A review by spooky_librarian
Merciless by Bryan Smith
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!