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A review by josy
Withered + Sere by TJ Klune
4.0
Wow! That was certainly something else!
This is not your typical romance. In fact, this book reads like a nightmare you can't wake up from no matter how hard you try. Where you are trapped in a brutal, harsh, violent world and not succumbing to past and future pain is your only goal - barely surviving, certainly not living, but staying ahead of the ghosts that haunt you.
The world-building for this post-apocalyptic setting is incredible and the writing is different from what I am used to. I often felt lost in the hallucinations Cavalo experiences but I'm guessing that was the author's intent and it certainly emphasized how messed up and lost Cavalo really is.
I can't really relate to the characters because what they have experienced and the world they are living in is hard for me to grasp. TJ Klune isn't sugarcoating anything in this book. He gives us all the gory details with no way to hide. But this makes the few tender moments ('the ballad of bad dog') all the more powerful and beautiful - like a blossoming, colorful flower amidst a world filled with dark and gray.
Without trying to get too deep here but I have a feeling TJ Klune put a lot of thought into even the smallest details playing a role in this book.
I was really scared to pick this book up because of all the feelings it would evoke. I wasn't disappointed in that regard but it hasn't been as overwhelming as I feared. I'm not sure I will be able to say the same about the next book, though. Especially after TJ's warning that "... there is a war coming. And war always has casualties."
This is not your typical romance. In fact, this book reads like a nightmare you can't wake up from no matter how hard you try. Where you are trapped in a brutal, harsh, violent world and not succumbing to past and future pain is your only goal - barely surviving, certainly not living, but staying ahead of the ghosts that haunt you.
The world-building for this post-apocalyptic setting is incredible and the writing is different from what I am used to. I often felt lost in the hallucinations Cavalo experiences but I'm guessing that was the author's intent and it certainly emphasized how messed up and lost Cavalo really is.
I can't really relate to the characters because what they have experienced and the world they are living in is hard for me to grasp. TJ Klune isn't sugarcoating anything in this book. He gives us all the gory details with no way to hide. But this makes the few tender moments ('the ballad of bad dog') all the more powerful and beautiful - like a blossoming, colorful flower amidst a world filled with dark and gray.
Without trying to get too deep here but I have a feeling TJ Klune put a lot of thought into even the smallest details playing a role in this book.
Spoiler
That Cavalo's home is an old prison for he lives in a self-imposed prison of loneliness and seclusion. The name 'Dead Rabbits' and that Mr. Fluff was a rabbit as well? That SIRS and Bad Dog seem to be more human than any of the actual human characters in this book. And what does THAT say when we consider the fact that Cavalo projects his own thoughts onto Bad Dog?I was really scared to pick this book up because of all the feelings it would evoke. I wasn't disappointed in that regard but it hasn't been as overwhelming as I feared. I'm not sure I will be able to say the same about the next book, though. Especially after TJ's warning that "... there is a war coming. And war always has casualties."