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A review by therivingtonreader
The Night House by Jo Nesbø
1.0
Wow, this is a lot to unpack lol. If you liked this book, maybe don't continue reading my review because I HATED it.
One positive note is that the story started off strong with some well-written body horror and I thought there was quite a bit of potential, but that didn't last very long. The cover is also 10/10.
The narrator in this story is a very unlikable teenage boy who bullies everyone around him, and I don't believe the author's intention was for us to sympathize or even like him. I have no issue with an unreliable or unlikable narrator. But that doesn't excuse the ridiculous amount of fatphobia that took place in this book. I'm not one to be offended by that type of thing normally, but this was excessive. In less than 100 pages, there are 3 side characters that were described by nothing except their weight; one character being called "Fatso" and the other explained to be "comically overweight." It comes across as lazy writing when an author can't comment on any other features about a character besides how funny it is that they're fat or how many pounds they've packed on since the narrator last saw them.
The entirety of Part 2 of this book made no sense whatsoever, and then Part 3 felt like a copout.The story was really losing me and I was getting irritated by the lack of explanations, and then at the end we get hit with the "he was crazy the whole time" card. Why are we using mental illness as a way to explain away 200 pages of utter nonsense? It came across to me as lazy and insensitive.
Anyway, I'm glad I borrowed this from the library because I'd be mad if I spent money on it lol
One positive note is that the story started off strong with some well-written body horror and I thought there was quite a bit of potential, but that didn't last very long. The cover is also 10/10.
The narrator in this story is a very unlikable teenage boy who bullies everyone around him, and I don't believe the author's intention was for us to sympathize or even like him. I have no issue with an unreliable or unlikable narrator. But that doesn't excuse the ridiculous amount of fatphobia that took place in this book. I'm not one to be offended by that type of thing normally, but this was excessive. In less than 100 pages, there are 3 side characters that were described by nothing except their weight; one character being called "Fatso" and the other explained to be "comically overweight." It comes across as lazy writing when an author can't comment on any other features about a character besides how funny it is that they're fat or how many pounds they've packed on since the narrator last saw them.
The entirety of Part 2 of this book made no sense whatsoever, and then Part 3 felt like a copout.
Anyway, I'm glad I borrowed this from the library because I'd be mad if I spent money on it lol