2.92k reviews for:

Brutes

Dizz Tate

3.31 AVERAGE


I get what this was going for, but it's so tied up in generalities and the collective third person that it doesn't really say anything. The POVs were also super difficult to follow.

4.5 stars!! follows the story of a group of 13 year old girls who become obsessed with an older girl, sammy, who mysteriously vanishes from their town in suburban florida. very reminiscent of the virgin suicides but from the female gaze— unhinged in one of the best and most intriguing ways. really interesting explorations of identity and individuality as a teen girl. if you’ve ever been a tween girl, this is a must read! also beautiful and interesting prose

I loved this book and I don’t even know what I just read! This is a book that leaves you with the thought, “wtf did I just read?” In the best possible way.

The writing feels poetic without being poetic. It isn’t flowery, but it sets a very distinctive scene and feeling throughout. Maybe stylistic is a better word than poetic to describe it. I wasn’t even sure what was going on half the time but I didn’t care. The characters were incredibly well done. This group of girls we follow are the outcasts, the kids who don’t really belong, who do weird things for fun that make others feel slightly uncomfortable.

There is a mystery of a missing girl that is in the background of this story, and you get a feeling early on that they know something about it. There is an eerie lake as well that they are scared to get too close to.

There’s is a lot going on and a little hard to put pieces together at times but yet the reading felt easy and enjoyable. I really loved reading this one. But I wouldn’t recommend it to just anyone. I would only read if you like your stories on the weirder side.
honeycomblibrary's profile picture

honeycomblibrary's review

4.0
emotional slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I loved loved loved this book but, similar to Our Wives Under the Sea, don't really know how to tie the threads of the story together with the sea monster that shows up at the end?
pablot's profile picture

pablot's review

5.0

read this in 2 days - the writing was amazing, i loved the ‘we’ pov like the girls are a single organism. felt very dream-like, and i’m still digesting the ending and trying to figure out what exactly what happened. extremely strange and unnerving atmosphere. the bowl of water metaphor was so beautiful and sad :(

Word salad // idk what I even read
challenging dark mysterious fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I read it but I have no clue what was happening in this book. Most of the chapters were told from an unknown “we” POV. I think it was meant that all the kids were experiencing the same thing but I found it super annoying. The “we” voice also spoke in weird riddles that I think were meant to be deep and profound but again just came across as annoying.

this worked perfectly for me!!! I could see this totally *not* working for certain people but it scratched all my itches.