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A review by johnlynchbooks
Starving Zoe by C. Derick Miller
2.0
Another Splatter Western is here, horror fans. This is book number 5, and there are many more to come.
We follow Robert Jack in a first person story which has got a lot of gore and violence in it. a lot of sex references. This being horror, you'd expect that. The problem with those things for me here is nuance. There is an overall lack of it here. Every part of this extreme book seems heavy-handed. There were parts of this story that were interesting, and that I really enjoyed. But, for every removal of someones digits, there are needless pages that feel repetitive or wasted. Early on there was a hypothetical conversation between two characters that never happened, and really didn't serve any purpose to the story it seemed, aside from just adding to a word count. Things bog down in the middle before picking up for the ending.
There were things in here that will be, problematic, I think, for a lot of readers. This being a first person narrative, and the main character is a scumbag, will make people potentially feel they are complicit in the characters actions. Personally, that type of stuff doesn't bother me, I don't mind being along for a first person POV of a character who is a terrible person.
When I finished this book, I wasn't sure how I wanted to rate it, and so I just went with my gut. a 2 feels about right here, maybe a 2.5, There are parts that I enjoyed, but for each part I enjoyed, there was something else that bugged me. This one just wasn't for me. I still encourage anyone with passing interest in this series to check it out, a book that doesn't work for me might do fine for you.
We follow Robert Jack in a first person story which has got a lot of gore and violence in it. a lot of sex references. This being horror, you'd expect that. The problem with those things for me here is nuance. There is an overall lack of it here. Every part of this extreme book seems heavy-handed. There were parts of this story that were interesting, and that I really enjoyed. But, for every removal of someones digits, there are needless pages that feel repetitive or wasted. Early on there was a hypothetical conversation between two characters that never happened, and really didn't serve any purpose to the story it seemed, aside from just adding to a word count. Things bog down in the middle before picking up for the ending.
There were things in here that will be, problematic, I think, for a lot of readers. This being a first person narrative, and the main character is a scumbag, will make people potentially feel they are complicit in the characters actions. Personally, that type of stuff doesn't bother me, I don't mind being along for a first person POV of a character who is a terrible person.
When I finished this book, I wasn't sure how I wanted to rate it, and so I just went with my gut. a 2 feels about right here, maybe a 2.5, There are parts that I enjoyed, but for each part I enjoyed, there was something else that bugged me. This one just wasn't for me. I still encourage anyone with passing interest in this series to check it out, a book that doesn't work for me might do fine for you.