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ruminations_reverie 's review for:
The Last Thing to Burn
by Will Dean
This was a tough read. It is a slow, methodic lesson in torture and what one woman is able to endure in the hands of a monster. This is the perfect example of how a slow-burn story can be used to create an unsettling atmosphere that unsettles the reader. Every single action is detailed here and with the limited cast of characters you instantly forge a sympathy response to "Jane", and eventually the other characters who are tortured and abused by this man.
Somehow words like torture and abuse don't full sum up the pain and suffering that these characters experienced. The only parallel I can think of from my reading experience is some of what Dave Pelzer endured in his true life account in the book "A Child Called It." I do not want to belittle or downgrade that book in any way because the things he experienced were far more extreme than what is detailed here, but the sentiment is the same. I use it only as an example of the feelings and cringe-worthy reactions I had while reading parts of this book.
There was definitely some repetition that was challenging, but it served a purpose in the narrative. You really begin to understand and relate to what "Jane" is going through as you experience it on the page. The fear, the repetitious lifestyle, the trapped feeling, the loss of identity and time. All of that paints a brutal picture of her experience and makes the ending all the better.
The reveals were great and honestly took me by surprise and the ending was satisfying. I enjoyed Dean's writing and would definitely pick up more from him in the future. This is a slow-burn thriller that deals a lot with gruesome abuse and torture, so readers beware as there could be quite a few trigger warnings including child-harm. I would not hesitate to recommend this one.
Somehow words like torture and abuse don't full sum up the pain and suffering that these characters experienced. The only parallel I can think of from my reading experience is some of what Dave Pelzer endured in his true life account in the book "A Child Called It." I do not want to belittle or downgrade that book in any way because the things he experienced were far more extreme than what is detailed here, but the sentiment is the same. I use it only as an example of the feelings and cringe-worthy reactions I had while reading parts of this book.
There was definitely some repetition that was challenging, but it served a purpose in the narrative. You really begin to understand and relate to what "Jane" is going through as you experience it on the page. The fear, the repetitious lifestyle, the trapped feeling, the loss of identity and time. All of that paints a brutal picture of her experience and makes the ending all the better.
The reveals were great and honestly took me by surprise and the ending was satisfying. I enjoyed Dean's writing and would definitely pick up more from him in the future. This is a slow-burn thriller that deals a lot with gruesome abuse and torture, so readers beware as there could be quite a few trigger warnings including child-harm. I would not hesitate to recommend this one.