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laneychaney's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
5.0
Couldn’t put this down
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Gun violence, Suicide, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol
Content warning/spoilerfrances_frances's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
What a brutal read! This book was hard to get through because being in Hank's head is horrifying, but I couldn't put it down. The psychological manipulation and compartmentalization he engages in is so chilling and gross. A really interesting character study and look at human psychology. As with The Ruins, I didn't love the way Scott Smith wrote the women characters. I really wanna know more about Sarah and what motivated her actions. She was a bit of a question mark for me.
Overall, a very effective, impactful reading experience that made me squirm with discomfort.
Overall, a very effective, impactful reading experience that made me squirm with discomfort.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Car accident, Death of parent, and Gaslighting
rockyc5's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
JUST WATCH THE MOVIE. Scott Smith also worked on it and the plot is just better.
It's well and tightly written, defines Midwestern Noir, but for me this book SUCKS! I couldnt put it down but I also had to keep looking away! The guy is horrible about his brother and brother's dog. The story leaves you cold. The whole thing feels purposeless and meaningless. Bad choices all around.
It's well and tightly written, defines Midwestern Noir, but for me this book SUCKS! I couldnt put it down but I also had to keep looking away! The guy is horrible about his brother and brother's dog. The story leaves you cold. The whole thing feels purposeless and meaningless. Bad choices all around.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Fatphobia, and Death of parent
Moderate: Gun violence and Pregnancy
Minor: Medical content and Injury/Injury detail
jadedmirror's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I read this book because I really liked Scott Smith's novel The Ruins. I enjoy his writing style but when he decided to kill his brother I had a gut wrenching feeling from then on that didn't stop till I finished the book. Also the dog scene wasn't necessary. He could have tried to put the dog up for adoption. It's obvious they weren't even trying to give the dog a happy home. He was stuck outside chained up all the time . Overall I just started hating the main character from the way he treats his brother, to the dog, the sheriff... Dude was not a good dude. When I finished the novel I just felt bad lol. Definitely left an impact, whether that be bad or good, right now I can't say.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gun violence, and Murder
gellyreads's review against another edition
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The first half of this book was an absolute slog. It picked up, but God. Hank is disgusting and I wanted to hurt him throughout the entire book. He should've never been married or had kids. This book made me keep thinking "men should be stopped" and not for the reasons the author wanted me to.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
meganrae047's review
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body shaming, Death, Fatphobia, Gore, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Animal cruelty and Death of parent
Minor: Kidnapping and Pregnancy
powerpuffgoat's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Where do I start? Reading this book was frustrating as hell. It dives into action fairly quickly, and the premise was interesting. However, the stuff that followed was a mess.
The characters are so mind-numbingly stupid, it's astonishing. Every person, from core characters to barely-there characters just acts careless or irrational at one point or another.
And sure, it appears that Lou and Jacob were stupid by design. Unfortunately, that did not make it any less frustrating to read.
Hank, who refers to himself as "normal" at least twice, is completely off the rails. The risks he takes are entirely improportional, yet every time he thinks of a new plan, he pats himself on the back. The plans are always completely batshit, by the way, but end up working out, which only assures him he is clever enough.
Sarah, who at the start of the book seems like the sensible one, quickly breaks that illusion by coming up with a couple of idiotic plans of her own. The whole "get Lou to pretend he's Hank and confess so that you have a recording of it" plan? How did that work? In what world? Honourable mentions go to playing monopoly with stolen money and pretty much giggling with joy about the money while on the phone with Hank who is at the police precinct.
Minor characters are guilty of it, too. Carl the local sheriff doesn't check an FBI agent for ID, just lends Hank a gun, and generally chews up and shallows everything he is told. The FBI agents nonchalantly share confidential information with a random witness. The strangely Christian store clerk insists on fighting Hank, and the female customer pitches a Karen fit and goes into the back of the liquor store to hold a stepladder instead of just asking for a bottle from the back, or having something other than red wine?
Not only did it leave me frustrated, but I failed to sympathise with a single character in this book, unless you count the dog.
The dog is severely mistreated, and the main character likes to justify the mistreatment because the dog misbehaved. Of course it's going to! Y'all are clearly neglecting the poor animal! If you like dogs, you will probably want to skip some pages. Or the whole book. It wouldn't be a big loss.
I also want to address the way female characters are presented in this book. Firstly, there are very few, and the majority are reduced to being someone's wife or girlfriend. Out of the two that weren't, one was a minor character who acts entitled, and the other was was Sarah, narrator Hank's wife.
Sarah is pregnant, and subsequently gives birth. Don't worry, that has nothing to do with the plot. But the author made some very deliberate choices to talk about Sarah's body, the baby growing inside, the breastfeeding etc. And I just want to know why. Did he think people would relate to viewing a pregnant woman or a nursing mother the way he does? Did he think focusing on Sarah's nipples was instrumental to the book? I was truly perplexed by this element because it has zero bearing on the plot.
Once the baby is born, the main character doesn't appear to be interested in taking care of, or even spending time with his child. There is one scene where we witness him taking care of the baby, and that left a sour taste in my mouth because in the moment, Hankfantasised about how easy it would be to murder his wife and child. Wtf.
And if this made you feel bad for Sarah, it won't last. Sarah is possibly the most callous character in the book.
Lastly, the writing was simply frustrating. Half of the dialogue is people answering a question with a question.
"I think he might be dead."
"Dead?"
"Can I borrow a gun?"
"A gun?"
"Does that bother you?"
"Bother me?"
To me, this book was an amalgamation of bad writing, unsympathetic characters, nonsense plot, violence that comes seemingly out of nowhere, unnecessary animal cruelty and blatant misogyny. Do with that what you will, but I am unlikely to pick up a book by this author ever again.
The characters are so mind-numbingly stupid, it's astonishing. Every person, from core characters to barely-there characters just acts careless or irrational at one point or another.
Hank, who refers to himself as "normal" at least twice, is completely off the rails. The risks he takes are entirely improportional, yet every time he thinks of a new plan, he pats himself on the back. The plans are always completely batshit, by the way, but end up working out, which only assures him he is clever enough.
Sarah, who at the start of the book seems like the sensible one, quickly breaks that illusion by coming up with a couple of idiotic plans of her own. The whole "get Lou to pretend he's Hank and confess so that you have a recording of it" plan? How did that work? In what world? Honourable mentions go to playing monopoly with stolen money and pretty much giggling with joy about the money while on the phone with Hank who is at the police precinct.
Minor characters are guilty of it, too. Carl the local sheriff doesn't check an FBI agent for ID, just lends Hank a gun, and generally chews up and shallows everything he is told. The FBI agents nonchalantly share confidential information with a random witness. The strangely Christian store clerk insists on fighting Hank, and the female customer pitches a Karen fit and goes into the back of the liquor store to hold a stepladder instead of just asking for a bottle from the back, or having something other than red wine?
Not only did it leave me frustrated, but I failed to sympathise with a single character in this book, unless you count the dog.
The dog is severely mistreated, and the main character likes to justify the mistreatment because the dog misbehaved. Of course it's going to! Y'all are clearly neglecting the poor animal! If you like dogs, you will probably want to skip some pages. Or the whole book. It wouldn't be a big loss.
I also want to address the way female characters are presented in this book. Firstly, there are very few, and the majority are reduced to being someone's wife or girlfriend. Out of the two that weren't, one was a minor character who acts entitled, and the other was was Sarah, narrator Hank's wife.
Sarah is pregnant, and subsequently gives birth. Don't worry, that has nothing to do with the plot. But the author made some very deliberate choices to talk about Sarah's body, the baby growing inside, the breastfeeding etc. And I just want to know why. Did he think people would relate to viewing a pregnant woman or a nursing mother the way he does? Did he think focusing on Sarah's nipples was instrumental to the book? I was truly perplexed by this element because it has zero bearing on the plot.
Once the baby is born, the main character doesn't appear to be interested in taking care of, or even spending time with his child. There is one scene where we witness him taking care of the baby, and that left a sour taste in my mouth because in the moment, Hank
And if this made you feel bad for Sarah, it won't last. Sarah is possibly the most callous character in the book.
Lastly, the writing was simply frustrating. Half of the dialogue is people answering a question with a question.
"I think he might be dead."
"Dead?"
"Can I borrow a gun?"
"A gun?"
"Does that bother you?"
"Bother me?"
To me, this book was an amalgamation of bad writing, unsympathetic characters, nonsense plot, violence that comes seemingly out of nowhere, unnecessary animal cruelty and blatant misogyny. Do with that what you will, but I am unlikely to pick up a book by this author ever again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Animal cruelty
Minor: Pregnancy