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sspaghettiboness's review
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Stranger Things fans, consider reading the spoiler.
This book is undeniable pure poetry. The word choice and sentence structure gave me flashbacks to reading Fight Club for the first time, in awe of his sentence structure. The hard stops, the drop dead gorgeous sentences that come out of nowhere. You could flip this book open to any page and find a sentence to highlight. Not to come across as arrogant, but this writing style overall reminded me a lot of what I do in my own work, so it deeply resonated with me. The shifts in viewpoints was very dark and satisfying, I liked those chapters the most.
The gore and horror was well executed (this from an avid extreme horror reader). Sometimes “creature feature” authors spend too much time trying to convey how the being looks that it’s appearance becomes confusing and loses its impact. Sort of like when an author over describes the clothing their MC is wearing.
Mid-tier - some people are going to love the coming of age, figuring out your sexuality, and internalised homophobia of it all. Some people aren’t. I was indifferent to it, even though it really is the defining plot. I am the kind of person who reads for the style, structure, word choice, devices, and dialogue. Obviously, a weak plot or one riddled with holes is something I’ll pick up on; the same can be said about a very strong and unique plot presenting a story or viewpoint I’ve never experienced before. So he gets all the points for style, but not many for substance.
But I have to give this book 3.5 stars because the opening narrative was not strong. Dries comes out hot with that first chapter, but what follows is incredibly dull. Maybe he was trying to pull the rug out from under the reader? But the pacing and build wouldn’t be indicative of that. Some of the character building made sense, some of it was just filler and did not reflect or connect to who each character is revealed to be. There’s a specific scene in the beginning with the protagonist, his sister, and his best friend that could’ve had so much more to offer the novella if he just changed one thing.
Slight issue - I caught 3 grammatical errors in the book that shouldn’t have slipped anyone by.
I don’t know if this was intentional, because I do not know when this book was written, only when it was published. There was a lot of Stranger Things happening, and I’ve never ever seen beyond the first two seasons. Yes, this felt like an elevated and intelligent version. But so many comparable things. By the end, it was impossible to deny, just way too many similarities. Dad in the basement like Barb in the pool. The creature being tied to the protagonist. The homosexuality reveal. The tunnelling and overall appearance of the neighbours house. The way the creature looked. The aunt like Hopper.
I don’t mind reimaginings, but I’m actually shocked they didn’t mention it on the back cover. I wish I’d known before going into reading, it would not have stopped me, but it annoyed me to discover on my own.
Overall, the prose is the strongest feature of this book. The narrative itself left more to be desired and would’ve been more interest with some reworking or speeding it up. I will certainly be reading more of his work.
This book is undeniable pure poetry. The word choice and sentence structure gave me flashbacks to reading Fight Club for the first time, in awe of his sentence structure. The hard stops, the drop dead gorgeous sentences that come out of nowhere. You could flip this book open to any page and find a sentence to highlight. Not to come across as arrogant, but this writing style overall reminded me a lot of what I do in my own work, so it deeply resonated with me. The shifts in viewpoints was very dark and satisfying, I liked those chapters the most.
The gore and horror was well executed (this from an avid extreme horror reader). Sometimes “creature feature” authors spend too much time trying to convey how the being looks that it’s appearance becomes confusing and loses its impact. Sort of like when an author over describes the clothing their MC is wearing.
Mid-tier - some people are going to love the coming of age, figuring out your sexuality, and internalised homophobia of it all. Some people aren’t. I was indifferent to it, even though it really is the defining plot. I am the kind of person who reads for the style, structure, word choice, devices, and dialogue. Obviously, a weak plot or one riddled with holes is something I’ll pick up on; the same can be said about a very strong and unique plot presenting a story or viewpoint I’ve never experienced before. So he gets all the points for style, but not many for substance.
But I have to give this book 3.5 stars because the opening narrative was not strong. Dries comes out hot with that first chapter, but what follows is incredibly dull. Maybe he was trying to pull the rug out from under the reader? But the pacing and build wouldn’t be indicative of that. Some of the character building made sense, some of it was just filler and did not reflect or connect to who each character is revealed to be. There’s a specific scene in the beginning with the protagonist, his sister, and his best friend that could’ve had so much more to offer the novella if he just changed one thing.
Slight issue - I caught 3 grammatical errors in the book that shouldn’t have slipped anyone by.
I don’t mind reimaginings, but I’m actually shocked they didn’t mention it on the back cover. I wish I’d known before going into reading, it would not have stopped me, but it annoyed me to discover on my own.
Overall, the prose is the strongest feature of this book. The narrative itself left more to be desired and would’ve been more interest with some reworking or speeding it up. I will certainly be reading more of his work.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Violence, Animal death, and Blood
Moderate: Bullying and Animal death
Minor: Drug use, Homophobia, Outing, and Sexual content
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