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haleylmorrison's review
3.0
I haven’t read a book that made me this uncomfortable or gross-feeling in a really long time. The setting and all the characters were so sad, pathetic, and bleak. Dustin and Aaron were well-written - the missing parts and weird stylized text were confusing but I understand what the author was trying to do. The changes in perspective were well-executed and did a good job conveying the confusion and uncertainty the characters were experiencing. I felt like it could have been longer and that the story wrapped up too quickly and neatly. I really liked seeing how weird Dustin really was as the story progressed and we heard from other characters. And was Aqil really the killer of all those boys? I was confused by the ending since it happened so fast. The writing was really descriptive and overall I really liked the book. The topics it covered were super interesting and I haven’t seen them touched on often (the Satanic panic and the consequences surrounding it).
marcel's review
dark
mysterious
4.0
LYNDA BARRY: What was a question you had at the beginning of the book that you didn't have at the end?
DAN CHAON: (long pause)Whether Dustin would survive. (another long pause) The questions that I was circling were interesting to me because there was no answer and so the book allowed me to kind of run a ring around those things and to look at them from a bunch of different angles and to drop closer and then draw further away from them. And those things include: what memory is, whether we can ever really see ourselves the way that we exist in the world, and the nature of deception and self-deception. Those were the ideas I was really interested in and I think the book does an entire tour of them, but they aren't something with an answer, right? It's like you're touring Ohio and someone says "So what's the answer?" There is no answer. But you learned a lot about Ohio.
DAN CHAON: (long pause)
dinarini's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
rmarcin's review
2.0
Very odd book about murders in the 1980s and the 2010s. The first set of murders is of Dustin's parents and his aunt and uncle. The next set of murders is when Dustin is grown and is a psychologist, and one of his patients, Aqil, gets Dustin interested in murders of college boys that are later found drowned. Dustin's family is dysfunctional, and his son Aaron is high on drugs most of the time. This is a creepy book.
horfhorfhorf's review
3.0
It took a while for me to get on board - longer than I'd usually keep reading, honestly, but I like Dan Chaon and figured he was up to something interesting. The way Chaon played with the typesetting and paragraph format as characters were thinking or ruminating grew on me the more I read. The teenagers were as believable as the adults, though Dennis grew harder to like the more we "learned" about him through the eyes of his siblings and son.
Hated the ending, but that seems to be how I feel about a lot of books that wrap up quickly and with a dose of finality as of late.
Hated the ending, but that seems to be how I feel about a lot of books that wrap up quickly and with a dose of finality as of late.
auroraboringallofus's review
3.0
Nearly a month after reading this, I have to come back to say: 1. It sticks with you, both the good and the bad; and 2. I wish I hadn't read it. There's some great insight and clever writing. I loved one character's observation that "dying is another thing you have to live through," -- that even as she dies of cancer, she is alive and living through this experience -- until I saw how this truth was used against other characters (especially at the end). I don't know if the sentiment was meant to be meditative or just more horror-fodder, and I don't know if it matters.
judithdcollins's review
4.0
Psychologically complex Dan Chaon’s ILL WILL is a dark, haunting, and twisty suspense thriller full of madness, tragedy, murder, grief, and despair. Cancer, drugs, addictions, and satanic evil.
"We meet our destiny on the road we take to avoid it." —Jean De La Fontaine.
Dustin Tillman is a suburban Cleveland psychiatrist. Father of two teenage boys, Aaron and Dennis. His wife, Jill dying of cancer, and one of his patients is now recruiting him to help investigate the drownings of young men that seem to match a pattern. He is struggling with his own past. He is the survivor.
In 1983, when he was thirteen years old, his mother, father, aunt, and uncle were murdered. Dustin accused his adopted older brother, Rusty (attracted to Satanism) of the crime. Rusty was incarcerated.
What really happened with the violent murder during a summer holiday in 1983? Two unsolved crimes. Past and Present.
"In the end it is the mystery that lasts and not the explanation."—Sacheverell Sitwell, For Want of the Golden City.
Now he has been exonerated and released. Thirty some years after Dustin’s testimony put him away for murdering their parents, aunt, and uncle. Now DNA evidence clears him of the crime.
From dark family secrets and deceit, this is one creepy grisly disturbing book. Unnerving, moody and atmospheric. Emotionally wrenching and complex.
Plot-driven, the author uses impressive skill and control, as he crosses multiple narratives with different perspectives— for a mind-bending saga which will leave your head spinning. An exploration of memories, delusion, and self-deception.
". . . Every memory he thinks of now is discolored and ugly. The past suddenly has vanished from underneath him, distorted, memories turned into something he doesn't recognize, something malevolent."
The author keeps the evil, despair, terror and suspense high. Exploring humanity’s darker side. If you are looking for a relaxing read, move on. However, you if like crossing over to the darker side, and enjoy well-written complex literary/pulp fiction thrillers, you may enjoy the scary intense ride.
A special thank you to Random House, LibraryThing Early Reviewers, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
JDCMustReadBooks
"We meet our destiny on the road we take to avoid it." —Jean De La Fontaine.
Dustin Tillman is a suburban Cleveland psychiatrist. Father of two teenage boys, Aaron and Dennis. His wife, Jill dying of cancer, and one of his patients is now recruiting him to help investigate the drownings of young men that seem to match a pattern. He is struggling with his own past. He is the survivor.
In 1983, when he was thirteen years old, his mother, father, aunt, and uncle were murdered. Dustin accused his adopted older brother, Rusty (attracted to Satanism) of the crime. Rusty was incarcerated.
What really happened with the violent murder during a summer holiday in 1983? Two unsolved crimes. Past and Present.
"In the end it is the mystery that lasts and not the explanation."—Sacheverell Sitwell, For Want of the Golden City.
Now he has been exonerated and released. Thirty some years after Dustin’s testimony put him away for murdering their parents, aunt, and uncle. Now DNA evidence clears him of the crime.
From dark family secrets and deceit, this is one creepy grisly disturbing book. Unnerving, moody and atmospheric. Emotionally wrenching and complex.
Plot-driven, the author uses impressive skill and control, as he crosses multiple narratives with different perspectives— for a mind-bending saga which will leave your head spinning. An exploration of memories, delusion, and self-deception.
". . . Every memory he thinks of now is discolored and ugly. The past suddenly has vanished from underneath him, distorted, memories turned into something he doesn't recognize, something malevolent."
The author keeps the evil, despair, terror and suspense high. Exploring humanity’s darker side. If you are looking for a relaxing read, move on. However, you if like crossing over to the darker side, and enjoy well-written complex literary/pulp fiction thrillers, you may enjoy the scary intense ride.
A special thank you to Random House, LibraryThing Early Reviewers, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
JDCMustReadBooks
danubooks's review
4.0
An interesting read.
Two sets of parents are murdered while their children are asleep nearby. and Rusty, the adopted son of one couple, is convicted of the murders. Years later he is cleared of the crime, impacting the life of the surviving children including his brother Dustin, now a psychologist, Rusty was convicted in part because of Dustin’s testimony against him.. What really happened all those years ago?
The main characters are well-developed, and I found it an enjoyable read. Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy.
Two sets of parents are murdered while their children are asleep nearby. and Rusty, the adopted son of one couple, is convicted of the murders. Years later he is cleared of the crime, impacting the life of the surviving children including his brother Dustin, now a psychologist, Rusty was convicted in part because of Dustin’s testimony against him.. What really happened all those years ago?
The main characters are well-developed, and I found it an enjoyable read. Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy.