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reads_vicariously's review
4.0
Yes the cover definitely caught my eye, but this is an example where the plot synopsis grabbed me just as quickly. Murderous conjoined twins, talking corpses, flesh-eating hogs? Yes please! Thankfully it was worthy of the hype I built up in my own head haha.
Mud Ballad is sort of a warped folktale starring a conjoined twin who murdered his other half and a disgraced surgeon who will go to unimaginable lengths to be reunited with his dearly departed crush. It's a mix of southern gothic, some elements of Frankenstein and the occult, and healthy dash of black humor (which is fantastic - example: an unhinged schoolmaster is training her young students for a fight to the death with the prize hog in town...so bizarre but it works in the world the author has created).
This is a dark book full of violence and gore with a town seeped in grime and poverty and characters who make their way in life through manipulation and brutality. The author does an amazing job building out this world and I felt like I was slogging through the mud with these characters. I love that I had no idea which direction the story was going to go in and I really enjoyed spending time with this cast of quirky and strange characters. Hats off to Jo Quenell and Weird Punk Books for putting out this hilarious, gross, and highly entertaining tale.
Mud Ballad is sort of a warped folktale starring a conjoined twin who murdered his other half and a disgraced surgeon who will go to unimaginable lengths to be reunited with his dearly departed crush. It's a mix of southern gothic, some elements of Frankenstein and the occult, and healthy dash of black humor (which is fantastic - example: an unhinged schoolmaster is training her young students for a fight to the death with the prize hog in town...so bizarre but it works in the world the author has created).
This is a dark book full of violence and gore with a town seeped in grime and poverty and characters who make their way in life through manipulation and brutality. The author does an amazing job building out this world and I felt like I was slogging through the mud with these characters. I love that I had no idea which direction the story was going to go in and I really enjoyed spending time with this cast of quirky and strange characters. Hats off to Jo Quenell and Weird Punk Books for putting out this hilarious, gross, and highly entertaining tale.
brokenbook's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
jillifred's review
5.0
This starts with a gut punch and you never really get a chance to catch your breath. In the best way. In a relatively short book, Jo pulls the full spectrum of human emotion out of you. It’s fun. It’s scary. It’s creepy. It’s heart wrenching. It’s beautiful. We all just want to be loved and heard. But we get so caught up in the how and sometimes that leads to actions you can’t take back. Even when you really really try! I loved this book. Will definitely be worth a revisit very soon to catch the layers I missed during the first read. Excellent first novella for Jo! (Hard to believe it’s the first!)
possumpages's review
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
a wonderful work of horror comedy, mud ballad is over the top in the best ways.
raincorbyn's review
5.0
***UPDATE*** I have had the immense pleasure and honor of narrating the audiobook for this incredible novella, now available on Audible!
https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Mud-Ballad-Audiobook/B09PMCPMCK?qid=1641304906&sr=1-1&ref=a_search_c3_lProduct_1_1&pf_rd_p=83218cca-c308-412f-bfcf-90198b687a2f&pf_rd_r=9JXHQFX1S7S92DGSH4KW%27
God I loved this book. It's gross, hilarious, and gets more and more outrageous as it winds towards an end that's insane but also the only ending that it could have had.
Desperation, regret, second chances to fuck up again but maybe a little different this time, and misfits seeking dignity, happiness, or just a little peace. These are catnip to me, and Quenell brings it to life in a way that has me swinging through "Ewww - hahaa - but aww RIP" several times over. I would read a series in their world.
The gore is shocking but comical, in a way Sam Raimi would approve of, and my god these characters. The principal cast, I mean, I've been drinking buddies with those people at dives my whole life. And Merrick. Oh, Merrick. That is a truly incredible bombastic character that reminded me of a pugilist Ignatius P. Reilly, and I would gladly let him kick my ass.
Outstanding horror, I can't wait to read more by Jo Quenell.
EDIT: Even better a focused second read-through.
https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Mud-Ballad-Audiobook/B09PMCPMCK?qid=1641304906&sr=1-1&ref=a_search_c3_lProduct_1_1&pf_rd_p=83218cca-c308-412f-bfcf-90198b687a2f&pf_rd_r=9JXHQFX1S7S92DGSH4KW%27
God I loved this book. It's gross, hilarious, and gets more and more outrageous as it winds towards an end that's insane but also the only ending that it could have had.
Desperation, regret, second chances to fuck up again but maybe a little different this time, and misfits seeking dignity, happiness, or just a little peace. These are catnip to me, and Quenell brings it to life in a way that has me swinging through "Ewww - hahaa - but aww RIP" several times over. I would read a series in their world.
The gore is shocking but comical, in a way Sam Raimi would approve of, and my god these characters. The principal cast, I mean, I've been drinking buddies with those people at dives my whole life. And Merrick. Oh, Merrick. That is a truly incredible bombastic character that reminded me of a pugilist Ignatius P. Reilly, and I would gladly let him kick my ass.
Outstanding horror, I can't wait to read more by Jo Quenell.
EDIT: Even better a focused second read-through.
nwreader's review
5.0
Okay okay--why aren't more people talking about this book?! This will probably be on my top 10 list for 2022. I know it came out a bit ago but my goodness...people need to share more about The Mud Ballad!
It starts out with twin brothers connected by the forehead and in order to get separated by the traveling circus doctor, they decided one had to kill the other--so they do it. Years afterward the living brother is struggling and would do anything to get his brother back, with the help of the circus doctor he meets again.
This was a story I wasn't expecting at all. It was so refreshing and unique, I couldn't help but to fall in love with it. It had so many creepy, weird moments of horror, body horror, supernatural elements, monsters and ridiculous gore. When I tell you I was literally cackling in the middle of Starbucks while reading about some really gross body horror, I was CACKLING. It gave me life and that's an easy way to get a full five stars from me.
The writing was really easy to read and the story was fun to follow. There are multiple perspectives but not overdone or pointless. The author really did an amazing job showing the reader how the books world is similar to ours but completely different at the same time. Quenell doesn't hit you over the head with trying to explain questionable things characters/society does in this--things are the way they are because..well that's just how they are and it worked! I didn't question it, I would just go "huh..that's wild" and just continued on. That's good storytelling in my opinion.
Overall, I obviously enjoyed this book a lot and plan on rereading it later on in the year. This just might be a new weird little comfort read for me (don't ask).
If you like the 90's films FREAKS and PEEWEE'S BIG ADVENTURE then you just might like this book. It gives off the same vibe and it's perfection.
And yes there are content warnings--if you have any, look into them.
5/5
It starts out with twin brothers connected by the forehead and in order to get separated by the traveling circus doctor, they decided one had to kill the other--so they do it. Years afterward the living brother is struggling and would do anything to get his brother back, with the help of the circus doctor he meets again.
This was a story I wasn't expecting at all. It was so refreshing and unique, I couldn't help but to fall in love with it. It had so many creepy, weird moments of horror, body horror, supernatural elements, monsters and ridiculous gore. When I tell you I was literally cackling in the middle of Starbucks while reading about some really gross body horror, I was CACKLING. It gave me life and that's an easy way to get a full five stars from me.
The writing was really easy to read and the story was fun to follow. There are multiple perspectives but not overdone or pointless. The author really did an amazing job showing the reader how the books world is similar to ours but completely different at the same time. Quenell doesn't hit you over the head with trying to explain questionable things characters/society does in this--things are the way they are because..well that's just how they are and it worked! I didn't question it, I would just go "huh..that's wild" and just continued on. That's good storytelling in my opinion.
Overall, I obviously enjoyed this book a lot and plan on rereading it later on in the year. This just might be a new weird little comfort read for me (don't ask).
If you like the 90's films FREAKS and PEEWEE'S BIG ADVENTURE then you just might like this book. It gives off the same vibe and it's perfection.
And yes there are content warnings--if you have any, look into them.
5/5
shell1338's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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
marialuna's review
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
slimeandslashers's review
4.0
Reading this was a wild ride that I very much enjoyed. The Mud Ballad is a short and compelling read, and the story is dark but somehow funny at times too. I read the entire thing easily in one sitting. In my opinion, the mud-filled town added a lot to the of atmosphere of the book and made the characters' troubles seem even more hopeless. Overall this is a twisted, sharp, creative, odd, and unique story, and I am so glad I decided to give it a read. Totally recommend picking this up, especially if you like stories that feature characters that belong to a freak show or circus.
evanstevens's review
5.0
The sky opened up and rained for me during two of my sessions with The Mud Ballad by Jo Quenell.
We begin in a small, rundown town called Spudsville with Jonathan and Daniel, a set of twins conjoined at the head. We meet them in their tent at the circus they travel with discussing the imminent self-separation Jonathan has planned for the two of them. He performs the deed, and Dawes, the resident circus doctor finds them bleeding out, Daniel’s throat slashed. He is able to save Jonathan and amputate his brother’s corpse from his head, leaving a protrusion like a horn.
Jonathan goes on trial with the circus for the murder of Daniel. He is found guilty and exiled from his carnival community.
The story continues years later when Dawes returns to Spudsville, surprised to see Jonathan working as a restroom attendant at a bar there. Dawes has quit the circus and travels back to Spudsville to try and settle down. Jonathan offers Dawes a place to stay, if only a moldy sofa in a tiny shed behind the bar. In exchange for his hospitality, Jonathan asks Dawes to help him dig up the bones of his twin because he didn’t have a chance to say goodbye before Daniel’s burial. After the exhumation, things get stranger and more bizarre until all hell breaks loose upon our protagonists and the denizens of Spudsville.
And hell breaking loose in Spudsville is quite the ride. We have children raised to be fierce and violent soldiers, taught to fight with bear hands and teeth, brutal, carnivorous pigs that cannot be satiated, murderous mimes, bloodthirsty demons summoned from the grave, botched slayings and surgeries, Satanic cults, and so much more.
The Mud Ballad oozes grime from its pages, never letting you get more than a few paragraphs before again making you feel ill and as oppressed as some of those living in the rain-soaked dirt fields of Spudsville felt. Jo Quenell’s first novella succeeds in creating a bizarro world rich with characters who operate based significantly on desire and regret. There’s an air of sadness and guilt that pervades The Mud Ballad from start to finish. It isn’t stifling, and there is enough comedy to provide levity, but it’s an undeniable feature of the story (I mention this less as criticism and more as an acknowledgement of well-established tone and mood).
Despite its darkness, The Mud Ballad was a quick and fun read, and I’m already looking forward to reading more stories by Quenell.
We begin in a small, rundown town called Spudsville with Jonathan and Daniel, a set of twins conjoined at the head. We meet them in their tent at the circus they travel with discussing the imminent self-separation Jonathan has planned for the two of them. He performs the deed, and Dawes, the resident circus doctor finds them bleeding out, Daniel’s throat slashed. He is able to save Jonathan and amputate his brother’s corpse from his head, leaving a protrusion like a horn.
Jonathan goes on trial with the circus for the murder of Daniel. He is found guilty and exiled from his carnival community.
The story continues years later when Dawes returns to Spudsville, surprised to see Jonathan working as a restroom attendant at a bar there. Dawes has quit the circus and travels back to Spudsville to try and settle down. Jonathan offers Dawes a place to stay, if only a moldy sofa in a tiny shed behind the bar. In exchange for his hospitality, Jonathan asks Dawes to help him dig up the bones of his twin because he didn’t have a chance to say goodbye before Daniel’s burial. After the exhumation, things get stranger and more bizarre until all hell breaks loose upon our protagonists and the denizens of Spudsville.
And hell breaking loose in Spudsville is quite the ride. We have children raised to be fierce and violent soldiers, taught to fight with bear hands and teeth, brutal, carnivorous pigs that cannot be satiated, murderous mimes, bloodthirsty demons summoned from the grave, botched slayings and surgeries, Satanic cults, and so much more.
The Mud Ballad oozes grime from its pages, never letting you get more than a few paragraphs before again making you feel ill and as oppressed as some of those living in the rain-soaked dirt fields of Spudsville felt. Jo Quenell’s first novella succeeds in creating a bizarro world rich with characters who operate based significantly on desire and regret. There’s an air of sadness and guilt that pervades The Mud Ballad from start to finish. It isn’t stifling, and there is enough comedy to provide levity, but it’s an undeniable feature of the story (I mention this less as criticism and more as an acknowledgement of well-established tone and mood).
Despite its darkness, The Mud Ballad was a quick and fun read, and I’m already looking forward to reading more stories by Quenell.