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A review by authorvperry
The Weight of Blood by Tiffany D. Jackson
2.0
Not Carrie made worst or better; just Carrie
I didn’t read reviews on this book in advance; I only read the blurb. I thought, oh this sounds similar to Carrie. I love Carrie. Have read it, seen all Carrie movies, and have a lovely Carrie Pop! Figure.
What I didn’t realize is this IS Carrie with some changes. Even in the acknowledgments, the author writes:
“Hope you’ve enjoyed this homage to Stephen King,..”
Well, see, that’s precisely the issue I have with this book. The author could have paid homage to Stephen King in so many brilliant ways but it was more like she took his idea and simply added racism as the main theme in an attempt to make it her own.
I have heard her other works are amazing, so I don’t think it was lack of creativity. And while it’s certainly not below me to accuse a writer of such, I don’t think that’s the case here. She does show some potential even in this book. She just went about it all the wrong way. SPOILER: We had a prom gone bad, paint instead of pigs blood at the time of prom queen crowning, and a racist fanatical dad similar to Carrie’s mom. Powers like Carrie’s. A prom wreckage like Carrie. Etc.
At the end of the day, if I wanted to read Carrie, I’d read CARRIE!
Alas, if you’ve never read nor watched Carrie, this obviously won’t be an issue.
But onward!
My other large issue:
We do not spend enough time with Maddy. Here’s where reviewing this gets tricky, as I’m torn. You spend enough time with the racists/bullies that, despite not bonding with Maddy’s character enough, you still sympathize with her. And you want to watch the b**ches pay dearly. Or maybe that’s me. So, in that regards, the method of writing managed to pay off.
However, you realize what you were missing when Maddy is alone with Kendrick. You see glimpses of her true personality. She has depth and major character. However, this is only in a few very short scenes of the entire book.
Other issues :
•Maddy and Kendrick’s relationship is insanely rushed. SPOILER: As much as I love Maddy + Kenny, and I’m happy that the ending implies that they ran away together, it’s just silly that it progressed to fast.
•The podcast thing just didn’t do it for me.
•While the tension in the book was always extremely high due to the racial issues presented, and even some sexist issues, it could have been even higher had we been able to see Maddy and her awful dad together even more.
I didn’t read reviews on this book in advance; I only read the blurb. I thought, oh this sounds similar to Carrie. I love Carrie. Have read it, seen all Carrie movies, and have a lovely Carrie Pop! Figure.
What I didn’t realize is this IS Carrie with some changes. Even in the acknowledgments, the author writes:
“Hope you’ve enjoyed this homage to Stephen King,..”
Well, see, that’s precisely the issue I have with this book. The author could have paid homage to Stephen King in so many brilliant ways but it was more like she took his idea and simply added racism as the main theme in an attempt to make it her own.
I have heard her other works are amazing, so I don’t think it was lack of creativity. And while it’s certainly not below me to accuse a writer of such, I don’t think that’s the case here. She does show some potential even in this book. She just went about it all the wrong way. SPOILER: We had a prom gone bad, paint instead of pigs blood at the time of prom queen crowning, and a racist fanatical dad similar to Carrie’s mom. Powers like Carrie’s. A prom wreckage like Carrie. Etc.
At the end of the day, if I wanted to read Carrie, I’d read CARRIE!
Alas, if you’ve never read nor watched Carrie, this obviously won’t be an issue.
But onward!
My other large issue:
We do not spend enough time with Maddy. Here’s where reviewing this gets tricky, as I’m torn. You spend enough time with the racists/bullies that, despite not bonding with Maddy’s character enough, you still sympathize with her. And you want to watch the b**ches pay dearly. Or maybe that’s me. So, in that regards, the method of writing managed to pay off.
However, you realize what you were missing when Maddy is alone with Kendrick. You see glimpses of her true personality. She has depth and major character. However, this is only in a few very short scenes of the entire book.
Other issues :
•Maddy and Kendrick’s relationship is insanely rushed. SPOILER: As much as I love Maddy + Kenny, and I’m happy that the ending implies that they ran away together, it’s just silly that it progressed to fast.
•The podcast thing just didn’t do it for me.
•While the tension in the book was always extremely high due to the racial issues presented, and even some sexist issues, it could have been even higher had we been able to see Maddy and her awful dad together even more.