A review by adrianasturalvarez
Blood Oranges by John Hawkes

4.0

I came to this book fresh off The Lime Twig and so impressed with John Hawkes I had resolved to read everything by him. What I discovered was a completely different tone than I was expecting and it was around the section of the book when the arrogant narrator, Cyril, tried to fuck a mimosa tree when I thought maybe I made a horrible mistake diving blindly into this author's catalogue. Fortunately, the novel builds, and Hawkes effortlessly leads his characters along trajectories so inevitable and so perfect he's able to boil them alive without incident.

There is so much craft in this seemingly easy breezy story and I am still very impressed with Hawkes' ability to thread his narratives through such narrow eyes.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants the experience of reading dark psychic violence masquerading as soft core porn.