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3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
dark
funny
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Great read overall, several slow parts, but the twists are great and bring that momentum back.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Violence, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, Murder
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I had a good time with this. Didn't see the twist coming. The narrator voice is funny and Claire is an interesting MC to follow around.
Despite everything wrapping up very well, I did feel like there was almost too much going on. But when things started to become overwhelming the narrative naturally came together.
The summary did feel a bit misleading. I thought we were going to explore Claire "seeing people as ghosts" a bit more? But it's just offhandedly mentioned and I don't fully understand what is going on there.
Overall, this was a pretty light read for a book about a serial killer.
Despite everything wrapping up very well, I did feel like there was almost too much going on. But when things started to become overwhelming the narrative naturally came together.
The summary did feel a bit misleading. I thought we were going to explore Claire "seeing people as ghosts" a bit more? But it's just offhandedly mentioned and I don't fully understand what is going on there.
Overall, this was a pretty light read for a book about a serial killer.
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Wow what an adventure. Who knew psychopaths were so funny.
The only downside was it gave me nightmares about my mother.
The only downside was it gave me nightmares about my mother.
dark
hopeful
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Dementia, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder
It's not often I dip my toe into the Mystery/Thriller category of my local bookstore, so to get my attention in the first place was this book's first major accomplishment. Spectacularly titled, with a lovely eye-catching cover and a delightfully droll elevator pitch, I went into You'd Look Better as a Ghost with my hopes sky high and while it meeting those expectations was basically impossible, it still did not quite disappoint.
The crowning achievement of this book is just how much it normalizes - not glamorizes - the life of a serial killer. Claire is an interesting character, her world-view is filled with its own internal logical consistencies AND inconsistencies. Does a serial killer experience grief without the capability for remorse? Perhaps. While the central driving narrative focuses around a curious set of circumstances that threaten to expose Claire for the murderess she is, the heart of the story and what kept me so intrigued was Claire's inner turmoil. Not about the victims, but her own inner journey to come to terms with her father's passing, how it affects her hobbies and social life, and what she learns.
The banality of evil is such a hot topic bordering on obsession in pop culture these days, and Wallace captures it wonderfully here. Sure, making murder the protagonist's favorite hobby and accompanying her through the process is part of displaying that banality, but just as much is seeing the world through Claire's eyes, as the reader is forced to reckon with the idea that a literal serial killer might be more "traditionally moral" in some ways than the average law-abiding citizen on the street.
Ultimately, You'd Look Better as a Ghost was the rare kind of book that I smiled picking up everyday for the three or four days it actually took me to read it. Just be aware that at the end of the day, this is a story about a serial killer told from the perspective of a serial killer. I think most adults can have a good time with this so long as they check a bit of conventional morality at the front page the violence is a hard PG-13 or soft R rating. While it can be intense, I personally never found it particularly gruesome or gratuitous.
The crowning achievement of this book is just how much it normalizes - not glamorizes - the life of a serial killer. Claire is an interesting character, her world-view is filled with its own internal logical consistencies AND inconsistencies. Does a serial killer experience grief without the capability for remorse? Perhaps. While the central driving narrative focuses around a curious set of circumstances that threaten to expose Claire for the murderess she is, the heart of the story and what kept me so intrigued was Claire's inner turmoil. Not about the victims, but her own inner journey to come to terms with her father's passing, how it affects her hobbies and social life, and what she learns.
The banality of evil is such a hot topic bordering on obsession in pop culture these days, and Wallace captures it wonderfully here. Sure, making murder the protagonist's favorite hobby and accompanying her through the process is part of displaying that banality, but just as much is seeing the world through Claire's eyes, as the reader is forced to reckon with the idea that a literal serial killer might be more "traditionally moral" in some ways than the average law-abiding citizen on the street.
Ultimately, You'd Look Better as a Ghost was the rare kind of book that I smiled picking up everyday for the three or four days it actually took me to read it. Just be aware that at the end of the day, this is a story about a serial killer told from the perspective of a serial killer. I think most adults can have a good time with this so long as they check a bit of conventional morality at the front page the violence is a hard PG-13 or soft R rating. While it can be intense, I personally never found it particularly gruesome or gratuitous.
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“Your husband’s name was Aladdin?”
“Aladdin was my horse”
It’s been a few hours and I’m still cackling
“Aladdin was my horse”
It’s been a few hours and I’m still cackling