A review by jobinsonlis
City Infernal by Edward Lee

3.0

So the thing that I find so strange about this book is how much it reads like a traditional YA novel. Obviously it's an R-rated version of one (although even a lot of the edgy splatterpunk touches fade a bit as the plot gets going) but it's got that structure--girl is still suffering from a traumatic event in her past, she finds out that she is the Chosen One with special-special gifts, and she has a personal quest that coincidentally aligns with the larger struggles that propel the overall plot. I don't know how much I actually enjoyed this book beyond the basic premise (girl goes to Hell to see her dead twin sister and Hell is an enormous metropolis filled with unspeakable horrors that verge on splatstick from jump) because it's not that well-written and the characters are so paper-thin that they're in danger of bursting into flames every time they board the demonic subway but I'm weak to stories with depictions of hell and heaven in them so I'll definitely keep going with this series. My fervent wish is that the next book doesn't go any deeper down the hellbilly horror well that it's dancing all around but honestly I'm the fool who kept going if it does because all the pieces are right there. Rob Zombie should adapt this instead of making progressively worse movies with evil clowns in them.