Reviews

The Death and Life of Zebulon Finch, Volume One: At the Edge of Empire by Daniel Kraus

mohawkm's review

2.0

Ugh. It's like a meandering, early-Anne-Rice warm up of a unlikeable character. Shaun Hutchison wrote it best in his review (though he and I come to different conclusions):

"I honestly don't know how to review this book. Imagine you're watching Forest Gump, only Forest Gump is a corpse, and everything he does turns to shit."

Pretty much.

natalie001's review

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.75

pleasantbastard's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

dianacantread's review

4.0

A YA body horror that uses an undead teenager's decomposing body as a metaphor for the rise and fall of the American empire? Count me in!

4/5 stars

belacbooks's review

3.0

What can I say? This book has flashes of genius. But—wow oh wow—is there bloat. I think the 1.5-year lag in finishing it attests to that. Even after 18 months, there are scenes and parables that remain: especially in the earlier sections dealing with the freak show and Dr. Leather. But, much like its protagonist, this book begins to become sickly sweet with rot. That being said, I assume I will eventually finish this duology. But, there were definitely places an editor should have stepped in to save the reader. Three stars.

leahbrarian's review

2.0

Conceptually interesting and at times beautifully written, but overlong and, in my opinion, based on the nearly unanimously unlikable characters, the detailed violence and gore, and pervasive hopelessness of the narrative, misrepresented as a young adult book.

omnibozo22's review

2.0

Ugh. Interesting premise beaten into the ground by borrowing tropes from a dozen other books that didn't resort to boring forms of magical realism. Bits of Sargent York, Sunset Boulevard, Oliver Twist... and on and on. Includes an looooooong section on WWI, and ends with the beginning of WWII. Not a single aspect of the WWI section presented information or insights that we haven't seen explored much better in dozens of books and films. Easily a third of this book could be cut without damaging the story. As it is, it was too much of a slog for me to consider reading a second volume.

jarnbooks's review

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I enjoyed reading it. It started out fast, slowed once you hit WW1, then gains speed after that. Zebulon has an interesting way of telling his own story that keeps you engaged, until he is bored; then you’re bored. The secondary characters add a lot to this book and you’ll find yourself hating most of them but all of them are in-depth and have unique interactions with Zebulon that make them memorable, even if they only show up for a couple pages. With that, its very much a who’s-who of history and that’s the only way you can figure out what year it is. And when first reading this, I thought Zebulon was a self-insert (and still think he is to an extent). Nonetheless, I’m excited to read the second book and see what happens to Zebulon next. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, War, Alcohol, Death, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Torture, Medical content, Medical trauma, Blood, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Slavery

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Child death, Child abuse, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, and Murder

Minor: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Abortion, Alcoholism, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Vomit, Self harm, Pregnancy, Car accident, Excrement, Infertility, Infidelity, and Rape

Most of these are one-time things that happen over the course of a few pages but are extremely explicit. The most graphic was the war arc that happens during part 4. There is a ton of body horror throughout the book including dismemberment, and graphic descriptions of body decay.

sirlancelot2021's review

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

and_andria's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0