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A review by stacialithub
Boxer, Beetle by Ned Beauman
3.0
Eh. I guess reading the rave reviews & the initial dark humor/strange premise pulled me in, but the book did not sustain the pace, imo. So, it was ok overall but not quite what I had hoped for.
The initial tone of the story, the Mel Brooks-esqe style of telling horrible history with a wicked grin, a cheeky remark, and a blade between the ribs, pulled me in. But, the story got more somber (& a bit more brutal & more gross) as it moved along (no surprise, I suppose), but I found the ending kind of weird & disappointing in relation to the start of the book. I really enjoyed the wicked humor in the first half. The rest, not so much. And, really, it just lost its momentum. Plus, with a story like this, I feel like I should come away with a stronger moral from the story, or a stronger feel of the stupidity of man, or something... but, that's not really there either. It just, sort-of, ended.
I don't have a bug phobia, but if you do, I'll put the caveat out there that you probably don't want to read this book (though you would probably avoid it on the title & cover art alone).
The initial tone of the story, the Mel Brooks-esqe style of telling horrible history with a wicked grin, a cheeky remark, and a blade between the ribs, pulled me in. But, the story got more somber (& a bit more brutal & more gross) as it moved along (no surprise, I suppose), but I found the ending kind of weird & disappointing in relation to the start of the book. I really enjoyed the wicked humor in the first half. The rest, not so much. And, really, it just lost its momentum. Plus, with a story like this, I feel like I should come away with a stronger moral from the story, or a stronger feel of the stupidity of man, or something... but, that's not really there either. It just, sort-of, ended.
I don't have a bug phobia, but if you do, I'll put the caveat out there that you probably don't want to read this book (though you would probably avoid it on the title & cover art alone).