Scan barcode
A review by nicktionary19
Antioch by Jessica Leonard
4.0
If I’m being honest, i think a lot of yas will say 4 stars is too many. And maybe I won’t disagree. But I’ve read some shitty books over the years. And this - even with its faults - isn’t shitty.
I probably would have read this in a single sitting if I wasn’t having fucking migraines every goddamned day. It’s a short book. Antioch is about 200 pages. I was fully engaged throughout. There’s a good twist at the end. I started to sense the twist at some point and from then on kept denying it. Fun reading the reviews from folks who didn’t even know a twist had happened. They’re mad.
I’m gonna list some negatives here. It might look like a lot, but remember - I was happily engaged throughout*
*there is one chapter in the middle that changes narrator. It’s in second person. I don’t generally enjoy 2p storytelling. It almost felt (in hindsight) tacked on to provide a little gore and a big red herring.
The main character, Bess, is minimally developed. No other characters enjoy this luxury. Bess is standoffish and manic, so it makes sense for a story from her perspective to have a pretty basic cast. If she hasn’t bothered to know/understand them, she - the narrator - can only describe them.
There are a couple unfortunate editorial misses. And the entire book feels like it needed some tightening. This book is already better than Gone Girl and that shit sold like eggs.
More than anything this book is a mystery. In that vein it functions as it should. Clues/twists happen appropriately. Some elements are extremely subtle - to the point i may reread just to see if I remember what I think I remember.
There are elements that remind me of Alex North’s Whisper Man - another mystery that I thoroughly enjoyed, but found frustrating at the last/in hindsight.
Again, 4 generous stars to 5 star concept with 5 star prose and 3.5 star execution.
I probably would have read this in a single sitting if I wasn’t having fucking migraines every goddamned day. It’s a short book. Antioch is about 200 pages. I was fully engaged throughout. There’s a good twist at the end. I started to sense the twist at some point and from then on kept denying it. Fun reading the reviews from folks who didn’t even know a twist had happened. They’re mad.
I’m gonna list some negatives here. It might look like a lot, but remember - I was happily engaged throughout*
*there is one chapter in the middle that changes narrator. It’s in second person. I don’t generally enjoy 2p storytelling. It almost felt (in hindsight) tacked on to provide a little gore and a big red herring.
The main character, Bess, is minimally developed. No other characters enjoy this luxury. Bess is standoffish and manic, so it makes sense for a story from her perspective to have a pretty basic cast. If she hasn’t bothered to know/understand them, she - the narrator - can only describe them.
There are a couple unfortunate editorial misses. And the entire book feels like it needed some tightening. This book is already better than Gone Girl and that shit sold like eggs.
More than anything this book is a mystery. In that vein it functions as it should. Clues/twists happen appropriately. Some elements are extremely subtle - to the point i may reread just to see if I remember what I think I remember.
There are elements that remind me of Alex North’s Whisper Man - another mystery that I thoroughly enjoyed, but found frustrating at the last/in hindsight.
Again, 4 generous stars to 5 star concept with 5 star prose and 3.5 star execution.