A review by qi_
The Devil All the Time by Donald Ray Pollock

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

wowowow. this was fucking good. 

i appreciate how well plotted the story line seemed to be. everything made sense together and donald ray pollock didn't feel the need to throw out a random, nonsensical twist in the name of shock value. although the means that i had a pretty strong hunch about where the story would be going it still was able to shock me due to the writing and how he depicts such scenes. 

the writing was gritty and blunt which i love. some of these scenes are written in such a matter-of-fact way which just leaves you feeling like you like D: 

the characters were well written and felt very dynamic. even "bad" characters *cough cough arvin* i still felt like rooting for and you are just left with mixed emotions. 

part five was definitely the part where i had the biggest emotional reactions to the text, i am reluctant to say my favourite part because yikes. if you are looking for some small town, gritty horror i would highly recommend but dO LOOK UP TRIGGER WARNINGS! 

as you can tell by this spotty review i don't know how to formulate my thoughts properly. so, great way to nurse the morning after my second dose of the vaccine.

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