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A review by ila_mae
Gloom Town by Ronald L. Smith
2.0
In a town called Gloom, almost everything and everyone is washed out and dark. For Rory, this is the only life he's known. But when he gets a new job for a dangerous and secretive employer, he starts to wonder if life in Gloom was supposed to be that way. With the help of his best friend Izzy, Rory sets out to unravel the web of secrets and darkness that engulfs Gloom.
I don't know how to describe this book. Episodic? Improvised? Unclear? There were parts that I did enjoy, and parts I thought were done well, but.... By the end, I was frustrated and underwhelmed with the story. There didn't seem to be much continuity. Things were only introduced when they were needed, and the plot felt stitched together with only a few pieces running through the whole thing. The tone was also confusing and a little bit all over the place. There were elements that felt like horror, but it also felt like fantasy, and then sometimes magical realism and then other times like a mystery. The characters were mostly flat, without much depth, which did fit the story- it was short enough and simple enough to not necessarily need really complicated characters- but that fact didn't do the story any favors either. If the characters were deeper or more personable, it might have saved the story. Rory was mostly just tense, and Izzy has the potential to be sassy or more street smart, but she was mostly just there to provide information or quick saves Rory couldn't do for himself. So all in all, it just didn't satisfy the way I hoped it would.
Things to be Aware of:
- Upsetting circumstances (a lot, but not too bad. Rory works for creepy and dangerous people for awhile and he gets captured and threatened more than once)
- Violence (intense, but overall mild. I have a pretty low threshold, but there were some parts that really creeped me out or were really disturbing. Rory is attacked a few times, but usually there isn't much gore. However, the threat if violence and harm is more graphic and more frightening)
- Death (there is at least one death were the characters witness the aftermath of a murder and interact with a dead body. It's mostly mild, but it is a little gruesome. There are other deaths mentioned or viewed, and the description of one is gruesome)
- Sexual content (little to none)
I don't know how to describe this book. Episodic? Improvised? Unclear? There were parts that I did enjoy, and parts I thought were done well, but.... By the end, I was frustrated and underwhelmed with the story. There didn't seem to be much continuity. Things were only introduced when they were needed, and the plot felt stitched together with only a few pieces running through the whole thing. The tone was also confusing and a little bit all over the place. There were elements that felt like horror, but it also felt like fantasy, and then sometimes magical realism and then other times like a mystery. The characters were mostly flat, without much depth, which did fit the story- it was short enough and simple enough to not necessarily need really complicated characters- but that fact didn't do the story any favors either. If the characters were deeper or more personable, it might have saved the story. Rory was mostly just tense, and Izzy has the potential to be sassy or more street smart, but she was mostly just there to provide information or quick saves Rory couldn't do for himself. So all in all, it just didn't satisfy the way I hoped it would.
Things to be Aware of:
- Upsetting circumstances (a lot, but not too bad. Rory works for creepy and dangerous people for awhile and he gets captured and threatened more than once)
- Violence (intense, but overall mild. I have a pretty low threshold, but there were some parts that really creeped me out or were really disturbing. Rory is attacked a few times, but usually there isn't much gore. However, the threat if violence and harm is more graphic and more frightening)
- Death (there is at least one death were the characters witness the aftermath of a murder and interact with a dead body. It's mostly mild, but it is a little gruesome. There are other deaths mentioned or viewed, and the description of one is gruesome)
- Sexual content (little to none)