A review by paperknotbooks
The Discomfort of Evening by Lucas Rijneveld

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I think this will throw off my reader friend who’ve all rated this book 1-3/5 ⭐️s from the disturbing content. Yes, there is a lot of “ick,”  perversion, and animal cruelty, but I was charmed by Rijneveld’s writing and submerged in the story.  I loved the narrative voice: obviously young and naive, but with literary aptitude for quiet details. Probably will bumpy this up to a 5-⭐️ if it truest borrows itself into my memory.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Eating disorder, Incest, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Excrement, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Gore, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Vomit, Religious bigotry, and Suicide attempt