A review by emxlxtorre
Geek Love by Katherine Dunn

challenging dark funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I picked this book up ages ago on a social media recommendation, but didn't actually read it until last week. I was in a reading slump and grabbed something random off my bookshelf to get myself out of it, and colour me pleasantly surprised when I genuinely loved this book. Katherine Dunn has such a way of crafting turns of phrase, which gives the story such a specific colour and ambience. I was expecting a book more focused on the how and why when it came to the creation of the family of freaks, but it's a lot more like a memoir, which I think was the right choice. No one in the story is really loveable, but Dunn skirts the line between understandable and evil in a masterful way that kept me wanting to see where things went. Truly a phenomenal book, all killer no filler, very fitting for a book about carnivals and freakshows; it must be seen to be believed.