Reviews

The Book of Forks by Rob Davis

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pink_armadillo's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

4.5

irritablepowell's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

sarah2's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious reflective medium-paced

3.75

The densest and most philosophical of the trilogy, I thought this was a fitting end. The excerpts from Castro's "Book of Forks" added greater context and were also thought-provoking, though some excerpts felt like a little bit of a slog to get through. I was emotionally invested in Vera and Scarper's journey to rescue their friend from an unknown fate; and in Castro's attempts to recreate his lost-to-him work. Overall an enjoyable read.

jestintzi's review against another edition

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5.0

The densest (& the thickest) book of the trilogy (which is not bad just took longer to get through it than others). A banger end to a bold and delightfully perplexing series that has quickly become one of my favorites. Not too many answers answered, not too many questions left behind. Highly recommend all three of these books.

grimondgalgmod's review against another edition

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5.0

Wow. One of those books that makes you rethink all the other five-star ratings you've given recently. A complicatedly unique and rewarding reading experience.

erebus53's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense slow-paced

4.0

I'm not sure if it's more foolhardy to pick up a book and realise part way in that it's books #3, or to stick it out and complete the book just because you can. At no point did I assume that this graphic novel was weird because I had missed the previous 2, but more because it's really absurd.

The art is evocative and stark. The characters are British, and of diverse ethnicity. As a book about a book that is being written, we get to see its contents peppered through the story as it unfolds. There is no question that the mind of the character/author is chaotic. There are some brilliant puns. As a dystopian future reality there are remnants of modern society that have evolved or been misconstrued (in a similar was to some of the relics in Philip Reeve's Mortal Engines books). Terms like "summery executions", and opposites to modern clichés like "death days" are explored and unfold into completely new meanings.

The main character is pathologised for having a brain that works differently, for not being passive, and for thinking deeply and coming up with explanations to things. Although he is seemingly quite mad, he also uses his unfettered observations of the world to comprehend things that other people don't even question.

People accept whatever absurdity surrounds them as reality.
And yet, to question that absurdity is to become absurd. As was my fate...

This book is chaotic and absurd. Perhaps I would have made more sense of it if I had read the previous two books, but I didn't find them, and I was on holiday for a limited time so I wasn't at liberty to wait around for the library to order them in. I feel like this book has just enough of a thread of continuity to keep the plot coherent. It's hard work making sense of the chaos, but it's more of an emotional journey than a plot. Quite cool though, and had me rolling my eyes and giggling like a twit at some of the humour.

Content Warnings