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A review by pastelwriter
The Handyman Method by Nick Cutter, Andrew F. Sullivan
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
I’m finally free of the shackles of this book 🙏🏻 Much like Trent, I felt trapped by this book. I can finally live again having reached the conclusion.
For about 60-75% of this book, it was sitting at a comfortable 3🌟 I neither hated it nor loved it. I could see what it was trying to accomplish, but I wasn’t exactly impressed by the execution. This was especially the case as I found the writing unnecessarily confusing in a way that was frustrating versus mentally stimulating. Trust me when I say I can handle ambiguity and confusion. This book just took it a step too far for me.
Once we started reaching the resolution, however, that’s when I began to loathe this book. It was an absolute WASTE of my time. If we consider the “heart” of this narrative being about white cis hetero men inevitably falling into cycles of misogyny (with the need to be providers for their nuclear family, being “strong” role models to keep the home together, all to be trapped into a specific framework of masculinity), the ending was mind-boggling. Let’s get into it.
🚨🚨🚨
There is no reason for this to end with Rita deciding to spare Trent from being sacrificed to The Entity in the basement and allowing The Entity free reign of the world. First of all, it doesn’t make sense, and it doesn’t feel earned for her to give enough of a shit (one way or another) to even make the choice to save Trent. She didn’t even like that man! And if she was unhappy with how The Entity was warping the pact made with her ancestors, well she’s a damn lawyer! She. Can. Make. A. Goddamned. New. Pact. USE YOUR BRAIN, RITA!
To me the ending felt reminiscent of Eve and Adam. Eve falls for temptation, so we’re all damned to suffer because of the actions of a woman. Same here. Rita chooses to “save” Trent, so now all must deal with the shit consequences of that. If we’re trying to break cycles of misogyny and white cis hetero male thinking and living, we sure went back to square fucking one with that choice!
All of this would’ve been so much better if it had exclusively focused on Trent, and we saw how slowly but surely The Entity spread its influence among all the men close and far from Trent. That could’ve been the horror of it all! It being inevitable and inescapable. Instead, we muddle and further fuck up the narrative by trying to incorporate both Rita and Milo being negatively impacted by the house, and it’s just a shitshow. The message would’ve been clearer and sharper if it had just been from the unreliable perspective of Trent.
🚨🚨🚨
A book truly hasn’t wasted my time quite like this one for a while. I guess I was overdue 🙄 Truly the only reason it didn’t become a DNF was because for most of it I was fine with it. It was a buddy read with my friend Steff, and I was fine going through the motions for the sake of discussing it with her. By the 2/3 mark, I was in deep enough that I Knew I wouldn’t be satisfied just with Steff telling me what happened in the end. I needed to read it for myself to then be able to fully explain why it was not only mildly a pain to get through but was also poorly executed in the end.
For about 60-75% of this book, it was sitting at a comfortable 3🌟 I neither hated it nor loved it. I could see what it was trying to accomplish, but I wasn’t exactly impressed by the execution. This was especially the case as I found the writing unnecessarily confusing in a way that was frustrating versus mentally stimulating. Trust me when I say I can handle ambiguity and confusion. This book just took it a step too far for me.
Once we started reaching the resolution, however, that’s when I began to loathe this book. It was an absolute WASTE of my time. If we consider the “heart” of this narrative being about white cis hetero men inevitably falling into cycles of misogyny (with the need to be providers for their nuclear family, being “strong” role models to keep the home together, all to be trapped into a specific framework of masculinity), the ending was mind-boggling. Let’s get into it.
🚨🚨🚨
To me the ending felt reminiscent of Eve and Adam. Eve falls for temptation, so we’re all damned to suffer because of the actions of a woman. Same here. Rita chooses to “save” Trent, so now all must deal with the shit consequences of that. If we’re trying to break cycles of misogyny and white cis hetero male thinking and living, we sure went back to square fucking one with that choice!
All of this would’ve been so much better if it had exclusively focused on Trent, and we saw how slowly but surely The Entity spread its influence among all the men close and far from Trent. That could’ve been the horror of it all! It being inevitable and inescapable. Instead, we muddle and further fuck up the narrative by trying to incorporate both Rita and Milo being negatively impacted by the house, and it’s just a shitshow. The message would’ve been clearer and sharper if it had just been from the unreliable perspective of Trent.
🚨🚨🚨
A book truly hasn’t wasted my time quite like this one for a while. I guess I was overdue 🙄 Truly the only reason it didn’t become a DNF was because for most of it I was fine with it. It was a buddy read with my friend Steff, and I was fine going through the motions for the sake of discussing it with her. By the 2/3 mark, I was in deep enough that I Knew I wouldn’t be satisfied just with Steff telling me what happened in the end. I needed to read it for myself to then be able to fully explain why it was not only mildly a pain to get through but was also poorly executed in the end.