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A review by heykellyjensen
Scowler by Daniel Kraus
4.0
If you want true YA horror, look no further.
Ry's father Marvin was an abusive, horrific man. His father put his mother through hell, and it was Ry who helped save his mother back when he was way too young, too impressionable, and too vulnerable to have that sort of responsibility heft upon him. But Marvin was locked up years ago for it.
Things change now that the meteorite is predicted to hit. The first clue is the appearance of a stranger on the family farm, claiming an explosion at the high security prison allowed him to get free. The second clue is that Ry's father isn't locked up where they thought he was locked up.
He was locked up at the prison where the explosion occurred.
Marvin is coming back to the family farm, and he's out for blood.
Kraus's book is incredible dark and creepy, with tension and pacing keeping one another in check. The story is set in the 1980s, and it has to be for a number of reasons: the plausibility is one of them (though it's forgivable) and also, it's a historical setting -- this isn't set up so readers believe it happened today. Rather, it's purposefully in the past because that enhances the chill factor when the book ends. The questions lingering are as important as those answered.
Ry compartmentalized and repressed the fear and hatred toward his father when he was young and watched as his mother. In doing so, he took on three personas: Jesus Christ, Mr. Furrington, and Scowler. Though toys, they aren't really toys: they're very different parts of his personality, and it's through the course of his past converging with his present that Ry is able to rectify these three elements of self. There is also the brilliant metaphor of the meteorite, of the dying farm, of family and saving, and of whether or not monsters can ever really know what they truly are.
This isn't a light read. It's not for the weak of stomach. It's graphic, it's disturbing, it's unsettling, and it's gory. Even as someone who has a tough stomach for these things, it was a tough read. Ry, his mother, and his sister are good characters, so watching what happens to them is tough. Knowing what obstacles stand in their course isn't enjoyable. But that's the whole point of a book like this -- sometimes, we have to face what's ugly. And in Ry's case, sometimes, it's not just the things outside himself.
Give this to readers who want horror, who want dark, and who want to be shaken. It's not just about the gritty plot: Kraus has writing chops. The marriage of the two is excellent.
Full review here: http://www.stackedbooks.org/2013/03/scowler-by-daniel-kraus.html
Ry's father Marvin was an abusive, horrific man. His father put his mother through hell, and it was Ry who helped save his mother back when he was way too young, too impressionable, and too vulnerable to have that sort of responsibility heft upon him. But Marvin was locked up years ago for it.
Things change now that the meteorite is predicted to hit. The first clue is the appearance of a stranger on the family farm, claiming an explosion at the high security prison allowed him to get free. The second clue is that Ry's father isn't locked up where they thought he was locked up.
He was locked up at the prison where the explosion occurred.
Marvin is coming back to the family farm, and he's out for blood.
Kraus's book is incredible dark and creepy, with tension and pacing keeping one another in check. The story is set in the 1980s, and it has to be for a number of reasons: the plausibility is one of them (though it's forgivable) and also, it's a historical setting -- this isn't set up so readers believe it happened today. Rather, it's purposefully in the past because that enhances the chill factor when the book ends.
Spoiler
Readers want to know what happened to Ry and his family now. Did he ever recover? Can he? Can someone born to an abusive father learn how not to be abusive himself? Does the cycle ever end?Ry compartmentalized and repressed the fear and hatred toward his father when he was young and watched as his mother
Spoiler
was sewn to her bed and brutalized mercilesslyThis isn't a light read. It's not for the weak of stomach. It's graphic, it's disturbing, it's unsettling, and it's gory. Even as someone who has a tough stomach for these things, it was a tough read. Ry, his mother, and his sister are good characters, so watching what happens to them is tough. Knowing what obstacles stand in their course isn't enjoyable. But that's the whole point of a book like this -- sometimes, we have to face what's ugly. And in Ry's case, sometimes, it's not just the things outside himself.
Spoiler
My favorite line in the entire book sums this up so well and it sort of sums up what made this entire horrific ride so worthwhile -- "Being made of liquid and bone, rather than cloth and steel, might make you breakable, but being breakable, he decided, was a thrilling thing." Damn right.Give this to readers who want horror, who want dark, and who want to be shaken. It's not just about the gritty plot: Kraus has writing chops. The marriage of the two is excellent.
Full review here: http://www.stackedbooks.org/2013/03/scowler-by-daniel-kraus.html