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A review by banrions
The Basic Eight by Daniel Handler
3.0
I am not at all sure how I feel about this book yet. I do know that that 3 stars is really more like 3.5ish because while I still don't know if I liked the book, I sure as hell am glad I read it. This is one of the most unreliable narrators I think I have ever come across and for that alone it gets two stars right there. I had guessed a bit of the twist near the end a little earlier on, but I wasn't sure if I was right or not up until they said it; because of the completely unreliable narrator you really couldn't be sure of anything.
The only reason I am not giving it four stars is that the beginning took a while for me to get into. The setup too a bit too long, you know from the beginning there is a murder and Flannery did it and all this other unimportant banal things are being talked about instead. It DID manage to really capture my attention though, so I can't rate it lower I only wish the author had gotten to the point a little quicker.
Also, holy shit, these kids are all assholes. Every single one of them whines and gripes and are so fucking pretentious it is laughable. Part of hating all of them makes the novel good though.
The only reason I am not giving it four stars is that the beginning took a while for me to get into. The setup too a bit too long, you know from the beginning there is a murder and Flannery did it and all this other unimportant banal things are being talked about instead. It DID manage to really capture my attention though, so I can't rate it lower I only wish the author had gotten to the point a little quicker.
Also, holy shit, these kids are all assholes. Every single one of them whines and gripes and are so fucking pretentious it is laughable. Part of hating all of them makes the novel good though.