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weejman33's review against another edition
4.0
An obvious inspiration for King’s “Mr. Mercedes” reminded me that mental illness is a hell of a thing. Merry Christmas everybody.
august_18's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Sexism, Alcohol, Racism, and Misogyny
Minor: Gaslighting
shawna_reads's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
"All our lives are symbols. Everything we do is part of a pattern we have at least some say in. The strong make their own patterns and influence other people's, the weak have their courses mapped out for them."
16 year old Frank lives in a remote Scottish village with his father. His mother abandoned them years ago, his brother Eric is in a psychiatric hospital, and his father measures everything in their lives. Frank finds comfort in his daily rituals of strange acts of violence until news gets out that his brother escaped from the hospital.
The Wasp Factory is a slow burn character study told in first person narration. We follow Frank's day to day rituals, his interactions with his father and brother, and essentially, his psychopathic tendencies. His experiences are disturbing and shocking, and for someone who's behaviours aren't necessarily rational, he is very sure of himself. Frank definitely makes for a very interesting, remorseless character.
I wasn't expecting the shocking reveal at the end, although I had a *slight* suspicion a few pages right before it. It really put things into perspective, but I wish it was explored more as I felt the story ended abruptly after that.
Overall, this was a dark, disturbing story.
16 year old Frank lives in a remote Scottish village with his father. His mother abandoned them years ago, his brother Eric is in a psychiatric hospital, and his father measures everything in their lives. Frank finds comfort in his daily rituals of strange acts of violence until news gets out that his brother escaped from the hospital.
The Wasp Factory is a slow burn character study told in first person narration. We follow Frank's day to day rituals, his interactions with his father and brother, and essentially, his psychopathic tendencies. His experiences are disturbing and shocking, and for someone who's behaviours aren't necessarily rational, he is very sure of himself. Frank definitely makes for a very interesting, remorseless character.
I wasn't expecting the shocking reveal at the end, although I had a *slight* suspicion a few pages right before it. It really put things into perspective, but I wish it was explored more as I felt the story ended abruptly after that.
Overall, this was a dark, disturbing story.
juicemilhk's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia, Child death, Animal death, and Injury/Injury detail
mulrine's review against another edition
5.0
I have a bizarre ability to completely forget the content of a book or film (to the point where it took me half way through my second watching of The Departed to loudly annouce "I've seen this! It's really good!" rather annoyingly). Obviously some things stay with me more than others. All I could remember about The Wasp Factory was that is was one of the most compelling, horrifying and brilliant books I had ever read and considered it one of my all time favourites. In re-reading it I have felt all that again. It is deeply disturbing, but brilliant. Utterly brilliant. If you like this book, then we can be friends.
ezrasupremacy's review against another edition
rating tbd
the worst crime in this book was how boring it was.
also, what the fuck was that final reveal.
the worst crime in this book was how boring it was.
also, what the fuck was that final reveal.
babymeow's review against another edition
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
4.0
ereiny5's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I don't think I am the intended audience for this book. It falls into the bro lit category with Clockwork Orange. Bank's did capture the weird ritualistic nature of kids/teens well.
For a short book, it was hard to get into it and felt slow.
I can see how the twist would have been shocking at the time but it hasn't aged well.
For a short book, it was hard to get into it and felt slow.
I can see how the twist would have been shocking at the time but it hasn't aged well.
mariathemillennial's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
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
4.0
mollyjones's review against another edition
2.0
This was extremely easy and quick book to read - the writing was somewhat simplistic which gave the book a very fast-paced feel. I liked how the voice of the main character was developed, it really felt like you were getting into his head and got to understand the thought processes that led him to kill people/animals. I really liked the majority of it until I got towards the end. The ~plot twist~ just wasn't that shocking and felt almost random; without enough psychological reasoning as to why it made Frank act the way he was - it was just kind of thrown in and then the book ended. I think if it didn't have the shock at the end I would have given the book 3 or 4 stars.