tinyjenus's review
challenging
dark
tense
fast-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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Gore, Murder, Miscarriage, Violence, Vomit, and Sexual content
Moderate: Racial slurs and Racism
Minor: Rape, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault
tidey's review
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
thedustbunnyslibrary's review against another edition
2.0
2.5-2.8? 3 is probably too high.. I honestly don’t know! I had a love/hate relationship with this book. Hear me out.
The writing was kind of terrible, specifically the author over-explaining things and the completely unnatural dialogue. I almost put it down so..many..times.
Almost.
But this story was SO CHAOTIC. I had to keep reading. I had to know what could possibly happen next, how could it get any worse? How hectic could the author make it? It was all over the place and I had a blast.
The ending made me wish it wasn’t an ebook so I could chuck it across the room. Sigh.
A lot of potential here though. I might have to check out more of their books in the future!
The writing was kind of terrible, specifically the author over-explaining things and the completely unnatural dialogue. I almost put it down so..many..times.
Almost.
But this story was SO CHAOTIC. I had to keep reading. I had to know what could possibly happen next, how could it get any worse? How hectic could the author make it? It was all over the place and I had a blast.
The ending made me wish it wasn’t an ebook so I could chuck it across the room. Sigh.
A lot of potential here though. I might have to check out more of their books in the future!
gunderchump's review
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
gingerspooks's review against another edition
3.0
This book gave off Rob Zombie’s House of 1000 Corpses blended in with Natural Born Killers and I liked it so much. The pace is perfect, the brutality and gore is perfect. I actually live in East Tennessee so it was great to finally find a book that was centered around my home. Can we just talk about that ending though? Throughout the whole book nothing made me angry or upset until the very last page. I was seething by the end of the last paragraph. All in all this book is something I’d highly recommend for anyone who loves extreme horror.
spooky_librarian's review against another edition
4.0
I was going to give this 3 stars but bumped it to 4 for how unputdownable this novella was—I read it in one sitting. I’m a huge extreme-horror fan and don’t get squeamish easily, so I was all in for the masochism and violence. The ending of each chapter had me anxiously diving into the next one. Plus the story idea is brilliant. A newly wed couple decide to live out their true-crime obsessed fantasies by kidnapping, torturing, and killing random strangers. So as a whole, they are terrible people (but between the two, the woman is a freaking psychopath and terrifying).
I was personally upset by how the one POC character in this book was handled. However, after ranting/discussing the book with my husband and having him break down how not-far-from-reality the treatment of the POC character actually was, I had a slight change of heart. This book is about a cis-gendered white couple who are FULLY aware of their privilege and they hope to use it to literally get away with murder. That’s the horror.
…I’m still upset. But it’s Splatterpunk! Splatterpunk is upsetting. I’ve read worse. The whole point of the book is to display two very messed up people doing very messed up things to those who are innocent simply because they think they can get away with it. And that’s upsetting. I’m upset, and could always do without racial violence in my horror novels—especially when it’s written by white men. It’s something that triggers me as a WOC. But the book was still really good in my opinion. So I guess I can be upset and like a book at the same time??? I don’t know. Do with that what you will. I’m conflicted and my thoughts are all jumbled! Eventually I will have a more comprehensible review, but today it’s all feelings!
I was personally upset by how the one POC character in this book was handled. However, after ranting/discussing the book with my husband and having him break down how not-far-from-reality the treatment of the POC character actually was, I had a slight change of heart. This book is about a cis-gendered white couple who are FULLY aware of their privilege and they hope to use it to literally get away with murder. That’s the horror.
…I’m still upset. But it’s Splatterpunk! Splatterpunk is upsetting. I’ve read worse. The whole point of the book is to display two very messed up people doing very messed up things to those who are innocent simply because they think they can get away with it. And that’s upsetting. I’m upset, and could always do without racial violence in my horror novels—especially when it’s written by white men. It’s something that triggers me as a WOC. But the book was still really good in my opinion. So I guess I can be upset and like a book at the same time??? I don’t know. Do with that what you will. I’m conflicted and my thoughts are all jumbled! Eventually I will have a more comprehensible review, but today it’s all feelings!
spestock's review against another edition
3.0
I received this book in my Night Worms subscription box, and it was one of the first splatterpunk books I've read. I can't say that this would be a genre I would be particularly interested in going forward, but I'm glad I got over my initial "yuck I don't like this" feeling.
Lindsey and Grant are newlyweds who have decided to murder someone on their honeymoon. Lindsey has dreams of being known as one of the all-time greats, up there with Bundy, Kemper, Dahmer. There's a great deal of irony in this, considering that she immediately screws up the plan, kidnapping, like, the first guy she and Grant come across. That underscoring of how inept they both are, how they let their own stupid grudges and arguments distract them, provided a nice counterpoint to the ever-rising atmosphere of terror and dread.
I like true crime. I listen to podcasts, watch the shows, read the books. I was immediately reminded of Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka. The story of Paul and Karla, if written in a narrative format, wouldn't be that dissimilar to the first half of Merciless. So while it's easy to flinch away, to not want to actually look at how horrible this sort of thing is, the truth is, it happens. There are real people out there just like this, who get off on causing misery, who enjoy hurting others. And it feels, perhaps, a little disingenuous to consume true crime as entertainment but think myself as somehow above reading about the actual nitty-gritty of the crimes themselves, no holds barred, nothing held back.
Anyway, this book made me think about the media I consume, and what that says about me. It reminded me that it's easy to forget about the absolute, incredible pain and terror that victims of monsters like Grant and Lindsey go through. I can't necessarily say that I enjoyed reading Merciless, but I'm glad I did.
Lindsey and Grant are newlyweds who have decided to murder someone on their honeymoon. Lindsey has dreams of being known as one of the all-time greats, up there with Bundy, Kemper, Dahmer. There's a great deal of irony in this, considering that she immediately screws up the plan, kidnapping, like, the first guy she and Grant come across. That underscoring of how inept they both are, how they let their own stupid grudges and arguments distract them, provided a nice counterpoint to the ever-rising atmosphere of terror and dread.
I like true crime. I listen to podcasts, watch the shows, read the books. I was immediately reminded of Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka. The story of Paul and Karla, if written in a narrative format, wouldn't be that dissimilar to the first half of Merciless. So while it's easy to flinch away, to not want to actually look at how horrible this sort of thing is, the truth is, it happens. There are real people out there just like this, who get off on causing misery, who enjoy hurting others. And it feels, perhaps, a little disingenuous to consume true crime as entertainment but think myself as somehow above reading about the actual nitty-gritty of the crimes themselves, no holds barred, nothing held back.
Anyway, this book made me think about the media I consume, and what that says about me. It reminded me that it's easy to forget about the absolute, incredible pain and terror that victims of monsters like Grant and Lindsey go through. I can't necessarily say that I enjoyed reading Merciless, but I'm glad I did.
readbyashleyd's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
5.0
This is without a single doubt, one of the most disturbing and traumatizing books I have ever read. Word of warning, this book is not for the faint of heart, it is brutal and graphic and there are A LOT of potential triggers throughout. It feels weird giving such a book 5 stars because I wouldn’t really say I enjoyed it in the typical sense you normally enjoy a book. My skin was crawling the whole way through and I often had to pause to collect myself while reading it because I was just so disturbed and horrified by what I was reading. Thank fucking god it’s fiction because I can’t even begin to process what kind of monster would do such things. I’m even a big slightly disturbed that an actual person made this story from their imagination, that must be one fucked up place to come up with such atrocities and I’m glad I’m not in Smith’s head. This book managed to evoke more emotion than me than any fiction book has in a long time, it’s been a long time since a book horrified me to this level!
monty_reads's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
fast-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