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A review by twistingsnake
You'd Look Better as a Ghost by Joanna Wallace
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
When ordinary people unplug themselves from the grid of inauthenticity and speak honestly, they almost become endearing.
In many ways You'd Look Better as a Ghost is a usual suspect of the "women disconnected from society express themselves through brutal killings" genre. It's a fun read, but not necessarily anything groundbreaking from its source. At least that's how I felt until we got to the halfway point of the book and I realized that it does something the genre is adverse too: highlighting the human experience of its protagonist while, very literally, letting her get away with murder. In many ways, this is a book about grief. It's about seeing yourself in people you don't understand, or necessarily like because you've experienced the same terrible thing.
Claire is not a good person and she knows this. She is surrounded by people who do see themselves a good people, but she knows better. It's the grief that humanizes her and, by association, the people around her. It doesn't save them all, of course. Claire is able to see the humanity in a person she's set on killing, but she still sees it. I feel like this genre is prone to making killers disconnected from all aspects of the human experience outside the desire for violence. Wallace has a different approach. Claire and the people she kills are two sides of the same coin, and they see themselves in her as much as she sees themselves in then. It's a fun read and if you enjoy reading about female serial killers doing the most, you'll enjoy it. There's just more to it than that though, and I really appreciated that layer.
In many ways You'd Look Better as a Ghost is a usual suspect of the "women disconnected from society express themselves through brutal killings" genre. It's a fun read, but not necessarily anything groundbreaking from its source. At least that's how I felt until we got to the halfway point of the book and I realized that it does something the genre is adverse too: highlighting the human experience of its protagonist while, very literally, letting her get away with murder. In many ways, this is a book about grief. It's about seeing yourself in people you don't understand, or necessarily like because you've experienced the same terrible thing.
Claire is not a good person and she knows this. She is surrounded by people who do see themselves a good people, but she knows better. It's the grief that humanizes her and, by association, the people around her. It doesn't save them all, of course. Claire is able to see the humanity in a person she's set on killing, but she still sees it. I feel like this genre is prone to making killers disconnected from all aspects of the human experience outside the desire for violence. Wallace has a different approach. Claire and the people she kills are two sides of the same coin, and they see themselves in her as much as she sees themselves in then. It's a fun read and if you enjoy reading about female serial killers doing the most, you'll enjoy it. There's just more to it than that though, and I really appreciated that layer.