to say less, not more. The author has an incredible talent with words and crafts very thought-provoking ideas, but after I struggled through yet another page-long run-on sentence, I became irritated. I ended up finishing the book, but only out of a desire to give this book a fair shot through the end. The characters are offensive and the comedy is dark to the point of being inappropriate. Reading this book made me uncomfortable, and I probably won't be reading A Fraction of the Whole, despite it's good reviews. I just don't know if Toltz is for me.
Also, MAJOR TW for r*pe and s*icide throughout. Very detailed description of r*pe in prison and the entire book is basically about the main character trying to kill himself. The themes dealt with in this book are likely to be triggering for many readers. There are just so many heavy topics discussed, page after page. Kind of exhausting.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Murder, Abortion, Infidelity, Addiction, Cancer, Body shaming, Death, Ableism, Islamophobia, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Gore, Antisemitism, Body horror, Child death, Rape, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide attempt, Blood, Racism, Self harm, Car accident, Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Chronic illness, Classism, Cursing, Torture, Death of parent, Excrement, Drug use, Grief, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Slavery, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Vomit, Suicide, Violence, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Trafficking
daynpitseleh's review against another edition
3.0
I received this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
When I started this, I was at first really interested in it, due to the dark humor and brilliant writing. However, as I went on with it, it seemed that was really all there was. The plot was alright, but it just didn't really go anywhere and just kind of dragged on. Things just never work out for Aldo. Bad things happen, good things become even worse things in disguise, and so on forever.
When I started this, I was at first really interested in it, due to the dark humor and brilliant writing. However, as I went on with it, it seemed that was really all there was. The plot was alright, but it just didn't really go anywhere and just kind of dragged on. Things just never work out for Aldo. Bad things happen, good things become even worse things in disguise, and so on forever.
mayarelmahdy's review against another edition
2.0
This was falsely advertised to me. I came for a Cop/Criminal relationship where the cop doesn't know about the criminal. This was bad.
Aldo is mean, he's like all the hateful rap verses in human form. The "Bovine Nurse" thing really annoyed me. He's also not really a criminal... as far as I understood from the story.
The book has some cool lines but no meaning at all. It's pointless.
Aldo is mean, he's like all the hateful rap verses in human form. The "Bovine Nurse" thing really annoyed me. He's also not really a criminal... as far as I understood from the story.
The book has some cool lines but no meaning at all. It's pointless.
taralpittman's review against another edition
2.0
I may not have given this one a fair shake; I tried to start reading it after I'd just finished The Unraveling of Mercy Louis by Keija Parssinen (review coming soon) so it had some big pages to fill, so to speak; I really couldn't relate to most of Liam and Aldo's brand of humor and I started having that "duh" feeling like, "am I just not getting this?" I read about a third of this one and then shelved it; I may pick it up again later, but I just couldn't get into it right now.
libbybn's review against another edition
2.0
It's a good book and reads very quickly but also massively triggered me despite my general love for dark humor
nigelbrown's review against another edition
2.0
I feel cheated.
This could have been a four star, but should have been one. Why then two? Mainly because Steve Toltz is a magnificent writer with the best life observation skills of anyone I’ve encountered, however, he has an innate ability to overwrite those simple observations by not one or two examples, but by the page load. Why give two or three when you can give fifty odd and turn a three hundred page book into a four fifty monster?
If stranded on a desert island, I would definitely take A Fraction of the Whole, but this was a complete fail for me, to the point I probably wouldn’t bother with anything else he writes.
Oh! And it’s definitely not funny.
This could have been a four star, but should have been one. Why then two? Mainly because Steve Toltz is a magnificent writer with the best life observation skills of anyone I’ve encountered, however, he has an innate ability to overwrite those simple observations by not one or two examples, but by the page load. Why give two or three when you can give fifty odd and turn a three hundred page book into a four fifty monster?
If stranded on a desert island, I would definitely take A Fraction of the Whole, but this was a complete fail for me, to the point I probably wouldn’t bother with anything else he writes.
Oh! And it’s definitely not funny.