Scan barcode
A review by sipping_tea_with_ghosts
Brother by Ania Ahlborn
3.0
It's easy to have words such as FINE or OK in criticism to come off as purely negative and nothing more. I fall into the trap myself, using fine on something in the same breath that could come off as :
Begrudging - Because I settled on not loving but not having enough energy to hate it entirely.
OR
Accepting - Being content and happy with a predictable kind of joyride.
Brother for me falls into the Accepting camp, a story that doesn't really do anything new or have amazing characters but I had fun reading regardless. As much as the summary unintentionally promised me something fairly absent from the actual story, I was never truly bored due to the fast pace and long burn to an explosively bloody ending.
The summary and first chapter of this story might make you think you're in for some cannibal family adventure, and while there are elements of that, its mostly in the background while an atypical family drama takes the forefront - primarily between the protagonist and his abusive foster sibling. The eventual return to those spooky elements is definitely going to be too much of a wait for some, and like I said, the characters aren't the strongest in Brother. The amount of details for each isn't evenly spread across, keeping most of the characterization for Michael and Rebel while the scary mother, passive father and troubled sister are just stepping stones to the end.
Due to the drama aspect of this tale, it can often feel like you're reading the PG-13 version of a crazy cannibal movie, but the second half more than dumps the depraved aspects back onto the foreground. So a content warning is definitely warranted, even if their descriptions are fairly brief.
So while I don't think this book is amazing, its what you could call a "popcorn fun" kind of scenario. Hell, if they made a movie, I'd watch it. Highlights for me would be the bloody finale and a series of flashbacks that deal with a character not seen in the main story, I thought the resolution of that arc was genuinely interesting and mortifying. So a Fine / 5, an OK / 10 is pretty good in this instance.
Begrudging - Because I settled on not loving but not having enough energy to hate it entirely.
OR
Accepting - Being content and happy with a predictable kind of joyride.
Brother for me falls into the Accepting camp, a story that doesn't really do anything new or have amazing characters but I had fun reading regardless. As much as the summary unintentionally promised me something fairly absent from the actual story, I was never truly bored due to the fast pace and long burn to an explosively bloody ending.
The summary and first chapter of this story might make you think you're in for some cannibal family adventure, and while there are elements of that, its mostly in the background while an atypical family drama takes the forefront - primarily between the protagonist and his abusive foster sibling. The eventual return to those spooky elements is definitely going to be too much of a wait for some, and like I said, the characters aren't the strongest in Brother. The amount of details for each isn't evenly spread across, keeping most of the characterization for Michael and Rebel while the scary mother, passive father and troubled sister are just stepping stones to the end.
Due to the drama aspect of this tale, it can often feel like you're reading the PG-13 version of a crazy cannibal movie, but the second half more than dumps the depraved aspects back onto the foreground. So a content warning is definitely warranted, even if their descriptions are fairly brief.
Spoiler
(Rape, attempted incest, animal cruelty, torture, murder, some offensive language)So while I don't think this book is amazing, its what you could call a "popcorn fun" kind of scenario. Hell, if they made a movie, I'd watch it. Highlights for me would be the bloody finale and a series of flashbacks that deal with a character not seen in the main story, I thought the resolution of that arc was genuinely interesting and mortifying. So a Fine / 5, an OK / 10 is pretty good in this instance.