A review by cateyeschloe
The Devil All the Time by Donald Ray Pollock

dark sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

There isn’t much about this book that I did like, honestly. 

I think the main thing I would have to compliment this book on is the author’s ability to plant you directly in the center of these small towns. The feelings, sounds, and smells are described with such detail, it’s easy to get lost in that world. 

Speaking of the writing style, one of the aspects of this book I disliked the most were the constant switches in POV. And I mean, within the same page, same event, same conversation - POV switching. It almost was never executed with skill or tact, in my opinion, and, instead, was often extremely jarring and confusing. 

Now, perhaps I’m just not as comfortable with POV-switching narratives in general, as I don’t read them that often, but this felt especially clunky and confusing. 

I know many people have cited how “grotesque” and “violent” this book is, but I would have to disagree, at least on the scale. If you are someone who never consumes violent media, then sure this book might feel overly violent to you. 

Personally, I think the violence always aided the plot in some way and made sense in the context of the story. Nothing really made me feel that it was gratuitous at all, and, oftentimes, the descriptions were so vague I was often left wondering exactly what one person had done to the other. 

Definitely one of the things that put me off of this book the most, however, was the plethora of slurs, degrading language, and ableist language that this books is drenched in. 

I stopped counting after about half a dozen uses of the word “colored” and “Negro” being used by white people to refer to Black people. There was at least one use of the N-word in this book by a white person.  

The r-word was another favorite in this book’s vocabulary. As well as “cripple” and one use of the f-slur. 

That kind of language was way more disgusting for me to get through than all of the violence in the book combined. I would assume the defending claim of the usage of this kind of vocabulary is the fact that the book is set between the 40s-60s in the hillbilly countries of West Virginia and Ohio. Even taking that into account, it still turned me off. 

Misogyny is another heavily prevalent aspect of this book. I did not even try to count the number of times every woman in the book is referred to as “whore” or “bitch” or “slut”. Violence against women and the hatred of sex workers in general is a very prevalent theme throughout. 

There are a lot of characters in this book, all with different story arcs and lives that barely intercept, and, even when they finally do collide, the stories simply weren’t interesting or engaging enough to make it worth slogging through all of their superfluous backstories. 

There is so much hype surrounding this book, that I wonder if I truly did miss something inspired in these pages or if the story just simply isn’t for me. 

Ultimately, I found The Devil All the Time almost entirely boring. Over and over again, this book gave itself the opportunity to be interesting but then almost immediately took a meandering path that had me losing interest as soon as I had found it. 

Perhaps it’s easiest just to say: I fell asleep two different times while reading this book. 

If you’re interested in a story with no lasting impact and simply just want to take a meaningless life journey with half a dozen terrible human beings, then this may be the book for you! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Excrement and Pregnancy

Minor: Cancer, Incest, Vomit, and Abortion

Blood is constantly described and present in this book, often in copious amounts at any given time, and often used in ritualistic settings.

There are numerous graphic murders, the majority of which happen via a firearm.

There are two serial killers, a cis man and cis woman team, who rape cis men and torture them physically until they eventually kill them. The torture is almost never described at all, and, if it is referenced, it is vague.

One character is a pedophile, but there is only one instance where this is referenced in a vague non-graphic way.

Another character is an adult man in his late twenties, I believe, who repeatedly coerces and manipulates young women and underage girls into having sex with him, claiming this is the way to their salvation. A couple of these girls are underage, one being 14 and the other 16.

There is the death of a dog, and the dog is then treated as a ritualistic sacrifice. This one dog’s death is a recurring plot element throughout the book.

There is one character who is obsessed with spiders and also bugs in general. At one point, he takes a giant jar filled up with spiders, opens it, tips it over, and spills them all over his face and body. There’s a lot of spiders in that scene.

Later, that same character is said to have been bitten by a spider and is suffering from that. Again later on, he not only still has the spiders but not eats bugs by the handfuls. This is decently graphic in how it’s described.

Sex work, as a whole, and the sex workers themselves in this book are treated abominably. The book is rampant with misogyny and violence toward women.

Alcoholism is referenced for one character, but many characters drink, in general.