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lindsayaunderwood's review against another edition
4.0
This book is dark people. Like makes you incredibly uncomfortable dark. It's not just the demons and cannibalism and violence. There are some really uniquely dark aspects of this book. Gotta say though. I really enjoyed it. I can only describe this as a twisted, gnarly fantasy. If you are offended by anything... especially when it comes to religion...this book is not for you. Now I need to read something happy.
trigonomitron's review against another edition
4.0
Finally, a true tale of villains.
You ever get those stories where the protagonists are supposed to be villains, but everyone identifies with Tyler Durden, Scarface, Walter White, etc. And then the writer says, "Hold on. Those are the bad guys. You're not supposed to aspire to be like them."? Well, that is a failure in writing. If your audience identifies with the villain, you've failed to write a good villain.
But oh, there will be no identifying with the Grossbarts! (Or, if you do, please kindly remove yourself from society. Get some help. Seriously. There's something fundamentally wrong with you.)
If these guys were here in our modern society, they 100% would be Y'all Kaida Proud Bois. They would use the word "woke" as a pejorative, unironically. They have that inexplicable detachment from reality that leaves them confidently assured of themselves and their harmfully selfish ways. Complete with an absolute misunderstanding of religion in a way that conveniently justifies their own stupidity.
As a bonus, Billington writes these villains in a way that makes them fun to read. You don't mistake them for the heroes, and yet you don't absolutely hate reading about their misadventures. The prose is easy and fun to read — very well written. A dark humor that is funny and sickening: Sometimes swinging one way more than the other. Even the bibliography in the back has some subtle humor in there. The author himself, like the characters, asserts that the fiction is real (and cites "sources"), in another seeming dig at people who don't know how to read critically.
My only complaint is that the book is about 150 pages too long. You're praying for the demise of the characters the whole way, and this hope gets dangled in front of you over and over again, only to be yanked away. I had to take a break about half way though because it's a little much.
It's worth the read, but if you don't like it, don't let other reviewers here gaslight you into thinking you're "too sensitive if you can't handle it," or other words they'd like to put into your mouth. Enjoying this book as much as I do doesn't make you special. Probably the opposite.
You ever get those stories where the protagonists are supposed to be villains, but everyone identifies with Tyler Durden, Scarface, Walter White, etc. And then the writer says, "Hold on. Those are the bad guys. You're not supposed to aspire to be like them."? Well, that is a failure in writing. If your audience identifies with the villain, you've failed to write a good villain.
But oh, there will be no identifying with the Grossbarts! (Or, if you do, please kindly remove yourself from society. Get some help. Seriously. There's something fundamentally wrong with you.)
If these guys were here in our modern society, they 100% would be Y'all Kaida Proud Bois. They would use the word "woke" as a pejorative, unironically. They have that inexplicable detachment from reality that leaves them confidently assured of themselves and their harmfully selfish ways. Complete with an absolute misunderstanding of religion in a way that conveniently justifies their own stupidity.
As a bonus, Billington writes these villains in a way that makes them fun to read. You don't mistake them for the heroes, and yet you don't absolutely hate reading about their misadventures. The prose is easy and fun to read — very well written. A dark humor that is funny and sickening: Sometimes swinging one way more than the other. Even the bibliography in the back has some subtle humor in there. The author himself, like the characters, asserts that the fiction is real (and cites "sources"), in another seeming dig at people who don't know how to read critically.
My only complaint is that the book is about 150 pages too long. You're praying for the demise of the characters the whole way, and this hope gets dangled in front of you over and over again, only to be yanked away. I had to take a break about half way though because it's a little much.
It's worth the read, but if you don't like it, don't let other reviewers here gaslight you into thinking you're "too sensitive if you can't handle it," or other words they'd like to put into your mouth. Enjoying this book as much as I do doesn't make you special. Probably the opposite.
mellhay's review against another edition
3.0
I have to start off with saying I do love the cover of this book. I thought it was cool being two pictures in one here.
The writing was a little hard for me to get ahold of at the beginning of the book, but not long into the book I adjusted well. There are different point of views given in the book, but they are not separated out in the reading. In reading along I would come to a paragraph which in the first sentence changed views quickly, but the nice thing was in that first sentence of change it specified whos view you where changing to.
With each of the characters I came across in the book there was a short story written into the book on them. A few of them told their story as a whole chapter of their own. I enjoyed these short stories. I felt more interested in the short stories at times than the story of the Grossbart brothers. The story of the Grossbart brothers dragged for me many times in the book. But the brothers had very unique views in the book.
The Grossbart brothers had very distinctive views on Religion, Mercy, and life in general. The brothers seem to be the victims of their narrow view of Religion. Their view of Religion and life seemed to have a personal twist to it. If someone did not see things in the same light as the brothers they figured that person to be a heretic of the religious belief of the Virgin Mary and killed them. Through the book no one seemed to be able to stand the brothers for long, everyone either wanted to kill them or just be away from them.
One thing I did like through the book was when a character left the brothers presence and went about their way you got a short blip on what happened to that person after they left. This gave a closing to me as a reader to all the characters in the story.
If you do read this book be ready for some gruesome scenes and to come across twin brothers that could be the two men you love to hate.
The writing was a little hard for me to get ahold of at the beginning of the book, but not long into the book I adjusted well. There are different point of views given in the book, but they are not separated out in the reading. In reading along I would come to a paragraph which in the first sentence changed views quickly, but the nice thing was in that first sentence of change it specified whos view you where changing to.
With each of the characters I came across in the book there was a short story written into the book on them. A few of them told their story as a whole chapter of their own. I enjoyed these short stories. I felt more interested in the short stories at times than the story of the Grossbart brothers. The story of the Grossbart brothers dragged for me many times in the book. But the brothers had very unique views in the book.
The Grossbart brothers had very distinctive views on Religion, Mercy, and life in general. The brothers seem to be the victims of their narrow view of Religion. Their view of Religion and life seemed to have a personal twist to it. If someone did not see things in the same light as the brothers they figured that person to be a heretic of the religious belief of the Virgin Mary and killed them. Through the book no one seemed to be able to stand the brothers for long, everyone either wanted to kill them or just be away from them.
One thing I did like through the book was when a character left the brothers presence and went about their way you got a short blip on what happened to that person after they left. This gave a closing to me as a reader to all the characters in the story.
If you do read this book be ready for some gruesome scenes and to come across twin brothers that could be the two men you love to hate.
floppyscoops's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
neako's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
jmoses's review against another edition
4.0
I did not like any of the characters in this work, and it was a highly enjoyable read.
rocketiza's review against another edition
4.0
A dark Brothers Grimm like tale, really picks up speed and momentum throughout to batshit craziness at the end.
kvltprincess's review against another edition
5.0
Oh my goodness. This book was gross, foul, the main characters are horrible people. And it is SO funny. Amazing.
dghughes28's review against another edition
4.0
Disgusting at times. Boring at times. But then again is one of those books that sticks with you.
shane_tiernan's review against another edition
5.0
Holy crap this was awesome. I DEFINITELY recommend doing it on audio, the narrator is AMAZING!!!
It starts off REALLY brutal and you immediately want the main characters to all die. Then it gets funny. There were some parts that dragged for me, but they were outweighed by the brilliant dialogue and cool monsters. The Grossbarts give a new meaning to the words "Anti-Hero". This is a very unique book and I'm so glad I stumbled upon it.
If you don't mind gross, brutal, writing with lots of cursing and enjoy laughing your ass off, I would definitely give this a try.
It starts off REALLY brutal and you immediately want the main characters to all die. Then it gets funny. There were some parts that dragged for me, but they were outweighed by the brilliant dialogue and cool monsters. The Grossbarts give a new meaning to the words "Anti-Hero". This is a very unique book and I'm so glad I stumbled upon it.
If you don't mind gross, brutal, writing with lots of cursing and enjoy laughing your ass off, I would definitely give this a try.