themadhartertwo 's review for:

Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz

3.0

---

This book is unlike any other I’ve ever read. I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing. It’s just odd. The writing is, at times, borderline prose. At others, it reads as self-effacing WattPad fiction. The narrator doesn’t really have any power— everything he does is due to “psychic mesmerism” where his ESP tells him what to do. There’s a weird amount of narration given to describing how hot Odd’s mom is. The plot is reminiscent of Trigger Warning. Some pieces of narration feel like they were inserted to convey the author’s political beliefs (e.g.: the random paragraphs about how violent video games are akin to the mass shooting in the mall). I’d say this book is really just a product of its time. It’s pulp fiction with a hearty serving of non-PC diction.

Edit: the one Black character in the book talks about how he wishes he lived during segregation for the “culture,” the fat character talks about how fat he is, etc etc.

Edit edit: there were at least three points in this book where Odd would bring up a character or a place that’s apparently important to him that hasn’t been mentioned before and won’t be mentioned again later. Case in point: the blind friend who exists just to read a card.