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jgodden1982's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
lunchingonlit's review against another edition
1.0
DNF'd couldn't get into the internal dialogue with Mr. Suicide.
shrikekali's review against another edition
4.0
A book dealing with disturbing issues and people that is definitely not for everyone but it is handled really well by the author. I will be looking for more of her work!
david_agranoff's review against another edition
4.0
Full review coming. Believe the hype this is a fantastic horror novel
ryan_lieske's review against another edition
4.0
I was not expecting what this book did to me. First off, I'll admit that while reading the first couple of chapters, I was groaning a bit, worried that all I was in for was yet another "fucked up kid from a fucked family" horror story. But the novel was deceiving me, luring me into such reductive assumptions that when the story truly kicked in it felt like a punch to the gut (and the soul).
Told in the second-person POV (which is brilliantly handled by Cushing), "Mr. Suicide" sneaks right into your head and, at times, makes you feel as though YOU are the one the book has been written about. Cushing plays with both the unreliable narrator theme AND Poe's "perverse imp." While Poe often told his tales in the first-person POV, and gave you the impression that you are journeying into madness along with his characters, front row seats as the bats in the belfry begin to multiply and flutter crazily in the dark. Using the second-person POV, Cushing takes Poe one step further. You no longer have front row seats. YOU are mad one.
The books goes places you don't think it will go, and then goes even further. There is sickness in these pages. True, unhinged sickness. Midway through I even had to set the book aside because it was getting to me so much. Perversion of the mind leads to perversion of the body. And Cushing does not flinch from the sexual and violent horrors her character experiences and inflicts upon others. There is a scene involving a bum that turned my stomach and cast very dark shadows across my soul. I couldn't take it, I'll admit it. I needed a break.
The book does veer off in a direction I didn't really see coming, in the third act. Admittedly, I was a bit disappointed, as I felt that the horrors I had just viscerally, emotionally, and mentally experienced were under threat of negation. I wasn't sure how I felt about that. I worried that maybe Cushing was pulling back a bit, after having gone so far.
But, upon finishing the book, I think where it goes is the right path, and it ends the way it should. In fact, I'm almost relieved. I needed to remember I was dealing with an unreliable narrator, after all.
What I'm saying is, this book brilliantly takes you into the mind of true madness. Whether you can make the trip, and whether you feel the trip was worth the horror, is up to you. For me, it works. Grotesquely. Beautifully. Brilliantly. This book will remain with me for a long, long time.
This is real horror, folks. Caveat emptor.
Told in the second-person POV (which is brilliantly handled by Cushing), "Mr. Suicide" sneaks right into your head and, at times, makes you feel as though YOU are the one the book has been written about. Cushing plays with both the unreliable narrator theme AND Poe's "perverse imp." While Poe often told his tales in the first-person POV, and gave you the impression that you are journeying into madness along with his characters, front row seats as the bats in the belfry begin to multiply and flutter crazily in the dark. Using the second-person POV, Cushing takes Poe one step further. You no longer have front row seats. YOU are mad one.
The books goes places you don't think it will go, and then goes even further. There is sickness in these pages. True, unhinged sickness. Midway through I even had to set the book aside because it was getting to me so much. Perversion of the mind leads to perversion of the body. And Cushing does not flinch from the sexual and violent horrors her character experiences and inflicts upon others. There is a scene involving a bum that turned my stomach and cast very dark shadows across my soul. I couldn't take it, I'll admit it. I needed a break.
The book does veer off in a direction I didn't really see coming, in the third act. Admittedly, I was a bit disappointed, as I felt that the horrors I had just viscerally, emotionally, and mentally experienced were under threat of negation. I wasn't sure how I felt about that. I worried that maybe Cushing was pulling back a bit, after having gone so far.
But, upon finishing the book, I think where it goes is the right path, and it ends the way it should. In fact, I'm almost relieved. I needed to remember I was dealing with an unreliable narrator, after all.
What I'm saying is, this book brilliantly takes you into the mind of true madness. Whether you can make the trip, and whether you feel the trip was worth the horror, is up to you. For me, it works. Grotesquely. Beautifully. Brilliantly. This book will remain with me for a long, long time.
This is real horror, folks. Caveat emptor.
ptrmsschrs's review against another edition
2.0
Don't judge a book by its cover!
Sometimes my dark sinister side wants to have a good read too and this book seemed like it ticked all the right boxes. I've always been fascinated by the concept of suicide and what drives people to this drastic act.
My expectations were more than met in the first half of this novel: the dialogues between the Boy and Mr. Suicide are fascinating and witty in a dark twisted way. However after a few chapters Mr. Suicide suddenly disappears; apparently there are other members of the family that he talks to as well.
The story remains interesting for a few more chapters. There is an altercation with the bitching mother and the discovery of the 'Perfect Monsters' magazine did send chills down my spine.
However, on his 18th birthday the Boy decides to leave his ancestral home in search of... What? Honestly I don't know and frankly, I don't think the author knows either, because from chapter X the plot becomes a mumbo jumbo of events and characters that don't make any sense (The three-fold Path, The border crossing, the Great Dark Mouth, Plastic-Vision, ...). These 'fantastical' elements wouldn't bother me that much, if they contributed to the 'horror' aspect of the book or if they made the storyline more exciting.
But that's just the problem: the rest of the book is tedious, far from thrilling and certainly not 'horrible'. I was hoping that Mr. Suicide would make a reappearance in the book and that's the only reason why I read it until the end, but he didn't and I wasted a few more hours.
Don't be fooled by the cover, the title or the synopsis; you'll be sorely disappointed.
Sometimes my dark sinister side wants to have a good read too and this book seemed like it ticked all the right boxes. I've always been fascinated by the concept of suicide and what drives people to this drastic act.
My expectations were more than met in the first half of this novel: the dialogues between the Boy and Mr. Suicide are fascinating and witty in a dark twisted way. However after a few chapters Mr. Suicide suddenly disappears; apparently there are other members of the family that he talks to as well.
The story remains interesting for a few more chapters. There is an altercation with the bitching mother and the discovery of the 'Perfect Monsters' magazine did send chills down my spine.
However, on his 18th birthday the Boy decides to leave his ancestral home in search of... What? Honestly I don't know and frankly, I don't think the author knows either, because from chapter X the plot becomes a mumbo jumbo of events and characters that don't make any sense (The three-fold Path, The border crossing, the Great Dark Mouth, Plastic-Vision, ...). These 'fantastical' elements wouldn't bother me that much, if they contributed to the 'horror' aspect of the book or if they made the storyline more exciting.
But that's just the problem: the rest of the book is tedious, far from thrilling and certainly not 'horrible'. I was hoping that Mr. Suicide would make a reappearance in the book and that's the only reason why I read it until the end, but he didn't and I wasted a few more hours.
Don't be fooled by the cover, the title or the synopsis; you'll be sorely disappointed.
exorcismofemilyreed's review against another edition
2.0
"Like everyone else in the world, you've wanted to do things people say you shouldn't do."
I thought I had already written this review, but I was wrong, and now everything has escaped my brain. I appreciated the concept of this book, and a lot of it was pretty creative. It definitely has a different tone since the story is told in second person. It got annoying at times, but it made for a unique experience.
I enjoyed the dark direction that it was heading in, but I had a more difficult time taking it seriously as the book went on. It went in a silly direction, and I ended up losing interest. I was waiting for it to build into something insane, but the ending was so anti-climactic (and not very believable). This one just didn't work for me.
I thought I had already written this review, but I was wrong, and now everything has escaped my brain. I appreciated the concept of this book, and a lot of it was pretty creative. It definitely has a different tone since the story is told in second person. It got annoying at times, but it made for a unique experience.
I enjoyed the dark direction that it was heading in, but I had a more difficult time taking it seriously as the book went on. It went in a silly direction, and I ended up losing interest. I was waiting for it to build into something insane, but the ending was so anti-climactic (and not very believable). This one just didn't work for me.
onewingedpsycho's review
4.0
Oh jeez, where do I start? I'm not one for strange surrealist horror but this sort of creeps into your bones and holds you hostage until you finally finish it, searching deeper into the night for answers that never really come.
I would be surprised if this influences a few nightmares in the coming years. It's shocking and horrifying in more than just gore related ways. It worms its way into your psyche until it swallows it hole and like a drug its all you can think of and you need your next hit.
I would be surprised if this influences a few nightmares in the coming years. It's shocking and horrifying in more than just gore related ways. It worms its way into your psyche until it swallows it hole and like a drug its all you can think of and you need your next hit.
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