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A review by crlopez2013
Every Last Fear by Alex Finlay
1.0
TW: Sexual assault, fatphobia, racism
The storyline itself sounds interesting but slow to unfold. I usually enjoy multiple POV's in books but there wasn't enough time with each character to really get to know them. There was way too much POV spent with the FBI agent, the most boring character in the book except perhaps the protagonist, Matt. I also found it hard to believe Matt's POV as someone who's entire family was just murdered. Everyone reacts differently to death, but he had no emotional spectrum at all besides periods of rage and superficial acts of grief. Just a poorly written character in my opinion.
The writing was really off-putting and there were a number of scenes about violence against women that served no purpose to the story. For example, Maggie experiences an attempted sexual assault at a party. Maybe the event is to add something more "interesting" to her character development, but it didn't add anything at all. Another part was an excerpt of the screenplay for the documentary where a serial killer is being interviewed. He says really gross things about his murders about how "smooth and young" his victims were. Again, this adds nothing to the story. Lastly, there was a line about a former psychiatrist at the prison who was "convicted of manipulating patients into blowing him." Theres another scene at the end of the book that I won't mention because of a spoiler, but the author is obsessed with sexual violence against women. Sus indeed.
Another issue I had was the pretty blatant racism and fatphobia sprinkled throughout. The nurse at an assisted living facility is repeatedly described as black and having a Jamaican accent, an unnecessary stereotype. Same with all of Matt's friends. And the depiction of the people in Mexico made it seem like theyre all dirty, poor, or dangerous. It's like the author tried to force "diversity" in the book for representation but did so in the most on-the-nose way and slightly offensive way possible.
There are lines in the book like "an obese man scuttled over" and "the flight attendant was a plump woman in a polyester uniform." "She was still the same, heavyset with eyes too far apart." I get that adding descriptors enhances the writing, but all the fat characters were written with a tone of disgust and disdain.
I read through this book quickly because I was frustrated with the pace. Kinda wish I hadn't read it though. Wouldn't recommend.
The storyline itself sounds interesting but slow to unfold. I usually enjoy multiple POV's in books but there wasn't enough time with each character to really get to know them. There was way too much POV spent with the FBI agent, the most boring character in the book except perhaps the protagonist, Matt. I also found it hard to believe Matt's POV as someone who's entire family was just murdered. Everyone reacts differently to death, but he had no emotional spectrum at all besides periods of rage and superficial acts of grief. Just a poorly written character in my opinion.
The writing was really off-putting and there were a number of scenes about violence against women that served no purpose to the story. For example, Maggie experiences an attempted sexual assault at a party. Maybe the event is to add something more "interesting" to her character development, but it didn't add anything at all. Another part was an excerpt of the screenplay for the documentary where a serial killer is being interviewed. He says really gross things about his murders about how "smooth and young" his victims were. Again, this adds nothing to the story. Lastly, there was a line about a former psychiatrist at the prison who was "convicted of manipulating patients into blowing him." Theres another scene at the end of the book that I won't mention because of a spoiler, but the author is obsessed with sexual violence against women. Sus indeed.
Another issue I had was the pretty blatant racism and fatphobia sprinkled throughout. The nurse at an assisted living facility is repeatedly described as black and having a Jamaican accent, an unnecessary stereotype. Same with all of Matt's friends. And the depiction of the people in Mexico made it seem like theyre all dirty, poor, or dangerous. It's like the author tried to force "diversity" in the book for representation but did so in the most on-the-nose way and slightly offensive way possible.
There are lines in the book like "an obese man scuttled over" and "the flight attendant was a plump woman in a polyester uniform." "She was still the same, heavyset with eyes too far apart." I get that adding descriptors enhances the writing, but all the fat characters were written with a tone of disgust and disdain.
I read through this book quickly because I was frustrated with the pace. Kinda wish I hadn't read it though. Wouldn't recommend.