A review by childofmongreldogs
Prime by Poppy Z. Brite
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
2.5
I read this book (and the series) something like 4 years ago. I really enjoyed the first in the series but I think that this one, at the time, was a worse read for me. I think I really see what old me saw then. The first half of this book is good. Rickey and G-Man are dealing with insecurity over their restaurant and having some tiffs between themselves because of Rickey's attitude. It feels real and interesting, for the most part. Really just good character drama with a backdrop of legal scandal.
The second half is where it starts getting weird. I liked the parts with Cooper Stark. Once again, character drama. An old flame stirs up shit but the heroes stay together and faithful to each other. It's not crazy or ground breaking. I think this is how Mr. Brite's older works kind of worm into this slice of life, cooking comfort read and make it... weird. The second half begins the weird thriller/suspense novel where Rickey ends up trying to solve a murder mystery. But it doesn't have nearly the interest of a murder mystery and it's solved at the end by no one. The evil-doer explains what he did with little cost to our heroes.
What a very strange and eclectic way to write this kind of story. It feels like Brite couldn't decide what kind of story he wanted to write at the time. Or maybe, he did but it just wasn't cohesive enough for me. Either way, I enjoyed this work since it checks a lot of squares for me. I love having LGBT characters. Love character drama. Love gritty and dark. Love cooking. Just not sure how I like them all together. I feel like it worked so much better in the first book in this series. I recall the next in this series also worked a lot better (though I could be misremembering).
The second half is where it starts getting weird. I liked the parts with Cooper Stark. Once again, character drama. An old flame stirs up shit but the heroes stay together and faithful to each other. It's not crazy or ground breaking. I think this is how Mr. Brite's older works kind of worm into this slice of life, cooking comfort read and make it... weird. The second half begins the weird thriller/suspense novel where Rickey ends up trying to solve a murder mystery. But it doesn't have nearly the interest of a murder mystery and it's solved at the end by no one. The evil-doer explains what he did with little cost to our heroes.
What a very strange and eclectic way to write this kind of story. It feels like Brite couldn't decide what kind of story he wanted to write at the time. Or maybe, he did but it just wasn't cohesive enough for me. Either way, I enjoyed this work since it checks a lot of squares for me. I love having LGBT characters. Love character drama. Love gritty and dark. Love cooking. Just not sure how I like them all together. I feel like it worked so much better in the first book in this series. I recall the next in this series also worked a lot better (though I could be misremembering).