Scan barcode
A review by avalinahsbooks
I Don't Expect Anyone to Believe Me by Juan Pablo Villalobos, Daniel Hahn
3.0
How I read this: Free ebook copy received through Edelweiss
This was an odd book - it had a really great writing style and flowed well, but... Somehow the story felt unfinished, and it was utterly, devastatingly depressing despite having an upbeat tone. So I'm not even sure what to make of it.
In the story, a man (the author's alter ego?) leaves Mexico for Barcelona to study literature. But he gets blackmailed into doing awful things by what is basically intentional mafia and this rips his relationship apart, among other things. During the whole book you keep thinking that somehow this will resolve, like in pretty much any story, because why else would the story be told at all -except it doesn't. It keeps getting worse, and just as it is about to get resolved, the main characters disappear, which means they've probably just been killed by the mafia. That's it. That's the story. This ending was extremely depressing for me. If you've got anxiety, it's probably not a good idea to read this book, because you'll just think everyone out there on every corner is out to get you and that the world is an awful, despicable place.
Which is odd, cause you'd never pick it up from the witty storytelling tone.
The story is written through multiple perspectives and is at times also epistolary. It gives the feeling of it being sort of put together out of situations, and I liked that - especially because it seems like the author can put on so many hats. The different personalities telling the stories were remarkably different. The writing style was completely different every time another person talked.
The style in which the main character, Juan Pablo, is written, is quick, fun and engrossing - it's like this "we're in the middle of something" rushy style that easily melts through the pages in a little bit of a lopsided way. The author keeps putting asides in parentheses, and the style is quite quirky and humorous. Meanwhile, the other voice, his girlfriend, is a very reasonable one, calm and educated sounding, it's like it actually is another person who wrote those sentences. Then there are other side characters that take over for a little bit, and they have their own voices that can be quirky too. I loved this kind of style because it really gave the book a very dynamic vibe. It was easy to read and it kept me engrossed.
But despite that, like I said, the ending wasn't satisfying at all and the overall story left me quite depressed.
Triggers:
murder, gore, kidnapping, missing persons, missing family members, blackmail, cheating
I thank the publisher for giving me a free copy of the ebook in exchange to my honest review. This has not affected my opinion.
Book Blog | Bookstagram | Bookish Twitter
This was an odd book - it had a really great writing style and flowed well, but... Somehow the story felt unfinished, and it was utterly, devastatingly depressing despite having an upbeat tone. So I'm not even sure what to make of it.
In the story, a man (the author's alter ego?) leaves Mexico for Barcelona to study literature. But he gets blackmailed into doing awful things by what is basically intentional mafia and this rips his relationship apart, among other things. During the whole book you keep thinking that somehow this will resolve, like in pretty much any story, because why else would the story be told at all -
Which is odd, cause you'd never pick it up from the witty storytelling tone.
The story is written through multiple perspectives and is at times also epistolary. It gives the feeling of it being sort of put together out of situations, and I liked that - especially because it seems like the author can put on so many hats. The different personalities telling the stories were remarkably different. The writing style was completely different every time another person talked.
The style in which the main character, Juan Pablo, is written, is quick, fun and engrossing - it's like this "we're in the middle of something" rushy style that easily melts through the pages in a little bit of a lopsided way. The author keeps putting asides in parentheses, and the style is quite quirky and humorous. Meanwhile, the other voice, his girlfriend, is a very reasonable one, calm and educated sounding, it's like it actually is another person who wrote those sentences. Then there are other side characters that take over for a little bit, and they have their own voices that can be quirky too. I loved this kind of style because it really gave the book a very dynamic vibe. It was easy to read and it kept me engrossed.
But despite that, like I said, the ending wasn't satisfying at all and the overall story left me quite depressed.
Triggers:
I thank the publisher for giving me a free copy of the ebook in exchange to my honest review. This has not affected my opinion.
Book Blog | Bookstagram | Bookish Twitter