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2.78 AVERAGE
2.78 AVERAGE
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Whoever wrote the blurb to this could be charged with false advertising. Theyd be aquitted I'm court, but only on a technicality.
Sure, it is a story about a family of assasins and their whacky adventures. If by whacky adventures you mean r*ping - oh sorry "having a go on" - and murdering approximately half the people they meet. This "HILARIOUS horror satire", as per blurb, manages to funny between 1 and 3 times. One could argue that there's genuine social commentary to be had but that's true of anything if you try hard enough.
Perhaps if they cut the sexual assault/abuse in half it would average every other page, I wish i was exaggerating.
If it wasnt so preoccupied with winning edge lord of the year it might have been a good and interesting story. As it is, it's not particularly good or interesting.
Sure, it is a story about a family of assasins and their whacky adventures. If by whacky adventures you mean r*ping - oh sorry "having a go on" - and murdering approximately half the people they meet. This "HILARIOUS horror satire", as per blurb, manages to funny between 1 and 3 times. One could argue that there's genuine social commentary to be had but that's true of anything if you try hard enough.
Perhaps if they cut the sexual assault/abuse in half it would average every other page, I wish i was exaggerating.
If it wasnt so preoccupied with winning edge lord of the year it might have been a good and interesting story. As it is, it's not particularly good or interesting.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
dark
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is brazy because Palahniuk clearly came up with a "voice", a "style", and had to ram it down your throat in the first half of this novel. Just unbearably overbearing about the theming and the slang and the convoluted prose. Then at the halfway mark he's like hold on, I've overdone it and now the reader has no idea what is meaningfully happening because of it so let me strip the prose of any voice and go into pure omniscient description. And then in the last third he's sort of figured out a good balance, but most folks aren't going to get that far.
The first part of this was an exhausting and edgy slog, the middle half didn't have enough edge to carry me through it but I was too committed, and the last bits were pretty alright.
C'mon Palahniuk, let's get it together.
Also, we title-dropped way too much in the last third.
The first part of this was an exhausting and edgy slog, the middle half didn't have enough edge to carry me through it but I was too committed, and the last bits were pretty alright.
C'mon Palahniuk, let's get it together.
Also, we title-dropped way too much in the last third.
This book just feels…desperate. I’m a long time fan of Palahniuk, and I really enjoyed his previous novel, but this one carried the recent unfortunate trend of his of trying to be stylistically convoluted with no payoff. I shouldn’t even say style, as I would reserve that for his older works, now it’s just a shtick in the same way a grandparent may say racist things and everyone just awkwardly chuckles because you can’t change it and that’s just “their thing,” but also why you don’t want others around them. I’m fine with Palahniuk being exhaustingly edgy, but there needs to be substance to support the chaos of rape, murder, incest, etc. that pervades this book. Instead, we are left with an annoying narrator and an author trying to be more clever than what is warranted.
dark
hopeful
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
tense
medium-paced
I’m a HUGE Chuck Palahniuk fan and was thrilled to review an ARC of his newest work but sadly I didn’t love it as much as I love his other work. The story had SO much potential and started off SO strong, I was even convinced it would be a five star read and one of my new favourites by him for awhile. Then about halfway through it just started to go downhill and get just plain confusing and I stopped enjoying myself. I kept reading in hopes that it would turn back around but it never did and I just found myself being disappointed.
dark
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
funny
fast-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
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes