A review by imrereads
The Pallbearers Club by Paul Tremblay

dark mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I've been struggling with how to review this, because I think this is the kind of book that improves my knowing very little going in. Essentially it is the memoir of Art Barbara about his younger years. In high school during the late 80s he created the Pallbearer's Club where they volunteered at sparsely attended funerals. This is how he met Mercy. What makes this book interesting is that Mercy's comments in the margins, as she - now an adult - reads through the memoir. Except, her side of the story doesn't align with Art's at all. According to her, this is a novel. 

In and of it self, it's a really cool concept, and the turn it took really sucked me in. We have an unreliable narrator, and someone who comments heavily on that fact. The question is how reliable she is. It gets weird and I loved it!

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