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A review by kpeds
The Butcher by Jennifer Hillier
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Like many others, I loved this book until the last 6 pages. I was fully ready to read more by this author and then the ending was the most unsatisfying piece I've read in a long time. I won't be reading more.
First, the good:
You know who the murderer is from the get-go. You're just watching people figure it out. The mixing of POVs and timelines is very well done. The writing is pretty good (a lot of spoonfeeding unfortunately). You come to hate Chief and Matt in an absolutely delicious way. I've never been so fascinated by such human pieces of garbage. Watching the Chief and how evil he is, and how Matt, who has had everything handed to him and blames everyone for his problems, is absolutely fascinating.
And then there's the bad:
Unfortunately, Sam, who is supposed to be their foil, is just kinda bumbling around and everything is spoonfed to her. She has absolutely no agency in any way in this story. But the Chief and Matt do. In fact, they do terrible things to Sam with their agency. And Sam just takes it. Honestly, she could have been gone from the book and been replaced with someone random and you wouldn't notice.
And then there's the unsatisfying (TW on SA)
Matt rapes Sam. And she still wants to visit him in prison. She literally says it. I understand relationships are complicated, but she now has a not shitty boyfriend but she wanrs to "be there" for the exboyfriend who is a murderer, covered for a murderer, and raped her?? Please.
And the Chief dies, suicide by cop. It was how he wanted to go. He gets everything he wants in this book. The one thing he didn't want, the one thing that actually upset him, was the idea of going to prison. He knew how bad it would be. And he got it. Sure "the monster" was gone. And reader satisfaction with it. He got his way right up to the end.
This book was disappointing because every bad person never truly had to deal with their consequences. The reason I ever read about bad characters is the schadenfreude I get from them getting their just desserts. But this didn't just end, it belly flopped into an epilogue.
First, the good:
You know who the murderer is from the get-go. You're just watching people figure it out. The mixing of POVs and timelines is very well done. The writing is pretty good (a lot of spoonfeeding unfortunately). You come to hate Chief and Matt in an absolutely delicious way. I've never been so fascinated by such human pieces of garbage. Watching the Chief and how evil he is, and how Matt, who has had everything handed to him and blames everyone for his problems, is absolutely fascinating.
And then there's the bad:
Unfortunately, Sam, who is supposed to be their foil, is just kinda bumbling around and everything is spoonfed to her. She has absolutely no agency in any way in this story. But the Chief and Matt do. In fact, they do terrible things to Sam with their agency. And Sam just takes it. Honestly, she could have been gone from the book and been replaced with someone random and you wouldn't notice.
And then there's the unsatisfying (TW on SA)
And the Chief dies, suicide by cop. It was how he wanted to go. He gets everything he wants in this book. The one thing he didn't want, the one thing that actually upset him, was the idea of going to prison. He knew how bad it would be. And he got it. Sure "the monster" was gone. And reader satisfaction with it. He got his way right up to the end.
This book was disappointing because every bad person never truly had to deal with their consequences. The reason I ever read about bad characters is the schadenfreude I get from them getting their just desserts. But this didn't just end, it belly flopped into an epilogue.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, and Sexism
Moderate: Homophobia