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A review by bookapotamus
The Ravaged by Norman Reedus
3.0
You know I just grabbed this one because it was by Norman Reedus (plus the awesome cover) because that's pretty much how I roll these days. (No shame!) I had no idea what I was getting into, but if it's narrated by Daryl Dixon and it's a gritty road trip type story - I had no qualms with knowing zero things about the plot!
One thing that I think going into this you should know is it's 3 different stories. They do parallel each other - but they never connect. I anticipated the stories merging at some point, and was a tad bit disappointed they never did. But - the three stories themselves were incredibly descriptive and moving - these are not happy stories with endearing characters. They are quite messy and we are thrown right into their journeys as they navigate the disorder of their lives.
We follow each as they travel through these tough situations simultaneously with a road trip - running from something, running away, or running to something. The writing is darkly poetic and Norman narrates it beautifully. There were a few times it feels like it gets stuck in almost too detailed of a descriptive spiral - but it's dark and grittily lyrical, nonetheless.
It's very clear Norman has taken experience from his own travels and applied it throughout the story which I loved. It's very raw and quite a unique read - which I appreciate. A solid debut, I just wished the plots had merged somehow (even a teeny bit!) and the ending wasn't so open. But to be fair - sometimes it really is more about the journey than the destination.
One thing that I think going into this you should know is it's 3 different stories. They do parallel each other - but they never connect. I anticipated the stories merging at some point, and was a tad bit disappointed they never did. But - the three stories themselves were incredibly descriptive and moving - these are not happy stories with endearing characters. They are quite messy and we are thrown right into their journeys as they navigate the disorder of their lives.
We follow each as they travel through these tough situations simultaneously with a road trip - running from something, running away, or running to something. The writing is darkly poetic and Norman narrates it beautifully. There were a few times it feels like it gets stuck in almost too detailed of a descriptive spiral - but it's dark and grittily lyrical, nonetheless.
It's very clear Norman has taken experience from his own travels and applied it throughout the story which I loved. It's very raw and quite a unique read - which I appreciate. A solid debut, I just wished the plots had merged somehow (even a teeny bit!) and the ending wasn't so open. But to be fair - sometimes it really is more about the journey than the destination.