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seraphjewel 's review for:
The Sisters Brothers
by Patrick deWitt
So I haven't read many westerns, but I've liked the ones I did read. That said, I was interested in reading this novel. Not only was it a western, but it focused on two killers-for-hire as they traveled to their latest victim. Sure to be an interesting read, one would think. Except it wasn't.
Let me amend that a little. Some parts were interesting, but as a whole I found the book to be a little boring. For the most part the book just dealt with following the brothers on their journey to their victim and how the two evolved along the way. Which isn't a bad thing to focus on; I just didn't find it very engaging. I ended up speed reading through a lot of the book. The lighter tone helped make speed reading easy, as did the short chapters.
But as I said, there were some parts I really enjoyed. I liked the opening when Eli was explaining the problem with the horses. I liked his discovery of brushing teeth, his brief time of trying to lose weight, his interactions with women, basically all the details that grew him as a character. I also liked the gritty realism of it, like when Eli was bitten by the spider or when his brother was stealing from the dead. Probably one of the most interesting scenes was when the two were "trapped" in a house by what they presumed to be a witch's curse.
That also ended up being one of the downsides, though. They made this big deal out of being "cursed" but I never really understood why they thought so or saw any consequences for Eli walking out the front door. This was probably because there was nothing to worry about in the first place, but I kept expecting the author to do something with it. And while I liked Eli's changes throughout the book, it was also a little disappointing having him drift farther away from their profession. It would've been a completely different read if he was more accepting of the life, or even enjoyed it a little.
Overall it wasn't a terrible book. It just wasn't as interesting as I expected.
Let me amend that a little. Some parts were interesting, but as a whole I found the book to be a little boring. For the most part the book just dealt with following the brothers on their journey to their victim and how the two evolved along the way. Which isn't a bad thing to focus on; I just didn't find it very engaging. I ended up speed reading through a lot of the book. The lighter tone helped make speed reading easy, as did the short chapters.
But as I said, there were some parts I really enjoyed. I liked the opening when Eli was explaining the problem with the horses. I liked his discovery of brushing teeth, his brief time of trying to lose weight, his interactions with women, basically all the details that grew him as a character. I also liked the gritty realism of it, like when Eli was bitten by the spider or when his brother was stealing from the dead. Probably one of the most interesting scenes was when the two were "trapped" in a house by what they presumed to be a witch's curse.
That also ended up being one of the downsides, though. They made this big deal out of being "cursed" but I never really understood why they thought so or saw any consequences for Eli walking out the front door. This was probably because there was nothing to worry about in the first place, but I kept expecting the author to do something with it. And while I liked Eli's changes throughout the book, it was also a little disappointing having him drift farther away from their profession. It would've been a completely different read if he was more accepting of the life, or even enjoyed it a little.
Overall it wasn't a terrible book. It just wasn't as interesting as I expected.