Reviews - The Incendiaries

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1.62k reviews for:

The Incendiaries

R.O. Kwon

3.23 AVERAGE

nothingforpomegranted's review against another edition

2.0

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

The writing was beautiful, and I understand how a reader could fall in love with this book, but I found it too unsettling and too uncomfortable to enjoy or even really appreciate. Will’s obsessive love for Phoebe was uncomfortable and upsetting, and all the more so because I didn’t quite follow the development of such passion in the scenes that described their relationship. Phoebe never seemed that appealing or that special, and Will’s willingness to follow her, quite literally, to the ends of the earth seemed like an attempt to satisfy some need that I also didn’t really understand, and which wasn’t fully explained by his religious crisis and return.

davethescot's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional reflective tense

R.O. Kwon - The Incendiaries
Fantastic debut.
The novel skillfully delves into the complexities of fanaticism and the human psyche, challenging us to question our own assumptions about faith and redemption. Overall, I found "The Incendiaries" to be a compelling and thought-provoking read that lingers in the mind long after the last page is turned.

storeytale's review against another edition

3.0

Unsettling story about the allure of religious cults.

tsegenet's review against another edition

3.0

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

oonawoodbury's review against another edition

3.75

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

This book deals with really interesting and complicated topics and is successfully thought provoking. I didn't love being stuck in the narrator's head, though I acknowledge a lot of the point was how he saw the events. Also thought that the characters and setting were a little underdeveloped.

elizabooks's review against another edition

3.0

dark fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

scouta's review against another edition

3.25

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

nneka23's review against another edition

1.25

medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

The premise sounded interesting and I really like the title, but unfortunately the story itself was subpar at best. I wish the chapters were fleshed out more (seriously one of the chapters was literally one sentence). Because of the meandering writing style and the way things were narrated from each main character’s point of view, I was often pretty confused. Not sure what the end goal of the story was, but it seems to have missed the mark…by a lot. I added a .25 to my 1 star rating just to be nice honestly. Really a shame because this story has themes that are worth exploring and it could’ve been a great read. Oh well, on to the next one.

Content Warnings