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A review by slpugs
Descent by Tim Johnston
3.0
I love stories about people lost in the woods. I wish there were more of them.
This novel is fairly middle of the road. I did find the pacing a little slow and the climax to be a tad mediocre after such a long build-up. I found the characters to be fairly one dimensional, especially the core family that the novel is about. All of their dialogue felt incredibly similar which made it hard to keep track of who was talking sometimes. I also felt some of the secondary characters were completely unnecessary. Some of the character backstory (mainly the brother) felt like complete filler and did absolutely nothing to develop his character or move the story forward.
That being said, I found the novel to be beautifully written. The use of run-on sentences in particular I found compelling (though recognize that not every reader will like this). The use of emotive description and the whole "show don't tell" concept was well executed. I think the novel is worth a read for Johnston's unique writing style alone.
This novel is fairly middle of the road. I did find the pacing a little slow and the climax to be a tad mediocre after such a long build-up. I found the characters to be fairly one dimensional, especially the core family that the novel is about. All of their dialogue felt incredibly similar which made it hard to keep track of who was talking sometimes. I also felt some of the secondary characters were completely unnecessary. Some of the character backstory (mainly the brother) felt like complete filler and did absolutely nothing to develop his character or move the story forward.
That being said, I found the novel to be beautifully written. The use of run-on sentences in particular I found compelling (though recognize that not every reader will like this). The use of emotive description and the whole "show don't tell" concept was well executed. I think the novel is worth a read for Johnston's unique writing style alone.