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A review by savaburry
Suffer the Children by Craig DiLouie
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
This story was...........something lol. Conceptually & thematically this was it. The dying children coming back from the dead, the zombies, the blood lust like, it was freaky and I was here for the imagery of it. But did I enjoy it? No. Would I recommend it though? Absolutely.
While the children were the primary plot device...i guess, for all of the actual story you're following 5 adults and see how the death/reanimation of the children affect them. Before the zombies, only ONE of the main characters with a POV is at all likable, and after the zombies personalities get worse so I was barely hanging on in the "do I give a fuck" department since I never liked any of the primary people. Almost every adult was an asshole and self-centered to the point of me asking, why am I supposed to care about any of them and you know, maybe it wasn't written with the intent of making me care. It's hard to say.
In addition to me not caring about the adults of the story, this book draaaaaaaaaaagged. It dragged for so long I honestly questioned if I was going to bother to finish. The build up for the ultimate "twist" which .....isn't really a twist since it's in the synopsis didn't even come around until 2/3 of the way through. Which .....would've been fine but once it's revealed even that dragged until things went off the rails for the characters behavior wise in the last few chapters.
I get that you'd do anything for your children (I don't have any but I obviously have parents LOL), but to me what these people were doing was simply going entirely too far. There was no voice of reason with any of them. It's not fun to watch characters falling deeper into madness when even they know it's ultimately senseless and that's pretty much what this story was. Knowing that what you're doing is useless and unhelpful in the end, but continuing to choose to do it while seeing how YOUR actions are all the while severely negatively impacting the kids at the center of your choices. It was selfishness.
and YEAH! I know that selfishness and blindness are the main themes of this, but all it did was make me mad which is why couldn't give it more than 2 stars. Although.......I guess making me feel that strongly about it means it did its job.
This one wasn't my fave but for the horror aspects alone I absolutely recommend it
While the children were the primary plot device...i guess, for all of the actual story you're following 5 adults and see how the death/reanimation of the children affect them. Before the zombies, only ONE of the main characters with a POV is at all likable, and after the zombies personalities get worse so I was barely hanging on in the "do I give a fuck" department since I never liked any of the primary people. Almost every adult was an asshole and self-centered to the point of me asking, why am I supposed to care about any of them and you know, maybe it wasn't written with the intent of making me care. It's hard to say.
In addition to me not caring about the adults of the story, this book draaaaaaaaaaagged. It dragged for so long I honestly questioned if I was going to bother to finish. The build up for the ultimate "twist" which .....isn't really a twist since it's in the synopsis didn't even come around until 2/3 of the way through. Which .....would've been fine but once it's revealed even that dragged until things went off the rails for the characters behavior wise in the last few chapters.
I get that you'd do anything for your children (I don't have any but I obviously have parents LOL), but to me what these people were doing was simply going entirely too far. There was no voice of reason with any of them. It's not fun to watch characters falling deeper into madness when even they know it's ultimately senseless and that's pretty much what this story was. Knowing that what you're doing is useless and unhelpful in the end, but continuing to choose to do it while seeing how YOUR actions are all the while severely negatively impacting the kids at the center of your choices. It was selfishness.
and YEAH! I know that selfishness and blindness are the main themes of this, but all it did was make me mad which is why couldn't give it more than 2 stars. Although.......I guess making me feel that strongly about it means it did its job.
This one wasn't my fave but for the horror aspects alone I absolutely recommend it
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Suicide attempt, and Murder