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snowiceblackfruit77's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, War, Cancer, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Fatphobia, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Death of parent, Misogyny, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Grief, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Stalking, Violence, Vomit, Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Excrement, Pedophilia, and Racial slurs
vampiresreadtoo's review
4.0
4.5*
there's just something about hyper violent southern horror and multiple characters/storylines that all intertwine at some point that drives me INSANE
there's just something about hyper violent southern horror and multiple characters/storylines that all intertwine at some point that drives me INSANE
shelbymarie516's review against another edition
4.0
Gruesome and graphic. Not my cup of tea for the subject matter but so well written. Characters are all fairly well rounded but the timeline and story were so interesting.
_kayrae's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
gadicohen93's review against another edition
5.0
Donald Ray Pollock, you and your Arvin Russel knocked me stiff. This is like a darker, funnier Coen Bros film. It's sick on so many levels. Sick with little black sores oozing out a thick, literary juice. I drank it all up.
I love Pollock's style: He writes characters by getting into their heads--even the psychopaths, revealing to us all their sick little thoughts as they diddle about their lives, trying to get by in hicksville, Ohio/West VA. He sets up situations that got me all riled up and built up tension that felt exploitative and profound at the same time. I loved how real all the characters seemed. They were so removed from my life, but I still sympathized with them, or at least understood them as human beings.
The Devil All the Time is just dripping with an overpowering cynicism. These characters live in a world where no one really cares about them, every man for himself – except God is there for them all. God is there for these people. Laughing my ass off. I laughed so many times. It’s kind of horrific, the kinds of things I laughed at, and that made this book such a revelation to me – it ridiculed death and poverty and ignorance so skillfully, but it still kept a strong moral backbone, if that makes sense. It was hilariously nihilistic, but also realistic to the point of horror.
I had tiny qualms. I didn’t like the Roy/Theodore storyline as much as the others. And looking back, the book’s title feels too trivial, unimposingly unrelated to the plot– though in a way, I feel like that’s exactly fitting for this book. The small, irrelevant details about these characters’ lives sneak up on you and keep you fabulously entertained all the way to the last part, when all the loose ends come crashing into each other, and you realize you’ve been chuckling with the Devil the entire time.
I love Pollock's style: He writes characters by getting into their heads--even the psychopaths, revealing to us all their sick little thoughts as they diddle about their lives, trying to get by in hicksville, Ohio/West VA. He sets up situations that got me all riled up and built up tension that felt exploitative and profound at the same time. I loved how real all the characters seemed. They were so removed from my life, but I still sympathized with them, or at least understood them as human beings.
The Devil All the Time is just dripping with an overpowering cynicism. These characters live in a world where no one really cares about them, every man for himself – except God is there for them all. God is there for these people. Laughing my ass off. I laughed so many times. It’s kind of horrific, the kinds of things I laughed at, and that made this book such a revelation to me – it ridiculed death and poverty and ignorance so skillfully, but it still kept a strong moral backbone, if that makes sense. It was hilariously nihilistic, but also realistic to the point of horror.
I had tiny qualms. I didn’t like the Roy/Theodore storyline as much as the others. And looking back, the book’s title feels too trivial, unimposingly unrelated to the plot– though in a way, I feel like that’s exactly fitting for this book. The small, irrelevant details about these characters’ lives sneak up on you and keep you fabulously entertained all the way to the last part, when all the loose ends come crashing into each other, and you realize you’ve been chuckling with the Devil the entire time.
jjwalkerwrites's review against another edition
‘Arvin didn’t know which was worse, the drinking or the praying. As far back as he could remember, it seemed that his father had fought the Devil all the time.’
The Devil All The Time is Southern Gothic at its best in that it highlights people at their worst.
Set in rural Ohio and West Virginia, it jumps between different characters and storylines, offering an unflinching and haunting look at humanity’s underbelly. The way those storylines overlap, the way they’re written, and the hopelessness of it all creates a feeling that the Devil truly is at work all the time, and there’s nothing you can do but watch.
While it’s gripping and one that I highly recommend, be aware that this book doesn’t hold back. It’s violent, it’s ugly, and it’s disturbing. Not one for the faint of heart.
The Devil All The Time is Southern Gothic at its best in that it highlights people at their worst.
Set in rural Ohio and West Virginia, it jumps between different characters and storylines, offering an unflinching and haunting look at humanity’s underbelly. The way those storylines overlap, the way they’re written, and the hopelessness of it all creates a feeling that the Devil truly is at work all the time, and there’s nothing you can do but watch.
While it’s gripping and one that I highly recommend, be aware that this book doesn’t hold back. It’s violent, it’s ugly, and it’s disturbing. Not one for the faint of heart.
alieneleni's review against another edition
4.0
dark and gruesome as hell. was pretty slow for a while, but the end was great.