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A review by swalk
The Shards by Bret Easton Ellis
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Framed as an autobiographical, true crime writing about a teenager living an extremely privileged life on Mulholland Drive. Bret diarises his experiences of life when of a string of murders committed by someone known as ‘The Trawler’ begin taking place in the surrounding area.
Bret is a high school student, with many wealthy friends and is experimenting with his sexuality in an era when it was a lot more taboo. There is a lot of eroticism, as a sort of stream of consciousness, unfortunately I found it very repetitive. Most of the characters are unlikable and completely oblivious of the lubrication which wealth and privilege allows as you move through life. That being said, I suppose most people aren’t that self aware at that age and characters do not necessarily need to be 'likeable'.
It really reminded me of a male oriented Pretty Little Liars. I’m fairly sure this isn’t what he was going for, instead trying to be profound … but it doesn’t really achieve it. Whilst it was entertaining (at least from about 40% onwards), nearly every choice ‘Bret’ makes in this story is totally illogical and personally I found it far too drawn out and meandering, losing interest in parts. Although I did enjoy the nostalgic nature of the writing, overall it just came across as self indulgent. It’s kind of a shame it wasn’t edited down, because I think it has the potential to be very good and I really enjoyed the ending.
The narrator, BEE himself is great and has a wonderful reading voice and style. I know that author read audiobooks are not always favoured, but I enjoy them as you know the emphasis and understanding is in the right areas.
Bret is a high school student, with many wealthy friends and is experimenting with his sexuality in an era when it was a lot more taboo. There is a lot of eroticism, as a sort of stream of consciousness, unfortunately I found it very repetitive. Most of the characters are unlikable and completely oblivious of the lubrication which wealth and privilege allows as you move through life. That being said, I suppose most people aren’t that self aware at that age and characters do not necessarily need to be 'likeable'.
It really reminded me of a male oriented Pretty Little Liars. I’m fairly sure this isn’t what he was going for, instead trying to be profound … but it doesn’t really achieve it. Whilst it was entertaining (at least from about 40% onwards), nearly every choice ‘Bret’ makes in this story is totally illogical and personally I found it far too drawn out and meandering, losing interest in parts. Although I did enjoy the nostalgic nature of the writing, overall it just came across as self indulgent. It’s kind of a shame it wasn’t edited down, because I think it has the potential to be very good and I really enjoyed the ending.
The narrator, BEE himself is great and has a wonderful reading voice and style. I know that author read audiobooks are not always favoured, but I enjoy them as you know the emphasis and understanding is in the right areas.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Sexual assault, Body horror, Homophobia, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Murder, Death, and Drug abuse