Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
I was super interesting in the book in the beginning with the description of the freak show, but the book started to lose my interest around halfway though. I enjoyed the main character and the carnival but the mystery fell really flat for me.
The narrator for this audiobook did an amazing job! He changed his voice for every character and it never sounded weird or annoying and they were all different enough from each other that I was never confused.
Thank you to Tantor Audio and NetGalley for providing me with an audiobook copy to review.
The narrator for this audiobook did an amazing job! He changed his voice for every character and it never sounded weird or annoying and they were all different enough from each other that I was never confused.
Thank you to Tantor Audio and NetGalley for providing me with an audiobook copy to review.
Perhaps one of the best peices of late '30s/early '40s pulp I've ever read. It stradles the line so deftly between genre and high art.
Extremely dark noir. Most of the characters are horrible, but overall an enjoyable read.
I wasn’t sure if I liked this until I got to the very end. I liked the early parts, the sideshow, but the middle dragged for me. The last page, the last paragraph really, made me appreciate it more. Which isn’t fair, the story is great and disturbing, but that last bit just pulled it all together. (I feel misled by the introduction and how Dr Ritter is described. I expected more.)
As I finished this book, the afternoon sun faded into thick clouds outside my window. Only then did I notice I'd been straining my eyes to read in the dark for the last 30 pages or so. Guess that's a fitting finish for the end of this a brilliant and chilling novel.
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The whole reason behind why I requested an ARC was because the movie is being directed by my favourite director, Guillermo del Toro.
And if del Toro is onboard, it’s got to be delightfully disturbing and something I'll love.
Stanton Carlisle is hired as a carnie when he becomes fascinated by the geek. Stan an intelligent, handsome & ambitious man, wonders what has to happen in one’s life to become such a disgusting and pathetic person. Vowing this will not be how his story ends.
Learning quickly from the other acts, Stan teams up with the beautiful, young, but extremely naive, Molly, as they leave the circus life behind them and, with their new act, spiritualism they pray on the weak and wealthy.
Stanton is nothing more than a con artist, but will his desire for money and power lead to his demise or success?
This took me a little to get into. The writing style is very different and also the ARC ebook format made it so sentences and words were broken up, but once I got used to it, it flowed a lot easier.
Not only do you get a depressing and vulgar look into human nature, but the mind of the author himself.
I was struck with overwhelming sadness at his depraved, cynical, but real view of depression-era society. With each page, the author's battles and demons are being fleshed out before our very eyes.
Gresham might not have been a “traditional” writer, but I felt a better connection to him knowing he had struggles and that darkness dwelled inside him as it does with so many people today.
I would agree that this is an American noir classic but warn future readers that this was written at a different time. And where I don’t condone racist terminology, you will find it briefly in this book along with sexism, abuse, and many, many twisted scenes.
I know a lot don’t like movie tie-in covers, but this is very clever. The handsome Bradley Cooper, who plays Stanton, obviously draws people's attention but I love the hidden details that allude to what kind of book this is.
Also, this cover isn’t as disturbing as others I’ve seen, but those are a better reflection on what horrors await the reader.
My only reason for 4 stars is the slow start/broken format and the racist words.
Thank you so much, NetGalley & Bloomsbury Publishing Plc for an ARC ebook in return for an honest review.
And if del Toro is onboard, it’s got to be delightfully disturbing and something I'll love.
Stanton Carlisle is hired as a carnie when he becomes fascinated by the geek. Stan an intelligent, handsome & ambitious man, wonders what has to happen in one’s life to become such a disgusting and pathetic person. Vowing this will not be how his story ends.
Learning quickly from the other acts, Stan teams up with the beautiful, young, but extremely naive, Molly, as they leave the circus life behind them and, with their new act, spiritualism they pray on the weak and wealthy.
Stanton is nothing more than a con artist, but will his desire for money and power lead to his demise or success?
This took me a little to get into. The writing style is very different and also the ARC ebook format made it so sentences and words were broken up, but once I got used to it, it flowed a lot easier.
Not only do you get a depressing and vulgar look into human nature, but the mind of the author himself.
I was struck with overwhelming sadness at his depraved, cynical, but real view of depression-era society. With each page, the author's battles and demons are being fleshed out before our very eyes.
Gresham might not have been a “traditional” writer, but I felt a better connection to him knowing he had struggles and that darkness dwelled inside him as it does with so many people today.
I would agree that this is an American noir classic but warn future readers that this was written at a different time. And where I don’t condone racist terminology, you will find it briefly in this book along with sexism, abuse, and many, many twisted scenes.
I know a lot don’t like movie tie-in covers, but this is very clever. The handsome Bradley Cooper, who plays Stanton, obviously draws people's attention but I love the hidden details that allude to what kind of book this is.
Also, this cover isn’t as disturbing as others I’ve seen, but those are a better reflection on what horrors await the reader.
My only reason for 4 stars is the slow start/broken format and the racist words.
Thank you so much, NetGalley & Bloomsbury Publishing Plc for an ARC ebook in return for an honest review.
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character